Flwr Chyld: Music for the Soul
Atlanta-based artist Flwr Chyld makes music for the soul. His otherworldly production of psychedelic-synth fusion beats coupled with luscious vocals has the power to transcend his listeners into a state of absolute bliss. While his music is avant-garde, it maintains a sense of familiarity by drawing on the influences and aura of artists such as Pharell and Outkast. His formal music education also shines through in all of his tracks in his ability to balance a wide range of sounds and rhythms while maintaining a sense of cohesion.
His 2019 EP “Iridescent Luv” is our favorite release to date. The project feels like a day of perfect weather at the beach with your friend due to its groovy beats and infectious melodies. A standout track from the album is the song “Luv 2 U” featuring the sensual vocals of Grimm Lynn layered over a mellow yet euphoric baseline. Other projects to check out include his 2020 EP “Flow” and his most recent release titled “Lucky Me”
In the interview, I sat down with Flwr Chyld to talk about everything from how he came up with his stage name, his background playing the trombone, and the influence that living in Atlanta has had on his music. It’s only a matter of time before Flwr Chyld blows up, and we can’t wait to see what he releases next.
To start off the interview, could you give us a brief summation of your journey as an artist?
Where do I start? I want to say that I formally started putting out music in 2018 so I haven’t been in this for a really long time, but I’ve been playing instruments since I was eleven years old. For a little more than half my life I’ve been playing brass instruments and keyboard. I picked up the keyboard up once I got to college because I went to school for music with a concentration in music industry and management. The music business was the path I took because I knew I wanted to be a producer artist.
How would you describe your music without using the words R&B or Soul?
I like this question because I hate using genres. There’s a lot of people who tend to say that when you make music you have to box it into some type of label or try to throw labels onto music. I always tell people I just want to put out good ass music at the end of the day, and I want to make sure I’m making people feel something emotionally. That’s really all I want at the end of the day so in response to your question, I would just say good-ass music.
I heard you grew up listening to Outkast, Jill Scott, Erykah Badu, D’Angelo, Pharrell, A Tribe Called Quest, Dwele, etc. How would you say that those artists influenced your music today?
For Outkast, I would say that their energy influenced me the most. Because of the energy of the south in cities like Atlanta and being from the south, you might not hear a heavy hip-hop influence in my music but it’s definitely present. Outkast can take a specific sound and mold it into their own but when you hear my stuff I don’t think that anyone would say, “This sounds like Outkast,” or, “This sounds like hip-hop,” but I do carry that energy into my music. Artists like Jill Scott or Erykah Badu, I would say is more neo-soul. I carry the energy from that music into my own sound as well but I was also influenced by the chord progressions or the types of chords they used at a very young age. I knew I loved listening to that music growing up so I kind of took it with me growing up and in college where I got the opportunity to learn more about those influences. It’s one thing to be influenced by what you like, but there’s something special about being able to understand and break down exactly what’s happening in the music.
How did you come up with the name Flwr Chyld?
It was my sophomore year at Georgia State and me and a couple homies wanted to go to New York for spring break. It was during that time when everyone started going to Miami but we decided to go to the city. It was in the middle of a blizzard in 2017. That’s where we went but it was my goal to explore a new city because I had never been there before and I wanted to link up with a few different artists to chop it up and potentially collab with them. In doing that, I linked up with an artist and we chopped it up in Starbucks. I told him that when I got back home to Atlanta I would make a beat for him. I titled that beat “Flower Child” but it was spelled normally. I don’t know what it was but I feel like that beat was a turning point in terms of my ability to go in a different direction with my production and the name of the track really sat with me. I talked to a few people about it and told them I wanted to go with it as my new alias and they all told me they loved it. There’s also this weird mystique to it like “Oh, is this a man or is it a woman? Is this an artist or a singer? What do they do?” When you see the evolution of the brand over time it’s gotten way more solid just because I started with a great foundation. When people don’t know who I am there’s still a weird curiosity factor about it and it’s one of the things I really love about it. All of these are reasons why I changed my name to Flwr Chyld, but I always make music with the idea of color in mind so it made sense to change it to that.
