Flow Lines celebrate release of new EP ‘Fuse Box’

Aug 16, 2023

Since forming in Perth 12 years ago, alt-rock trio Flow Lines have learnt how to do things differently as a band. Flow Lines started off as a side project of local legends The Sensitive Drunks, who disbanded when guitarist Duncan Mah moved over east in 2012. While vocalist/bassist Dave Wallace and drummer Mark Eaton went on to form local rockers The City Views, they maintained contact with Duncan Mah and continued creating and releasing music as Flow Lines, coordinating their efforts online rather than by jamming in the same room. Upon the release of their long-awaited new EP Fuse Box, BRAYDEN EDWARDS spoke to Duncan Mah to find out how they made their band work in their new reality.

Congrats on the released of this new EP Fuse Box! How long has this been in the works for and how does it feel to be finally releasing it?

It feels great to finally release the EP. Flow Lines started off as a side project when we where playing in The Sensitive Drunks but the process was long to finally record and master songs we thought where good enough to put out. It’s so good to finally “get it out there” so to speak.

How and when did the band come together? We might recognise some of Flow Lines’ members from other bands too?

Yes Flow Lines started back about 12 years ago during The Sensitive Drunks days, a band we all played in with our good friend Seb. Duncan moved over east and The Sensitive Drunks split. Dave and Mark remained in Perth to form The City Views. Life and distance got in the way but we finally got something out. We also teamed up recently to raise funds for charity covering Suzanne Vega’s Luka, which I saw you covered in an article.

With you guys living on opposite ends of the country, how did you go about recording and releasing it? Did you have to do things a bit differently given the circumstances?

Yes we had to do differently in the sense of coordinating everything over the internet. Same as what we did with the cover of Luka, everyone has their own recording equipment at home. This EP was recorded all together in Perth but did more tinkering after it was recorded and then more tinkering (laughs).

How does this release compare to music you written before? Did you think about what direction you wanted to go with this, or was a natural progression?

It was a natural progression, but there’s a difference in the songwriting. Dave and Seb were always the main songwriters (in The Sensitive Drunks) and in The City Views Dave is one of the main songwriters. Whereas in Flow Lines I’m the one writing the songs. As far as playing we’ve spent countless hours of rehearsal time together, so playing together comes pretty naturally.

And how about lyrically? Is there a theme or idea you feel that ties this release together?

There is a theme per song not over the EP, songs about complicated relationships right through to someone “losing their way.” For the record none of these lyrics are about personal lived experiences. A topic is chosen then fictional characters are created to reflect a story around the topic.

What plans do you have in the future? Any gigs coming up where we can hear these tunes live?

We plan to record more and there are plenty of plans including doing a launch in Perth. We have already started to organise this for later in the year when we can time it all. While Dave and Mark live in Perth I’ll need to fly over to launch the release live. Then there’ll be some more gigs and releases to come!

Fuse Box by Flow Lines