Berlin Artist-to-Watch The Flavians Turn the 'Ordinary' Extraordinary with Soul-Stirring Sound

Get to know Berlin band The Flavians and their debut album ‘Ordinary People in an Ordinary World,’ a fresh breath of buoyant, down-to-earth music that will bring a smile to your face and a warmth to your soul.

for fans of Mt. Joy, The Beatles, The Head and the Heart

‘Ordinary People in an Ordinary World’ – The Flavians

We’re trying to shine a light on what’s extraordinary about the ordinary.

Berlin’s The Flavians are the kind of band that help you see the beauty in the everyday; the little miracles that bring excitement and wonder to our lives. Since debuting in 2018, the international Germany-based four-piece of Sweden’s Joakim Jägerhult (drums) and Liam Blomqvist (vocals & guitar), Czech Republic’s Anna Vaverková (vocals & keys), and Britain’s Thomas Wills (vocals & bass) have formed one of the most promising indie rock bands their side of the Atlantic. Released January 31, The Flavians’ debut album Ordinary People in an Ordinary World is a fresh breath of buoyant, bright down-to-earth music that will bring a smile to your face and a warmth to your soul.

Ordinary People in an Ordinary World by The Flavians

For fans of Mt. Joy, The Beatles, Flyte, Foxygen, and The Allman Brothers alike, The Flavians are something of a classic rock lover’s dream come true: A 2020s band mixing modern techniques with “classical” influences, blending folk, ’60s pop, psychedelic, and rock elements into a colorful and distinguished sonic palette. Songs like opener “Ordinary People…,” the infectious “Father Fallacy,” and the elegant “Eloise” highlight the band’s penchant for blissful harmonies and vibrant aural tapestries, while tracks like the feverish, rock n’ roll “On the Radio” and fidgety “Non Stop Fun (All I Wanted)” showcase their edgier, zanier, and rock-influenced sides.

With a little something for all, The Flavians can be everyone’s flavor of the week.

From a lyrical perspective, their songs are at once intimate and universal – speaking to everything from existential dread to cynicism, to landlords, religion, and the one-of-a-kind glow of togetherness. The band describe their output as a melting pot of “the hedonism and energy of Berlin” with the sounds of the ’60s, and in fairness to them, the shoe fits. Furthermore, Ordinary People in an Ordinary World can be understood as a concept album “to tell true (and sometimes fantastical) stories that reflect on the absurdity of modern life.”

Watch: “On the Radio” – The Flavians

“There is so much craziness and absurdity in the things that so many of us take for granted in the world,” vocalist Liam Blomqvist tells Atwood Magazine. “I guess the title is kind of ironic – we’re trying to shine a light on what’s extraordinary about the ordinary. Especially these days where we seem to have entered an era of hyper reality; I suppose that hyper reality is reflected a lot by the psychedelic influences in our sound.”

From their gorgeous three-part vocal harmonies and their swirling psychedelics, to the sheer energy they manage to capture on record, The Flavians make quick work of selling themselves as one of Berlin’s premiere pop/rock acts. They may be a relatively unknown name today, but give them time and they are sure to blossom.

Get to know Atwood Magazine‘s new artist-to-watch through our interview below, and give Ordinary People in an Ordinary World a spin — it just may shed a little more light on your life, too. For further evidence of this exciting young band’s talent, check out their live performance of “On the Radio” below!

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:: **stream/purchase Ordinary People… here** ::

MEET THE FLAVIANS

Atwood Magazine: How do you define yourselves and your sound?

Joe: I do believe it was Tom who once called our music “ Slippery slope music,” and I’ve been in love with that definition ever since.

Anna: In terms of our sound, I like to think that we make it accessible as possible to the very same people we’re writing about. We like experimenting with different sounds but we always try to build our songs around strong hooks and catchy melodies.

How did you get started, and what does Ordinary People in an Ordinary World represent to you?

Liam: Me and Joakim met in a hostel by chance before we started in the same college. We bonded over our shared disinterest in techno and the band kind of formed from here. Once we started, we pretty quickly asked Anna to play keys but had to settle for our fourth choice for bass. That’s where Tom comes in.

This album means a lot to us and it represents the culmination of all the hours practicing, gigging and hard work. It’s been a lot of personal sacrifice over the last 18 months and it’s a great feeling to finally have it released!

Your title Ordinary People in an Ordinary World is enchanting. What does this phrase mean to you, and why make it the album title?

Tom: When we started writing our first songs together as a band, we noticed that unbeknownst to one another, we were individually writing little lyrical stories about different real life and made up characters. Months later when we were about 6 songs into the process, we realised that they all had a similar thread and the concept began to form in our minds.

Liam: Well just to expand on what we said about the album, there is so much craziness and absurdity in the things that so many of us take for granted in the world. I guess the title is kind of ironic, we’re trying to shine a light on what’s extraordinary about the ordinary. Especially these days where we seem to have entered an era of hyper reality. I suppose that hyper reality is reflected a lot by the psychedelic influences in our sound.

What came first, the music or the album title/first and last track?

Tom: The song! It started as one song written by Anna that over time, got cut it up to make the bread in our track sandwich. When she came up with the chorus lyrics, we knew we had our album title.

What is your personal favorite song on the album? Does any one track “define” your sound or this moment in time, for you?

Tom: It changes all the time but for the moment, I really like Out My Window. It’s written from the point of view of a postman that used to work in my village where I grew up in England. It’s about him slowly coming to terms with the fact that the world he once knew is gone and changed forever. It’s something that we can all relate to. Life changes at breakneck speed! He was a bit of a grumpy bastard and over the years we had quite a few heated exchanges.

Joe: For me it definitely was Father Fallacy. It started out as this weird mix of Motown and garage, and at the time of conception it didn’t make much sense. But after we handed it over to our trusty mix engineer, who fuzzed up that bass which you have all learned to love by now, all the pieces fell in place. It is also the only song on the album that feeds my insatiable craving for Brass and Organ.

Liam: My favourite is definitely Non Stop Fun. It’s a song about a guy trapped in a loveless marriage going about his day. Listening back to it, I like to think we’ve really given people a sense of “Hey, all those people you pass on the street or share a carriage on the train with, they’re all living their own lives with their own struggle and their own stories” once again bring it back to finding the extraordinary in these ordinary people.

What, if any three artists, really inspired you in the making of this record?

The Flavians: Dr. Dog, Foxygen and Flyte!

Who else are you listening to right now, who you think our readers should check out?

Tom: Right now, Matt Maltese’s latest album Krystal (It’s great!), GospelbeachH and, Squeeze.

Joe: I’ve been on a weird diet consisting of Nathaniel eil Rateliff and The Night Sweets, GoGo Penguin and Amason (whose upcoming 2nd half of their double album is soon in my ears).

Liam: Franz Liszt and Dr. Dog

Anna: Mac Demarco!

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