Doom Flamingo is a multi-sensory experience brought to you by the minds and souls of Umphrey’s McGee’s Ryan Stasik (bass), Mike Quinn (saxophone), Kanika Moore (vocals), Thomas Kenney (guitar), Ross Bogan(keys), and Stu White (drums). These Charleston, SC-based music veterans have played together in various capacities for years, and when a friend asked them to assemble an experimental six-piece supergroup for an Umphrey’s McGee after party, they responded with an unequivocal “yes.” After a few rehearsals and an inspiring recording session at Rialto Row, they realized there was far more to be explored. Their inter-genre take on synthwave blends ominous sonic textures with a high-energy dance party that weaves between two seemingly unlike worlds that are actually more related than we think. Toronto artist Jordan Noir takes the project to another level with haunting visuals and an otherworldly tale of doom. Recently, I talked with the sax-wielding improv wizard Quinn about the band’s music and the story behind Doom Flamingo.

Tell me a little bit about your personal musical journey.

It was in the fourth grade. My dad had given me a Huey Lewis and the News cassette that I was kind of obsessed with. I kept bugging him about one of the sounds that I heard. It ended up being a saxophone. I started playing when I was really young. I graduated from College of Charleston, and I was an English major with a creative writing degree in fiction and poetry. I was just hell-bent on creating things, whether they be literature, music, or ideas of any sort really. I always wanted to play music and perform, but never thought of it as a career.

Describe the music scene in Charleston.

It has become much more inclusive. By that, I mean all sorts of musicians are really crossing genres. It’s just a lot of sharing of ideas. It’s exciting.

Doom Flamingo’s creation was almost emergent rather than structured. How did you guys come together?

It was originally just for the sake of throwing an after party for Umphrey’s Mcgee when they were in town. I had played with Umphrey’s a few times, and Ryan Stasik and I had kind of kept in touch and talked about forming some sort of band. I never really intended to do anything particularly serious. I just wanted to have some fun, and we enjoyed playing together. Hank Wharton is a producer and promoter, who makes really cool musical things happen. He hit me, Ryan and Ross up, and we collectively pieced together a six-piece that we thought would be super fun. Hank booked us some studio time at Rialto Row in Charleston for the sake of putting out an original song to promote the show and create some buzz around it. Ross put together some demos, and we got in the studio. It was a lot of fun stuff, you know, just super fun to play. We could tell it was good. When Kanika started laying down her vocal part, that’s when the light bulb went off. We realized we should probably keep on doing this. So, we kept with it and kind of fell into this synthwave genre, which is not something that any of us have done before necessarily.

It’s really a cool thing and we’re all stepping into new territory. I’m playing keyboards and exploring all sorts of synthesizer sounds and running my saxophone through a bunch of pedals.

How would you define your take on synthwave?

Synthesizer-driven music that is very carefully produced. Very nostalgic and reminiscent of ‘80s imagery and storylines. It alludes in sort of a retro-fictive way to the future and what the future could be… like imagery of people running to or away from something.

If you guys had an opportunity to jump into a time machine as a group, what movie would you guys want to score from the ‘80s?

Star Wars. I’m a huge Star Wars fan. Blade Runner. The music has a very cinematic quality to it, and synthwave is story-driven music. Our songs are in accordance with a storyline that we’ve created with the lead direction of Jordan Noir, who is creating the vast majority of our artistic content. Ultimately, it will probably be in the form of a graphic novel.

What does it feel like to see yourself as a character in a graphic novel setting?

Jordan is one of the most interesting, authentic, and genuine dudes I’ve ever met. Before creating the characters, he hit us up with a questionnaire. What are your favorite colors? What are your favorite mythical creatures? What are your favorite movies from science fiction or synthwave-inspired movies? He created these images that were just fun. We are following along with this river of a process and the multi-sensory aspect of it. All of these things are colliding and seeming to make sense.

Tell me about the story behind the graphic novel.

The main character’s name is Domingo. He is the Doom Flamingo… he is doom itself. He embodies all that is bad, but it’s necessary to maintain a certain balance in the universe. Essentially he’s sick of being doom. So he says, “Fuck it, I’m going to go do my own thing now.” And all this crazy shit starts going down. We develop these powers. I’ve got like a turbo thruster thing in my chest. Ross grew wings and looks like the devil.

If you guys were mid-show and I were dropped in the middle of it, what would I see, hear and feel?

With our sound, there is a lot of doom and there is a lot of flamingo. Some of it sounds dark and terrifying. Some of it sounds like a disco dance party without the disco. It’s super happy sounding. You would somehow exist in two unique and different but cohesive time periods. The synth sounds are very emotionally triggering. The dancier side of our music is just fun. It’s a very powerful band.

What’s the best part of a show for you?

Those climactic moments where the whole band is really going for something. Especially when Kanika is really soaring and going for a vocal part, the whole band is like a jet engine behind her. It can be a really hair-raising experience even for me as a musician on stage, like the building of the shiver up your spine. I mean she’s just such a phenomenal vocalist. She is really capable of anything. I mean, really anything. There’s a lot of those moments. It’s a very dynamic show. I’m excited for everyone to see this crazy new project we’ve got and spread the doom.

Doom Flamingo will perform tomorrow, Dec. 28, at the Variety Playhouse for the Official Umphrey’s McGee After Party. Doors open at 11 p.m. Admission is $17 in advance and $20 at the door. All ages.

More Info
Web: doomflamingo.com
Facebook: @doomflamingo
Instagram: @doomflamingo
Twitter: @doom_flamingo