The name is a little silly. But the music—a booty-shaking mélange of disco grooves, post-punk guitars and analog electro-rock insanity—borders on brilliant. The mercurial combo known as Flaspar has built a dedicated following thanks to relentless gigging and a sometimes-inexplicable appeal.
Who?
Keil Corcoran, 24: Vocals, synth, drums; Sulayla Rowe, 23: Synth, tambourine; Jacob Soto, 26: Drums, programming; Cody Brant, 25: Guitar.
What the hell is a "Flaspar?"
Brant claims that when he was in 11th grade at Durango High School (where he and Soto met), he saw a kid wearing a T-shirt that looked like it spelled "Flaspar" the way it was folded over. He wrote the word on a baseball, and ... well, no, it makes no sense to us either.
Who left the toilet seat up?!
Three members of the band—Corcoran, Rowe and Brant—live together in a house in the Huntridge area. The house is a testament to the randomness of Flaspar—E.T. toys and paraphernalia, a Kraftwerk poster, haphazard musical equipment, beer advertisements and very little functional furniture.
Shadow
A fifth member of Flaspar, Jesse Jackson, lives in Portland, but occasionally joins the band when he's in town. Fans might have seen him at a recent Zia Records show, where the Andy Dick-like figure stood in back randomly pounding on drums and singing backup vocals.
Street cred
Corcoran played drums in hard-core band Weirding Way. Soto played in death-metal bands. An earlier incarnation of Flaspar played at now-defunct drag club Sasha's during "Trash Sundays," the same place the Killers honed their musical chops.
Love the band! Where's a CD?
Flaspar has tracked a number of songs, but hasn't produced a finished version that compares to its live sound so far, according to Soto. The band is in the process of mixing the tracks for an A&R-quality demo.