This past Halloween night, we found ourselves in a backyard-turned-venue in Berkeley just a couple hours before a show hosted by Flamango Bay, an East Bay-based alternative rock band. Friends and band members alike were bustling and bantering while they worked to embellish the DIY space with spooky, holiday-appropriate decorations, such as cotton webs, bats and spiders. It was an impressive set up, especially since the band is composed entirely of high school students. There was a tangible sense of community and hoorah that made us each wish we had had such a talented, tightly knit group of friends in high school โ or even now, for that matter. The band members themselves were the definition of the word โcoolโ โ lead guitarist and vocalist Ikaika Gunderson sported a tie with a collarless Nirvana T-shirt in her best Avril Lavigne impression. We sat down on the backyard patio with Gunderson and the rest of the band, including bassist Bodhi Lucero, drummer Dash Goss Post, and guitarist and vocalist Georgia Manou, to discuss their recent name change, their musical influences, their upcoming project, and more.ย Ikaika Gunderson Georgia Manou Dash Goss Post Bodhi Lucero When and how did you all meet and become a band? Georgia Manou (GM): Weโre seniors in high school now, and we started in 8th grade. So itโs been almost 4 years. Ikaika Gunderson (IG): We were all in the drama program in middle school. Bodhi Lucero (BL): I knew of them in the 6th grade, but we didnโt become friends until 7th or 8th grade. Ikaika really wanted to start a band, so she kind of put it all together. IG: Aw, well thanks. [Everyone laughs.]ย What are your thoughts on being such a young band? Is it hard to be taken seriously? IG: Being young gives it a certain.. Whatโs the word.. BL: A charm. Itโs sad losing that charm with age. IG: Weโre not cute anymore, but weโre not old enough to be with the big boys.ย BL: I think people take us seriously for the most part. But I think one of the hardest things when youโre under 18 is a lot of people tend to avoid your show. IG: And the venue choices. Dash Goss Post (DGP): Yeah, thereโs a lot of over-21 venues. But itโs fun. Weโre lucky that we get to do music now while weโre still living with our parents and donโt have to support ourselves.ย How would you describe your sound? DGP: Indie? BL: Yeah, we settled on indie because itโs vague. IG: I feel like we all have a lot of different influences. Dash is the drummer of the jazz ensemble. Bodhi grew up listening to punk music. I grew up on R&B stuff. Georgia grew up on classic rock.ย BL: Itโs a mixture of all the music we listened to our whole lives.ย IG: So like indie-pop-rock.ย DGP: With some slight jazz. [More collective laughter.] What are you guys listening to right now? DGP: We really like SWMRS. Theyโre a big influence, especially since theyโre local. BL: I think a couple years ago, we all got into more local music. I think thatโs moved us a little bit more recently, because local bands are close to our age.ย DGP: Itโs cool because it feels like something that you could obtain. How did you guys start becoming part of the local scene? IG: Weโre really at the very bottom of the come-up.ย GM: Weโre still trying to get in there. IG: Over the summer we went on a little tour. Played a few beatdown taverns up the coast. It was really fun. BL: We ended it playing the Gillman, which was really fun. But it was really punk. GM: When weโre there, weโre like Taylor Swift in comparison. [Everyone laughs.] DGP: Weโve just been doing these DIY shows and sort of creating our own mini scene.ย BL: At this point, most people in Berkeley High know of us as a band. At least in our grade. What inspired the recent name change from SAME (Something and Maybe Everything) to Flamango Bay? IG: Well with SAME, no one would remember it. You couldnโt find it on the internet, and Something and Maybe Everything is too long.ย GM: Itโs also just an awkward interaction with people. Weโd say โSAMEโ and the other person would be like โwhat?โ. BL: Too short, too generic. We spent such a long time trying to find a new band name. Itโs a real struggle. IG: We ended up picking the first one we all really liked. BL: At first, we had it as Flamingo Bay (spelled correctly). But we were talking about how some people donโt know how to pronounce Flamingo, they say Flamango. We thought that made it more unique. DGP: And we like mangoes.ย When you write, what kinds of things do you look to tackle lyrically? IG: I write all the lyrics, and usually when I write, I hear a melody and I just somehow put the words together. Itโs very natural. I donโt know how to describe it. Thereโs not really any meaning until I look back. I guess some of our songs are aboutโฆ What are our songs about, guys? [Laughs.] DGP: โMidasโ is about stupid Donald Trump. Well, sort of. I donโt write them, but to me, all the lyrics are vague and can be applied to a lot of things. IG: Oh, we have a song about The Great Gatsby. I read that book, and thought, โEw, the American Dream.โ BL: All this lyric stuff goes right over my head. I got really exposed like a year ago for not knowing the lyrics to any of our songs. What do you guys do together outside of music? BL: We spend most of our time together. IG: We like to go to the beach. DGP: We go to the Goodwill outlet. IG: One time, we just took a road trip to LA with my mom. DGP: What are, like, the more mundane things we do? Oh, we play Mario Kart. BL: Weโre at that point where we donโt have to be doing anything. Weโre just in each otherโs presence. DGP: We went to see Dominic Fike recently. IG: Love him, heโs great. That whole subgenre of pop is something Iโm really influenced by. Like Steve Lacy, the Internet. BL: Yeah, I like the combination of popular music with real instruments, and thatโs kind of the realm weโre in.ย Are you planning on releasing a first project soon? IG: We are, actually.ย GM: We have an EP in the works.ย IG: All the songs are recorded and mixed, they just need to be mastered. The single is very, very close. Itโs called โBleach Blonde.โย DGP: Should we tell โem the date? BL: [Whispering] December 14th.ย DGP: Weโre cautious about that date, but weโre pretty sure itโll be ready by then. The EP is called Tiny Room. Whatโs the EP like? IG: Itโs high energy, but also a little eclectic. We have kind of a bossa nova-inspired vibe.ย DGP: It sounds very much like a first EP for any band really. But itโs pretty rockinโ. IG: Itโs called Tiny Room because we practice in Dashโs tiny room.ย DGP: Yep, thatโs where all the songs came to be.ย What are your thoughts on becoming a professional band? IG: Thatโs the plan. GM: The ultimate goal is to just keep going with it.ย BL: Senior year is stressful because of college apps. IG: Yeah, thatโs definitely a discussion we have to keep having. BL: But weโre planning on staying together, keeping the music going. We donโt want it to become a side operation. This is, like, our goal in life. We want to make this what we do.ย ย IG: Itโs something weโre all really passionate about. Flamango Bay’s upcoming single “Bleach Blonde” off of their debut EPย Tiny Roomย releases December 14th. Be the first to stream it on Spotify here! Follow the band on Soundcloud,ย Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. Article by Anthony Vega Interview by Anthony Vega and Mahavir Baboolall Photos by Annie Nguyen and Bianca Lu Share this:Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window)Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window) Leave a Reply Cancel ReplyYour email address will not be published.CommentName* Email* Website Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Currently you have JavaScript disabled. In order to post comments, please make sure JavaScript and Cookies are enabled, and reload the page. Click here for instructions on how to enable JavaScript in your browser. Δ