CREATIVE CONVERSATIONS 128: FULL FLOWER MOON BAND ON PUSHING TO NEW SPACES AND PROVIDING A BIGGER SPECTRUM OF SOUNDS

Interview by Sam Elliott.

Picture this; You’re having an amazing chat with such an intelligent, charismatic, kind and super-talented artist, Babyshakes Dillion. You two are talking via Zoom to bridge a gap between Australia and New York. Babyshakes is in a robotics lab showing you around whilst you are conducting the interview. Her insights are just as great as her sharp and quick wit. Now, the interview is finalised and you leave feeling stoked. One of your favourite chats you've had with an artist, well.. ever! 

When you go to review the footage once it downloads, you realise one thing. You can't actually hear the interview. Going through the seven stages of grief, you plead and simply do not want to fathom it being true. Eventually, after a mental breakdown, you have to come to terms and accept the fact the interview has essentially become unusable because the sound did not record. 

This is what happened to me, author and the interviewer Sam Elliott! I was enduring every uncomfortable and unhappy emotion under the sun. But, the iconic Babyshakes and her gorgeous PR manager, Veronica, were super kind and understanding and we had done the interview a second time.

Full Flower Moon Band; they’re enigmatic, ooze cool appeal to literally everyone. I had the honour of watching them live at Luliepalooza in Naarm in 2023. The crowd just succumbed to them. Singing songs that had not even been released, they had just purely learnt them from watching FFMB play so many times. The band were just as happy to give their love and efforts back to the fans dominating the stage with their enchanting performance. 

Full Flower Moon Band are currently in the UK, their first international tour as a band which is so exciting. They are also bloody spoiling us fans. They’ve just released their newest single, Devil. To me, it just is continued exploration of intoxicating sounds and a belter journey for the listener to partake. I don’t want to give too much awy because I want you to give it a listen here. 

They are also going on tour in Australia you can see tour info and ticketing info here. 

Finally, as if we werent spoiled enough, the band are releasing their third studio album, Megaflower this year, so be sure to keep an eye on their socials for any upcoming noise!

I had the honour of having a chat with front woman, and all round badass ‘Babyshakes’ Dillion (twice!). You can read our chat below.

FMM: Your frontwoman persona ‘Babyshakes Dillon’, walks in many shoes, from snakeskin boots to stilettos. Can you explain how Babyshakes came into the world, and what she represents for you or what she unleashes inside you?

Babyshakes Dillion: I’ve always thought it would be easier to have a public persona if it wasn’t entirely my identity. When I’m writing songs, sometimes I need a gap between me and the character saying the words, so Babyshakes was born out of that. It helps.

FMM: You are about to play your first European shows, which are your first international shows. How have you been preparing and how do you feel?

Babyshakes Dillion: Thanks to the Grant McLennan Fellowship, I just flew into London after a month in New York where I was writing new music. The first thing I’ll do is switch back into the headspace of touring again instead of being off with the fairies. I have done a fair amount of overseas touring when I was in the band Gabriella Cohen, so I’m most excited that I get to do this with my band mates who haven’t played overseas before and be international for the first time as Full Flower Moon Band.

FMM: You also have an Aus tour coming up. Can you spill the beans on what we punters can expect?

Babyshakes Dillion: Well, the new set is a combination of our classic rock, and some softer edges. I’ve deliberately pushed Full Flower to new spaces lately, providing a bigger spectrum of sounds. The audience seeing an exciting show every night is so important to me, so I’m interested in developing the headline show at bigger venues with more light and shade in the set. 

FMM: Following the release of West Side and Illegal Things, you have put Devil into the world. What does this track mean to you? 

Babyshakes Dillion: I have played Devil a few times at previous shows, and it seems to be a real crowd pleaser. I think it’s a really fun song. It’s a sexy, dark, cheeky track. Better the devil you know than the devil you don’t, with power dynamics and mind games, and then break the mood at the end and sing about how he just smokes too much weed. I don’t do that to take away from how intense the first part of the song is, but I’m really into growing and moving themes inside of a song at the moment, and that’s a great example of like a three-part journey inside a song. 

FMM: As well as the single release, we have a new visualiser for Devil. What was the process like making that one?

Babyshakes Dillion: I knew I wanted to film something while in New York City, and I spent a while trying to think of ideas. I knew we wanted to make the most of being in New York because it’s special for me to be there, but didn’t want it to be meaningless shots. So when I met Jack Bensinger and he liked the song, it was a great solution to feature a New York comedian. The concept for the video was Jack’s idea when we were brainstorming, and the one shot in the video is the first take we did. I’m so excited we got to collaborate with him on it.

FMM: You have an LP, Megaflower on the way. Can you tell me a little about the creative process behind it and when we can expect to see it in the wild?

Babyshakes Dillion: All the advice I’ve seen, is that you write great songs by practicing writing songs, and you make great albums by practicing making albums. So, I knew that whatever the outcome, we just needed to make an album. I spent a while demoing the songs myself, and workshopping it with the band. Tracked some of Luke’s drums with Keelan Sanders so I could demo with a real drum kit instead of midi drums. We then recorded with Ali Richardson out at Swanpond Studios. This was a beautiful place to record music. Then vocal tracking with Marly Lüske at Alchemix Studios, a regular spot for us. Like always, took the project and edited it alone for a while. I still haven’t been able to make a record yet without doing this part. Tony Buchen then mixed and I would say creatively directed the final stretch of the process. I usually struggle to understand the entirety of the work until it’s out in the world for a while, but what we’ve made is out July 19th and I can’t wait to see it in the world.

FMM: In our now accidentally cut video (devastated, I am so silly) you made a great point about up-and-coming bands and how it is important they aren't overwhelmed with the cost and stress of what they might think the music industry is. Could you please share some insight on that?

Babyshakes Dillion: Instead of getting dressed up and doing big, high-end production for video clips, lately I’ve really wanted to celebrate where the band is at right now with all of our visuals. I was very aware going into the record that I didn’t want to be ‘selling’ something that the band isn’t, so I’ve been using real-life moments instead of trying to fake anything. There can be pressure to spend a lot of resources to look bigger than what you are, and I just wanted to react to that by showing us exactly where we are at, because I think it’s exciting. 

Be sure to keep an eye on Full Flower Moon Band and when they’re near you, I implore you to go and see them live. You’ll be intoxicated by them.