James Tillman is one of your most frequent collaborators. How did you meet and what do you enjoy most about working with him?
I met him through email man. I want to say it was in late 2017. I found him when I was still reaching out to people on Soundcloud and when Soundcloud was still somewhat relevant. When I came across his album Silk Noise Reflex I listened to all of it top to bottom and it was one of the greatest albums I’ve ever heard. I was just mindblown by it and a year later I felt like I wanted to take a leap with the people I had collaborated with and I wanted to reach out to whoever I was a fan of. I emailed him and let him know that I was trying to feature him on a song. We chopped it up on the phone and talked about ideas and those conversations were eventually how Luv 2 U came about. One of the great things about working with James is that he’s just so open to changing things because a lot of artists let their ego get in the way of potentially great music. It’s unfortunate, but James was great and I feel like him along with other people who I know in the Indie music industry. Whenever I reach out to him about music or life shit or even just how to maneuver through the Indie space he’s really helpful. Making music is the easy part but actually maneuvering through the space is harder because you have to deal with a lot of mental things like people not seeing your worth or valuing your music the same way that you do.
I read that you grew up playing the trombone and picked up the keyboard in college, was it difficult to make the transition from playing music to producing it?
I started playing trombone around eleven and I had an interest in producing music around the same time. Those two worlds, the more formal world of music in terms of playing instruments and the career side, have always been a part of my life and I was able to combine them and make them the same to ease the transition. Having that educational side also made things a lot easier for my career. When I got to Georgia State and picked up the keys- I actually picked up keyboard in college and a lot of people don’t know that because they’ve only seen me on the keys. But it wasn’t really hard to make the switch because I had both the education and business side of it.
What is your favorite song that you’ve ever created?
Yeah, it’s my latest song. I feel really good about this song because the featured vocalist on it is Sebastian Michael. He’s an incredible guy and a super genuine person. The collaboration was seamless and it made me tap into a different bag with how I approached the song production-wise. I did more than I ever have done in terms of production on that song and I’m really proud of the way it turned out.
Do you have a favorite performance memory?
It was actually my last gig that I played, man. Right before the world shut down. I did a ton of unpaid gigs before I got a paid one. I think the way that I approach things made me enjoy the experience more because I took it really seriously. The members of my band and I- there’s Alex who plays the guitar on a lot of my stuff, Pluto Shane who plays base- we could feel that we were getting better and our chemistry was out of this world. 2019 was definitely my best gig. We were running into minimal mistakes and if we did run into one we could keep going. But there were so many things that made that gig enjoyable like the energy of the venue, everybody enjoyed the show, and everybody just enjoyed the show overall. It was just a great show and December 2019 was my last gig. I wish I had gotten more footage but I still go back and look at those clips every so often and reminisce on that night.
Where do you see yourself in 10 years?
I’m going to be real, that’s probably a better question for my manager. I think much more short term. I had a conversation the other day where I was talking about where I see myself in 3-5 years and he told me that I was being way too short-sighted and I’m grateful to have him in my corner for that. But in response to your question, I would just say stable as possible, comfortable, hopefully able to travel, meet new people. I’m pretty sure I’ll have made my mark on the music industry at that time. I’ve always been about longevity, and I’m hoping to have a similar career length as Pharell or any of the other Mount Rushmore dudes. I would love to be one of those guys one day.
Is there anything else you want our audience to know about you?
That’s a great question. If you were wondering my sign I’m a Pisces. A lot of people are really curious as to what my sign is and will ask me in public or online but I’m a Pisces and I’m really proud of it. I don’t think that zodiac signs are the end all be all to people, but I do think they play a role in people’s personality but it isn’t their entire being. I say that because on my last EP Flow, I wanted to take those elements and incorporate them into my music. That’s why you see