Artist description Melody driven rock songs with an edge.

Music Style Rock-Alternative

Musical Influences Greatful Dead, Jane's Addiction, Bad Religion, Nirvana, The Police, The Beatles, Led Zepplin, Stevie Wonder, Smashing Pumpkins, Rolling Stones, Tom Petty, Velvet Underground

Similar Artists Foo Fighters and Bad Religion

Artist History Tom Kelly fronted the Epic/Immortal act April's Motel Room before bringing together Sam Jones, the drummer of L.A.'s Bungee Chords, and Danny Jones and John Shaw of Contradiction, to make up 4 piece rock band. Flush has been playing together for 3 years.

Group Members Tom Kelly, Vocals and guitar; Sam Jones, Drums and vocals; Danny Jones, Guitar and vocals; John Shaw, Bass

Instruments Guitar, bass, and drums

Albums EP 1999; E Flat (2000)

Press Reviews Friday, December 8, 2000 Flush, With Excitement Simi Valley band, which has a new album, will play a free sure-hit show tonight at Solid Grounds, where it'll be joined by four other groups.By BILL LOCEY, Special to The TimesSimi Valley will be the place to be tonight when the four guys in Flush appear, along with a bunch of other bands, at a free, all-ages gig at the Solid Grounds coffee shop. Solid Grounds is about the only place in town for original bands to play these days, and this show should be a big hit. And why not? The guys in Flush are all well-known in Simi Valley. Singer Tom Kelly was the front man of April's Motel Room, the most successful local band of all time. Drummer Sam Jones came from the Bungee Chords, and guitar player Danny Jones and bass player John Shaw came from Contradiction. All in all, Flush is a Simi Valley supergroup. Flush recently released an album, "E Flat," that they have been giving away at their gigs. Danny Jones discussed the latest news concerning his favorite band. So how's the Flush biz? We play once every two weeks, but now that the CD's out, we're trying to play once a week wherever that may be--Ventura, Santa Barbara or L.A. You guys have been playing sometimes at the Bombay in Ventura. How does that work? The Bombay has been very good. We've been fortunate there--they treat us right, and we've started to build a crowd there. Tell me about this Solid Grounds gig. Solid Grounds is a little coffee shop tucked behind one of those corner-shopping-center things. It's a pretty young crowd, but it probably doesn't hold much more than 100 people. It'll be nice to have a place to play in Simi. How's the scene in Simi Valley? Nothing. This Solid Grounds gig will be the first time we've played in Simi since a benefit last December. So what's the story on "E Flat"? Basically, we pay homage to E Flat [music studio] because it's the one place in Simi Valley for recording and jamming that has existed for practically 10 years. It was started by a band called Redfish, and our singer, Tom, started renting that place when he was in April's Motel Room. It's a little industrial unit. When April's got the front money for their album, they built two rooms in there and made it possible to record. So "E Flat" is the album and also a place, and perhaps the legacy of April's Motel Room? Right. It is the legacy of April's. We rent it out and about five bands rehearse there. We make it much more worth their while to stay here rather than pay what they charge in the Valley. If anything, it's causing a little networking and a little scene even in this small town. So, it's kind of a cool vibe. How would you compare the new album to the first one? I think the songs are harder on this one. The songs on the first CD already existed and were older songs and we just didn't have time to develop as the band we wanted to be. This album expands that. It's an EP [extended play] done by us--written, rehearsed and recorded by us. We worked hard and it took a long time. So is it a combination of all three previous bands or something totally different? A lot of people will forever relate Tom's voice to April's Motel Room, but I think the flip side is that [John and I] bring the heaviness from Contradiction into the band and Sam brings in that funky soul from the Bungee Chords. We probably have about 30 songs. When Flush plays, do the people dance or stare? They dance, but we've had what we call the infamous horseshoe, where everybody stands in this horseshoe-shaped crowd. Then, when someone who is usually drunk comes out to dance, we usually say something like "Watch it--you're messing up the horseshoe." . . . We have this hard edge where we almost sit on the fence between hard edge and punk, but not as fast as punk. We have the melody there, which makes it cool, so people will dance. But we'll take a horseshoe--at least people aren't leaving. What's the best and worst thing about being in Flush? The best thing about the band is that the band all gets along really well. That's also the worst thing because we're like a bunch of yentas sitting around talking about what could be. We're really great at talking about things. The new CD's out and it's going well. We're just trying to pump it, get it motivated again. The music is growing and I feel more confident sending out this CD to industry people than I did the first one. We've been giving them away at our shows. Even I can afford that. So what's the next step for Flush? We have long, long talks about this. Right now, we're trying to shop it to labels, management and lawyers--someone who can take us to the next level. We've done a good job now, but we need help. There are a lot of great bands that I see in clubs that are totally unknown and unsigned. Then I see these other bands on TV that are signed, but are terrible. It's a sick business, but we're involved in it because we love the music. We're still there three nights a week practicing, rehearsing and recording. Making it is the dream, but not the motivation. DETAILS Flush, Rendered, the Wretched, Venus in Flames and Cross-Eyed at Solid Grounds, 1464 E. Los Angeles Ave., Simi Valley; 8 tonight; free; 579-0504.

Location Simi Valley, CA - USA

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