One Hundred Flowers
Austin, Texas, United States | SELF
Music
Press
“Incredibly lovely and complex work, ten tracks (Mechanical Bride) of wistful, poppy bliss layered with dramatic sweeps and gorgeous vocal harmonies.” - Texas Music Matters, Austin Music Minute, Laurie Gallardo
“Incredibly lovely and complex work, ten tracks (Mechanical Bride) of wistful, poppy bliss layered with dramatic sweeps and gorgeous vocal harmonies.” - Texas Music Matters, Austin Music Minute, Laurie Gallardo
"...One Hundred Flowers similarly reflects its founder’s steampunk fantasies—though the brainchild of Harrison Speck does so in a strummier, communal fashion reminiscent of Neutral Milk Hotel." - AV Club
Mechanical Bride is a smart album full of melodic modern pop compositions. The songs feature loads of vocal harmonies and thick busy arrangements. Some of the band's tunes occasionally remind us a bit of Chris Stamey. Fans of underground pop will find a lot to love here. Our initial favorite cuts include "Rat Trap," "Three Dresses," "Echoes Diminished," and "Shadow Show." Nice stuff delivered with integrity and style.
- Babysue
With an into similar to DeVotchka’s famous “How It Ends,” the song can only be indie-pop gold. Continuing with a quick drum beat, icy bass chords and a trilling electric guitar, “Rat Trap” sets the mood for an urban evening doused in red wine and 100 of your closest friends. - Magnet Magazine
With an into similar to DeVotchka’s famous “How It Ends,” the song can only be indie-pop gold. Continuing with a quick drum beat, icy bass chords and a trilling electric guitar, “Rat Trap” sets the mood for an urban evening doused in red wine and 100 of your closest friends. - Magnet Magazine
“I like to imagine that they’d bring good craft beers, plenty of wholesome snacks to share and their gear in the trunk to set up an impromptu moog and harmony-filled space chamber pop jam session.” - Party Ends
“I like to imagine that they’d bring good craft beers, plenty of wholesome snacks to share and their gear in the trunk to set up an impromptu moog and harmony-filled space chamber pop jam session.” - Party Ends
“From little shoots acorns do grow. In close to two years, One Hundred Flowers never once threw down the opportunity to play. That perseverance in promoting community harvests its own reward. Their music has been described as “complex, weird, and beautiful”. Jangling, but seldom slight.” - Sibling Shot
“From little shoots acorns do grow. In close to two years, One Hundred Flowers never once threw down the opportunity to play. That perseverance in promoting community harvests its own reward. Their music has been described as “complex, weird, and beautiful”. Jangling, but seldom slight.” - Sibling Shot
One Hundred Flowers are set to release their Lp "Mechanical Bride" later on this year. Mechanical Bride has take two years to polish, as the band has slowly been evolving theirs sound maturing in every performance; the album's sound resembles a melting pot of unique rhythms (sometimes psychedelic) - Indiehere
One Hundred Flowers are set to release their Lp "Mechanical Bride" later on this year. Mechanical Bride has take two years to polish, as the band has slowly been evolving theirs sound maturing in every performance; the album's sound resembles a melting pot of unique rhythms (sometimes psychedelic) - Indiehere
Keys, moog and other effects flirt with multiple voices melting together, guitar, electric piano, trumpet, even some woodblock to create a sound that owes as much to musical machinery as it does to organic indie folk. - Austinist
Keys, moog and other effects flirt with multiple voices melting together, guitar, electric piano, trumpet, even some woodblock to create a sound that owes as much to musical machinery as it does to organic indie folk. - Austinist
"Very interesting band. Two guitars, two keys, drums. This is no verse-verse-chorus stuff, it is complex, and weird, and beautiful. Music that requires you to pay attention, but rewards you for doing so. Absolutely loved the two female voices layered over the lead's - haunting and goosebump-inducing. Really wonderful. Bought the EP, which is outstanding. Can't wait to catch them again." - Adventures in Live Music Blog
Discography
Lapses and Losses, EP, 2013
Mechanical Bride, LP, 2010
Some Summers Fall, EP, 2009
"Rat Trap", First Single from Mechanical Bride
Photos
Bio
In the summer of 2007, Harrison Speck's bedroom recordings began taking shape.
After months of experimentation, he found himself making musical compositions interacting with impressionistic lyrical content and melodies dictated in their rhythm.
Complicated yet catchy, the songs reflected the nature of conflict, both lyrically and musically. A collection of seven songs from this time period became the EP titled Some Summer Falls. The enthusiastic response from the Austin music community prompted Speck to recruit a band capable of adapting the original material to live performance, which became the band One Hundred Flowers in the spring of 2008.
Using Speck's original songs as a starting point, but now featuring Eva Mueller on keys, Amber Nepodal on the piano and trumpet, Gary Calhoun James on bass, and Curtis Henderson on drums, One Hundred Flowers has formed its own unique identity. Inwardly focused songwriting is accented by soaring harmonies, layered keyboards, dynamic swells, and unconventional rhythms.
One Hundred Flowers played regionally on a regular basis, establishing close ties to the music communities of Dallas/Fort Worth, Denton, Houston, and San Antonio.
Their live show has received acclaim from both their peers and press, describing them as "complex, weird, and beautiful. Music that requires you to pay attention, but rewards you for doing so." In August 2009 they began recording their debut album, Mechanical Bride, with Erik Wofford at Cacophony Recorders. Over the course of six months, they rearranged, recorded, and polished a mix of old and new songs, which flourished into a dense and emotive piece of art.
Following tour they returned home to create a buzz during SXSW 2011 playing various shows that included the Muzzle of Bees Backyward BBQ with The Loom, Yellow Ostrich, and The Luyas. Their Stem and Leaf party included performances by friends Joan of Arc, The Eastern Sea, The Lovely Sparrows, Marmalakes, The Lemurs, The Hi-Tones, and The Bubbles.
One Hundred Flowers have toured the west coast and midwest in the last two years, playing Phoenix, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco, Kansas City, Omaha, Chicago, and many more.
The group released the song cycle Lapses and Losses as an EP in the fall of 2013. The EP carefully interweaves a handful of melodies between the songs, creating a subtle patchwork of unconscious familiarity. Currently, One Hundred Flowers is working on a follow up EP of singles to compliment the recent release while making three videos for the current EP.
Links
