Hailing from Biloxi, Mississippi, seven piece ska band Flying Raccoon Suit is poised to take 2021 by storm. They have a new album coming out in March called Afterglow. Instead of a traditional release, the band is using Kickstarter to raise the funds to make this release even more special. With just under two weeks left on the Kickstarter, Flying Raccoon Suit is getting closer to meeting their stretch goals.
I know the year is still young, but I’m willing to bet Afterglow is one of the most diverse and dynamic ska albums you’ll hear this year. Aside from ska, you’ll hear jazz, indie, punk, and pop. Despite all of the genre mixing, it feels like a ska album. The hooks are there. The horn blasts are there. Lyrically, there’s a lot going on as well, mainly surrounding the ideas of mental health. Trust me when I say you won’t regret backing this album.
Recently, Andrew (guitar and trombone), Jessica (vocals), and Kerley (drums) sat down to tell us all about their new album, releasing it on Kickstarter, and all things ska. Take a look below at what they had to say (and then back the Kickstarter … I want to unlock that Quarantine EP!).
2016 was a pretty pivotal year for Flying Raccoon Suit. Tell me what changed then, and how the refresh catapulted you to what you are today.
Andrew: We started in high school, and your high school band is almost never all that good. As people started to move away for one reason or another, we became kind of defunct for a while and didn’t do anything. In 2016, we restarted as our new lineup was beginning to solidify, and at this point we had all sort of honed our craft more, and we all had way more life experience as musicians to bring to the table.
Not only that, but Kerley has always produced our music himself and his skills have only gotten better over time. That sort of refresh led us to what we are today, and I feel like this lineup, the input from these musicians with our range of different genre backgrounds, and this album is the clearest representation of FRS, and honestly our first true collaborative effort with the same lineup from beginning to end!
Jessica: Kerley was my first friend when I moved to Mississippi from Louisiana at the end of middle school and I met Andrew the next year, and I think it’s funny and almost meant to be that we ended up where we are now playing together.
Kerley: I had originally joined the band when the first album was being recorded. At that time, I was just producing the record. There were already lineup changes happening, and the plan was that I would just fill in for drums for a while to help out. About a decade later, I find myself surrounded by some of my best friends making our best music yet.
You’ve got a new album coming out in the Spring. Right now, you’ve got it on Kickstarter though. What made you think to go the crowdfunding route for it?
Kerley: The band definitely tends to lean on the DIY side of things. Nearly everything we release, aside from some art assets, is produced in house. We are super proud and excited about the new album, and we wanted the release to be as huge as possible.
We wanted to be able to deliver the best products to any fans that might want it. Marketing and doing records on vinyl can be a very expensive risk, and we honestly had no idea how much interest there would be for pre-orders on the album.
Kickstarter was a risk in itself, but it enabled us to take the risks on the physical goods and help gauge anticipation for our new stuff. We are extremely surprised by the amount of support we received, even very early on in the campaign.
Any good Kickstarter has fun exclusive items and stretch goals. What are the fun things that are part of your campaign?
Jessica: So, I’m a huge fan of ‘90s Nickelodeon and I didn’t intend for the vinyl colors to be reminiscent of that, but I’m so happy that they are. The album art has a personal meaning to the band as well, and I love how it all came together. One of our reward tiers is a painting from me, so I’m making my first ever attempt at art. I’ll apologize for that ahead of time. I’m a cartoonist at heart.
Kerley: I also run a gaming channel on YouTube called Kerley Studios. The band has recently been playing multiplayer stuff like Among Us and Fall Guys on there. We thought it would be really fun to invite fans to play on a livestream with us as one of the rewards.
The new album is called Afterglow. What can fans expect from it?
Jessica: Fans can expect tons of genre mixing, lyrics straight from the soul, catchy hooks, and an overall picking of all of our brains. This is our first true collaborative album and there are so many different elements to it that you’ll hear something different every time you listen. This is an album that means so much to me because it’s centered around mental health, and although we wrote it all before quarantine, it started to take a new meaning for me personally last year. I think the title “Afterglow” is an optimistic outlook, meaning that one day things will be better. Just gotta look for the light at the end of the tunnel.
Kerley: It’s definitely a huge blend of all of our musical backgrounds, but it isn’t forced. It actually surprises me on each listen, just how well it all came together. There was one point where we were going to split half of these songs as an EP instead of a full length, just to have more consistent output from the band. But once we decided we were going for the full album, the bigger picture started forming for me as a producer, and I’m very glad we made that decision.
Andrew: SKA. Also some not-ska. Great production, big choruses, killer horn solos. One song in 12/8. Honestly, what I love about this album is that after getting to know and love all these musicians I play with, I can distinctly pick out all of their influences in the writing of these songs. I’ll hear some almost metal drum parts and fills that only Kerley would think to put in these kinds of songs, even as a horn player myself I’ll hear horn parts I could never have written. “Don’t Wait” is a song that our trumpet player Brandon, who is an incredible jazz musician, came up with and I think you can really tell when listening. It’s all very us, and it’s definitely our best album to date!
The first released single from the album is the title track. After folks back the Kickstarter, they get an instant download. As a little teaser, what’s the song about?
Andrew: Jessica and I tag-teamed the lyric writing on the title track, and I love how it came out. Sort of like Jessica was saying, it’s a picture of mental health with the first half tackling the feeling of slipping into a depressive episode, and the second half sort of embodying an optimistic outlook of what might come after. I promise the line “isolation was a friend but now I’m glad to see them go” was written before the pandemic.
What is it about ska music that hooked you?
Jessica: This may sound super cheesy but my first true introduction to anything ska related was Tragic Kingdom. “Spiderwebs” and “Just A Girl” were everywhere on MTV and the radio when I was growing up and I realized… wow, you can be a woman in music and not have to conform to a certain vocal style.
