The Unfurl EP
"Flying Lotus meets Squarepusher"
- Bill Laurance (solo artist/Snarky Puppy)
The Unfurl EP is the latest project from bassist, producer, and composer Mike ‘Forrest’ Flynn (Forrest is his middle name) – and features a cinematic mix of cutting-edge electronica, powerful melodies and gritty jazz improvisation. Drawing together a wide range of textures – from crunching lo-fi beats, bristling synth bass-lines, downtempo and drum’n’bass rhythms – he’s created a highly distinctive sound-world.
Throughout, Mike explores the sonic possibilities of his five and six string fretted and fretless basses, live effects, hardware synths, OP-Z, Elektron Digitakt and Model:Samples groove boxes, bringing it all together in Ableton Live. This is alongside some high-calibre collaborations with a number of leading UK jazz musicians. These include trumpet virtuosos Jay Phelps and Nick Walters, acclaimed keyboardist Rebecca Nash, guitar star Ant Law and leading jazz harpist Alina Bzhezhinska who all add fiery improvisations to The Unfurl EP’s tracks.
The four songs tap into personal themes many were born out of the contemplative time during lockdowns, and reconnecting with nature and a sense of growth. From the melancholy energy of opener ‘Crinkle’, to the rush of rebirth on ‘Early Bloomer’, the ever-shifting panoramic grooves of ‘Strange Weather’ and the turbo-charged rush of ‘Unfurl’, each track tells its own story. The tracks were mixed by revered Leeds-based guitarist/mixing engineer Chris Sharkey, who has highlighted the energy and emotion of the songs, adding punch and depth to the myriad layers and beats in a deeply immersive mix.
The Unfurl EP is the start of an exciting new project that will continue with regular releases and new collaborations as well as live performances.
Click here to download the music...
A Little Stillness - solo fretless bass EP
Finding some space in everyday life can be tricky and sometimes finding some space in music can be too… these are some simple solo meditations on my lovely custom fretless bass. Each track was swiftly conceived and recorded in a single take - I kept the signal chain pretty simple - using the Microcosm granular looper/effects pedal and the MOD Dwarf for additions effects - I tried to focus on space and melody.
This music is dedicated to Jeff Chapman who made this bass for me when I lived in Brighton, and which was completed in 2004. He was a brilliant and eccentric man whose high standards and brilliant craftsmanship made him a sought after luthier. A friend of mine (Franc O’Shea) had asked him to make a custom fretted bass based on his Tobias Classic (which Jeff had actually made into a fretless for Franc), and ironically this bass looks more like the original Tobias bass Franc had than the one he initially asked Jeff to make… I got lucky as this instrument has a really unique sound - the wood was a piece of African mahogany that was a shelf salvaged from a school that was being refitted. It must have aged for long time (at least a decade or two I reckon) so is extremely well seasoned and dried out - hence it is very lightweight, added to that is a thick slab of ebony on the fingerboard which helps its rich woody sound.
Forrest - basstronica live project
I released my first solo album, Homespun, in 2010 and it was a precursor to much of what I am doing now - with a mix of jazz improv, electronic sounds, drum and bass, funk and a ambient atmospherics - with plenty of bass.
I'm now working on a new bass-led project entitled Forrest - which had its debut gig at Stroud Jazz Festival in May 2019 - music writer Tony Benjamin had some nice things to say about the gig:
"Even more adroit use of the six-string bass via a packed pedal board and laptop enabled Forrest’s Mike Flynn to create complex tapestries of layered loops for Matt Telfer to add lyrical saxophones. Their combination of low down grooves, rich sonics and upbeat melodic phrasing was the perfect pick-me-up for an attentive (if jaded) Sunday SVA lunchtime audience."
Alchemical
Instant chemistry is something that doesn’t happen very often in music – but when it does it’s almost like it was meant to be. It’s what happened when two London-based musicians met at 2am at a festival jam session. Alchemical is the resulting collaboration between Irish-born singer songwriter Aisling Iris and London-born bassist/producer Mike Flynn. Combining their shared love of jazz, widescreen melodies, heartfelt lyrics and a melting pot of grooves, beats and styles, Alchemical is a forward-looking, free-thinking musical adventure seeking out funky new destinations from future soul-funk to next-gen jazz and beyond.
BUY our State Of Grace EP here alchemical.bandcamp.com/
J-Sonics – Seven-piece Latin-Jazz-Funk-Fusion Band
J-Sonics features some of London's finest musicians - all solo artists in their own right - but all collaborating within J-Sonics' dynamite mix of burning originals and re-tooled Latin, Brazilian and funk classics. The line-up features a powerful twin-horn attack of saxophonist Matt Telfer and trumpeter Andy Davies, alongside the explosive rhythm section of guitarist/composer Clement Regert, drummer Gabor Dornyei and powerful percussionist Jon Newey and guest vocalists Grace Rodson and Marta Capponi. Bassist Mike Flynn leads the band and writes some of the material plus Latin and funk originals from Clement alongside choice covers of lesser known latin, jazz and funk gems. The band have played London Jazz Festival, Canary Wharf Jazz Festival, Love Supreme Jazz Festival and the London Latin Jazz Festival.