Rory Flynn’s been around for a long time. In addition to the seven solo albums he has under his belt, Flynn’s songs have been covered by indie artists in quite a few countries. We discovered him a week ago when we reviewed the brilliant “Slow Motion Car Crash” by 2mindsas1, Flynn’s new project with producer Yannis Masouras.
Listening to “Slow Motion Car Crash”, it’s easy to hear a range of post-punk and new-wave influences. I’m detecting a little bit of Joy Division and Cars but also The Smiths and beyond. What are the bands that have influenced you the most?
Oh, thank you. Yes, the Joy Division reference makes sense. Vocally there’s a similarity alright. We’ve not had The Smiths comparison before, so that’s a new one. As far as this particular project is concerned, it’s very much influenced by bands like Editors and Suede. From a personal point of view, it would be acts like Oasis, U2, Radiohead and The Beatles.
You’ve mentioned that 2mindsas1 is based in the South East of the UK. Is that where you are from? What’s life like there?
Yes, I’m based in a town called Crawley which is located between London and Brighton. The home of The Cure of course. It has its moments. Yannis lives in
a place called Letchworth.
Were your parents music lovers?
My Dad was, not so much my Mum. When I was a kid I used to listen to my Dad’s records. That was my introduction to music, really. He had a bit of Jonny Cash, The Carpenters and he had a Buddy Holly compilation that I loved.
When and where did you meet Yannis Masouras?
We first met about a year ago on a free collaborative platform run by
The Songwriting Academy which was founded by songwriter and producer Martin Sutton. It’s essentially a networking tool for like-minded creatives.
You’ve been writing for over thirty years for yourself as well as for other artists. Can you talk a little bit about that?
Yes, of course. When I first started writing it was just a hobby, a way to express myself. But as I took composing a bit more seriously, I became fascinated by the notion of writing songs with and for other people.
In recent years, I’ve been lucky enough to have songs signed and released by
labels based in Germany, Italy and Sweden. And I’ve also had some underground, independent artists record some of my songs. Some of these artists are based in
the UK, but also in Latvia and Canada.
Additionally, I recently (18 months ago) created a virtual/animated artist called
ORYN which was inspired by Damon Albarn’s side project Gorillaz. To date, I’ve released 4 Ep’s under that name.
Out of the seven albums that you’ve released independently, is there a
favourite and why?
Good question! It’s tough to choose, but yes, I think there is a favourite. It would have to be the last full album I released. It was called “Heart On My Sleeve”. It’s a favourite mainly because the songs from it were recorded and produced in a proper studio in London. So the sound and production quality is to a high standard. Also, I think the songwriting is consistent throughout. It’s about five years old now but I’m still very proud of those songs.
Both you and Yannis have and have had your own careers and musical adventures. Why did you start collaborating?
I think the initial catalyst was the fact that we had similar tastes in music.
Also, when we started working on material, it just clicked. It felt very natural.
Can you tell us what “Slow Motion Car Crash” is about?
It describes those occasions when dates don’t always go according to plan.
Where does the name “2mindsas1” come from? What’s the inspiration behind it?
We had a bit of trouble coming up with a name to be honest. We started by going through song titles by Suede & Editors, but nothing really stuck out. We decided in the end to go with 2mindsas1 as it was two people coming together as one to create.
Your previous single’s called “Black Box Recorder”. Can you tell us about that?
Yes, certainly. The song is about the breakdown in communication with someone who you have connected with. It happens sometimes that budding connections disintegrate before they develop into full blown relationships. The “Black Box Recorder” concept is a metaphor for searching for answers as to what went wrong.
If you could change one thing about the world, what would it be?
John Lennon once said that the world is run by maniacs. So, it would be nice
to have world leaders who were a little less narcissistic, erratic, ego driven
and had our best interests at heart rather than their own.
What’s your favourite quote about life?
Sorry, it’s another Lennon quote ha ha. “Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans”.
Final question. Do you have your next release already in the bag? And if so, when’s it coming out?
Yes, there is another song knocking about. But it still needs a bit more work. It’s called “Where Do We Go From Here?” And if it does see the light of day, it’ll be around March/April next year … fingers crossed.
Rory Flynn, Thanks for taking a moment to chat with us.
Thank you for having me.
Listen and read more:
“Heart On My Sleeve” by Rory Flynn
ORYN’s “Present In The Future”
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