I started going down the rabbit hole and discovered all these incredible bands that existed just beneath the surface and my love for ska was cemented. I found out about MU330 and Slapstick and it never really stopped from there. It’s the freedom of expression that does it for me.
Andrew: When I was really young, maybe like 12, I got a Warped Tour DVD that happened to have a Mad Caddies performance on it. One of my favorite things about ska is the juxtaposition a lot of bands can have with upbeat music still having lyrical substance, or something more going on beneath the surface.
Kind of like the Mad Caddies, I also love the musical freedom that while the backbone of all our stuff is ska, there’s so many ways you can play around with it and really mesh all these different sounds and influences.
Kerley: I actually didn’t know what ska was until I was introduced to Flying Raccoon Suit in high school. Even while playing in FRS, I still mostly listen to other genres like metal or prog rock. I think it’s similar with some of our other members, which lends to why our style is always bending genres. There were definitely a lot of one-off ska songs from bands that I would latch onto, but I didn’t fall in love with the genre until fairly recently.
Your YouTube Channel has a whole section of 8-Bit covers. How do you do that? They’re so cool!
Andrew: Thanks! It’s been a lot of fun making those, and since we’re all environmentally-minded and there’s even a few sorts of environmental scientists in the band, these tracks are available on Bandcamp for download to benefit the Nature Conservancy.
Basically, I try to rearrange the tunes in a more minimalistic way, or in a way that would at least complement the limitations of 8-bit better. I use software called GXSCC for turning MIDI into 8-bit at the end of the arranging process!
Speaking of 8-Bit, is Tanooki Mario the best Mario?
Kerley: We get this more often than you would imagine. Tanooki suit was pretty cool on Super Mario Brothers 3, but the power-up was severely nerfed later in the series. On some games you can’t even fly with it – just some lame float for a couple seconds. Very disappointing. Where the hell has the statue transformation gone for the powerup?! A Tanooki isn’t even really a raccoon. It’s more like a raccoon looking dog.
However, it should be noted that the Tanooki suit is different than the flying raccoon suit we refer to. The suit we nod towards is Raccoon Mario, where you pick
up the leaf. Which still, let’s be fair – the cape in Super Mario World kicks both of their asses.
You and I both know that ska never went away, but some are starting to use the word “resurgence” when describing the scene. For the folks who are just starting to pay attention again, what bands are “must listens” for them?
Andrew: Kill Lincoln, We Are the Union, any and all Mike Park projects currently churning out amazing new music. I’m sure everyone reading this probably knows how incredible Skatune Network/JER is, but if not – not only is their music incredible, I would credit them and their effort to shine light on smaller bands as a significant part of spreading interest in ska.
Jessica: Omnigone, Stuck Lucky, Joystick!, Grey Matter, Best of the Worst. If you’re reading this, I really want to do a collab video with Catbite and Half Past Two. I really want to harmonize with you ladies.
Kerley: Low key, my favorite album last year was Skatune Network’s cover album of Undertale. I love pretty much all the Bad Time records bands. I was able to snag up a pre-order for Catbite’s second pressing on their album. Honestly, I don’t have much to add more on Jessica and Andy’s answers.
Oh! Other than Holophonics. I’m a sucker when it comes to video game music. So, I’m
super hyped about their Banjo-Skazooie album.
What does New Tone mean to you?
Andrew: I believe Bad Operation started using that term, and I think it’s great really. It’s a really fitting play on the classic Two Tone genre that makes a lot of sense, because bands you often see associated with New Tone are really reviving the politics of that era, pushing it to the forefront while still making incredible art. These things never went away completely in third-wave ska, but it’s great to see a likeminded group of bands firmly rooted in anti-racist, anti-sexist, anti-transphobic, etc. ideals while doing some new, exciting, and just really fun things with the ska genre.
I’d say a lot of our favorite new, fresh sounds in the genre have really been coming from bands under the New Tone umbrella! I think Bad Operation described it as a “joyous rebellion”, and honestly that’s perfect.
What kind of fun plans do you have for 2021 as a band?
Andrew: Number one is to survive. The big thing for us obviously is to give this album the release it deserves without being able to immediately tour for it. There will be another charity 8-bit compilation I’m sure. If we meet the stretch goals of our Kickstarter, there will be a bonus rarities EP coming. We might be on some compilations I can’t talk about yet.
As for shows, who knows at this point. We’re booked to play FEST 19 which is tentatively scheduled for this fall in Florida, and if that happens the lineup is shaping up to be the ska show of the year.
How have you coped with pandemic life?
Jessica: I haven’t.
Kerley: Working on recording and mixing the album was a great distraction for me last year. It was something that we made a silver lining out of, and we were able to focus on finishing it up, since we couldn’t play live or do much else.
What’s the thing you’re most looking forward to when the pandemic gets more contained?
Jessica: Meeting all the people we’ve bonded with over social media in the ska community. Everyone has been so warm and welcoming that I can’t wait to give them all a giant hug and one (1) mozzarella stick each. I’ll keep them all in an insulated fanny pack so they stay warm.
Kerley: I miss playing shows. Like a whole lot. Like a whole freaking lot.
Any final plugs?
Andrew: Depending on when this comes out, I just want to point everyone to our Kickstarter – you can get exclusive merch while directly having us churn out more content! Our album releases March 19th. Also, everyone should definitely check out the new Best of the Worst album that’s coming out on Bad Time too!
Kerley: We have a ton of content planned for the entire campaign and beyond. As I speak our Kickstarter just hit our initial funding goal! We have stretch goals we’re going to try and hit, and plenty of time to go still. We’re blown away by the love and support shown so far, and we are so… so grateful. Thank you!