Marina Koyen
Ryan Corcoran: “If it gels and comes out of nowhere, we keep it.”
The Flavor That Kills began in 2012 as an over-the-top ’70s rock parody. But it has evolved into a serious effort to give people a reason to let loose.
“Are we good enough to get people to dance and maybe make them happy for a while? That’s what I always ask myself,” says Ryan Corcoran (guitar/vocals).
The four-piece — which includes Corcoran, Eric Hartz (drums/vocals), Christian Burnson (bass) and new lead guitar shredder Ferran Jecky — creates dense, funky rock music. The members have all played in bands, both punk and school-sanctioned, since they were in their teens.
Jecky is a recent Irish immigrant, but the rest of the guys are definite Wisconsinites — they even wrote a song titled “Oconomowoc.” They also invited me out for a post-practice beer to do the interview, where they debated what should fill the pitcher before landing on Ale Asylum’s Hopalicious.
I first met Corcoran, Hartz and Burnson in their east-side practice space — a little lounge and studio — with enough gear packed in to smell just like a Guitar Center. Unfortunately, Jecky was out of commission with a finger abrasion, a particularly troubling injury for the man tasked with replacing the distorted warble of Rhodes piano synth that dominates TFTK’s latest 2018 release, nevermind the acorns. That album is up for a Madison Area Music Award (MAMA) for Best Rock Album, and there’ll be a chance to catch the new guitar-focused sound at Bos Meadery on May 22.
The three members with intact hands assure me their new guitarist will be back soon, and they play a few songs as a rhythm section and singer. Even without the instrumental centerpiece, the band sounds solid, and the years of practice and gigging in anarchist house venues, bars and festivals come through. The players are tightly focused, stopping the first song to get the bass tone just right.
Corcoran’s voice fits comfortably in the gravelly tradition of classic rock, reminiscent of bands like Steppenwolf and Cream, as the instruments churn through compositions that bridge the gap between those older generations and contemporary neo-soul bands like The Heavy.
The songs that make up their 2018 album, and the new tunes they will start recording this summer, are the survivors of a tough vetting process. They each write tons of riffs and tunes and whittle them down, keeping the compositions that feel natural.
“If it takes a lot of effort we throw it away,” Corcoran says. “If it gels and comes out of nowhere we keep it. Sometimes you write a song in 15 minutes that you’ll be playing for the next three years.”
The band is part of a thriving DIY scene; they hosted a pig roast at Art In in March, sharing the bill with veterans Negative Example and Cribshitter. And they are keeping their eyes open for the next generation of artists. Hartz remembers encouraging Spencer Bible, who is now the programming director of the new arts collective venue Communication, to book Battle of the Band shows with his friends in high school. That kind of encouragement, from one generation to the next, is what keeps Madison music alive and well.
“I’m always rooting for those guys,” Hartz says. “And it’s good to keep in touch with what the younger crowd is doing.”
