Marble Racing and '80s Jams: Conversation with Flipturn

Photo by Samantha Heller

On March 22nd, I had the chance to see on-the-rise indie band Flipturn open for Wilderado at the iconic Troubadour in West Hollywood. They had filled out the entire floor with hardcore fans, even though they were merely the opening act. Fans were singing along and dancing with gusto, even to the band’s several unreleased songs from their upcoming album. A few days following the performance, I had the chance to hop on a call with the group while they were on the road in California. Together, singer Dillon Brasse, guitarist Tristan Duncan, bassist Madeline Jarman, synth player Mitch Fontain, and drummer Devon Von Balson and I chatted about the band’s newest single “Playground” and their plans for the future. 

[UNPUBLISHED:] I saw you guys play at The Troubadour the other night. You guys were absolutely incredible!

[MADELINE:] Thank you!

[UNPUBLISHED:] Of course! What was it like getting to perform at such an iconic venue?

[MADELINE:] Very crazy! Like seeing the little neon “Troubadour” light was really cool. I also didn’t really know what to expect. The room felt a little different than what I thought. But it was so fun. It was really great!

[DILLON:] It was kind of cool getting to see that movie Rocket Man and then being able to see the actual stage be the same way it was in the film. 

[UNPUBLISHED:] Yeah it’s crazy how much bigger things seem in the movies. Was there any moment of performing there that stood out to you that you’d like to share?

[DEVIN:] Somebody mentioned that the guitarist from Young The Giant was in the room. 

[MADELINE:] We don’t know if that was true at all. 

[DILLON:] Even if it wasn’t true, just the fact that we’re playing in a city where some of your inspirations and favorite artists just casually go to shows is wild. 

[DEVIN:] It was really great getting to see our producer John Gilbert there. That’s really the only time we get to see him, so it was really special getting to play some of the songs he helped us work on. 

[UNPUBLISHED:] Did you get to record with him in person? Or were you all still remote?

[MADELINE:] Actually, we were able to go out to LA. We see very eye-to-eye with John just with how we wanted to approach this record. We wanted to encapsulate the feeling of our live show but tightened up a little more because, you know, it’s a recording. He is so nice and he really helped us bring our most creative side out. 

[DILLON:] Just capturing the energy we have when we play together as a group, John was able to do that as well as expand on it. He was able to make what we heard in our head but better. 

[DEVIN:] It’s a really authentic version of Flipturn. 

[UNPUBLISHED:] I noticed you played several of your unreleased songs, at the Troubadour, including “Playground” which is coming out later tonight. What is it like getting to see the audience react to the new songs for the first time?

[MITCH:] It’s funny watching people react to music they’ve never heard in their life. It’s cool because you try to make them enjoy something the first time they hear it. It definitely varies by city on how energetic the crowd is, but I think that’s a cool thing. It will also be cool because it (“Playground”) will be released halfway through the tour. So we’ll see the reactions after people are able to listen to it on their own as well. 

[DILLON:] Last night in San Francisco, we told everybody that the song’s releasing tomorrow. Then we played the song and I thought we did pretty well, but the excitement has just been growing because last night was the best reaction we had gotten to it yet. 

[MADELINE:] They cheered so much it was overwhelming. We were like “Oh my gosh! Thank you!” It’s been really cool. 

[DILLON:] It's a little surreal. 

[UNPUBLISHED:] I got a sneak peek of the video for “Playground” that’s also coming out tomorrow. It was so darn cute. You guys look like you’re having so much fun together. And you guys have been friends for a long time, right? You guys met in high school?

[MADELINE:] Yeah, Tristan, Dillon, and I met in high school. I’ve actually known Tristan since fourth grade. Dylan moved to our town his freshman year of high school. We went to a really small school. So I knew Dillon through a mutual friend. Our senior year, Tristan and I met up for coffee and started talking about music. And I was like “should we try to start a band? That sounds like a lot of fun!” Tristan was down and we were like “Who can sing?” We knew Dillon could sing, so we got him that way. And from there we just learned a lot of covers, started learning out instruments, and learning how to play with each other. Then we got our first gig and we’ve been playing pretty much every since. 

[UNPUBLISHED:] So also, while watching the music video, I noticed a very distinct 80’s vibe, specifically an ET reference. What were some of the other inspirations behind both the song and the video? 

[DEVIN:] We pulled from that nostalgic ‘80s vibe, like Goonies and all those nostalgic ‘80s friend movies with the bike riding and all of that. 

[MITCH:] All the ‘80s movies, yeah.

[MADELINE:] I remember we were brainstorming for music videos and stuff for the singles. We definitely have all had that same image of something very ‘80s for the ending of the song that has this very dreamy part. We leaned into that and just had a lot of fun with it.

[DEVIN:] We were trying to tap into that - not necessarily naivety - but childlike innocence and wonder. 

[DILLON:] The song is about balancing holding to being naive as you grow up but also coming to terms with reality. And since the song had has that ‘80s type of chorus, what a better way than to portray the song with ‘80s movies that are like all about childhood, being naive, and adventure. 

[UNPUBLISHED:] What are some things that you guys do together, other than making music, of course, that lets you have a bit of that childhood fun?

[MADELINE:] Video games.

[DILLON:] We watch movies.

[MADELINE:] We play a lot of Super Smash Bros and Mario Kart on the Switch. We all bring our Switches on tour. 

[DILLON:] We all have a Switch.

[DEVIN:] I know I need to talk about this. I feel like the cat needs to be out of the bag. But we’re such nerds. We are freaking obsessed with this YouTube channel that’s exclusively marble racing. That’s exactly what it is. It’s videos of people setting up elaborate tracks and racing marbles. 

[MADELINE:] It’s like Olympic styles. There are 20 different teams, each team has four or five marbles. Every marble has a name and - 

[DILLON:] Devin has a shirt.

[DEVIN:] I do have a shirt yeah.

[MADELINE:] It’s like a thing. After a long day we - actually we did this a lot when we were recording in LA. After we’d been in the studio all day would come home and just watch marble racing and then go to bed and eat Taco Bell. 

[UNPUBLISHED] I’ve weirdly seen a lot of those videos on TikTok. So I’m with you guys there. Playground is your first official single for this album right?

[MITCH:] Yes

[UNPUBLISHED:] How excited are you guys to jump into your first full-length project?

[DILLON:] It’s a big deal. It’s a great feeling but it’s also a terrifying feeling. We were just talking about this the other day. We’ve been working on this album for two years. Since the pandemic came, we dug in and we were like, “let’s write an album.” And fast forward two years later, we’re about to put out music that’s gonna be judged within 10 seconds even though we put two years into it. So there’s something terrifying about that. But it’s exciting because this is our best work yet. This album is the best representation of what we are. So it’s both exciting but also a little nerve-wracking.

[UNPUBLISHED:] Can you tell me a bit more about the album? I know we’re still in the early stages, but I’d love to hear whatever you’re excited to share. 

[TRISTAN:] All of the singles we’re going to be putting out are hitting the cornerstones of what we want for the album. Like they give a good idea of the scope of the album and it gives us a good picture of how the album can be. 

[UNPUBLISHED:] Is there anything else you’re all excited about?

[TRISTAN:] Music festivals, for sure.

[MADELINE:] Yeah this summer’s going to be crazy. We’re so excited. We’re all thankful to even be invited and asked to play at one of them. We’re so excited about that because it’s work but it’s also a bit of a vacation too. We’ll hopefully get to stay for the whole festival because we’re all music lovers. So we get to play and then see a bunch of our favorite artists. Yeah, just this entire summer, we’re especially excited for that.