Flesh of Morning Interview
Flesh of Morning is a darkwave duo comprised of Faiza Kracheni and Travis Benson. Since their inception in 2020, they have released two cassettes, a 7″, a flexi, and a full-length. The two deliver contemplative dancy, minimal synth inspired, darkwave. As soon as I heard their single “Death Becomes Bitter” in August of 2020, I was hooked.
Faiza and Travis were kind enough to answer some of our questions about the band.
Would you each please give your name and respective instrument?
Faiza: Faiza Kracheni, vocals
Travis: I’m Travis. I play all the synths and do the programming.
Photo by: Isaac Rowry
How did Flesh of Morning start? How did you all meet? How long have you all known each other?
Faiza: Travis & I have been friends for approaching 15 years now. We met through punk music and as punks do —our community of friends & bands crossed paths. We’ve both always been interested in all types of music so it was a bit of a “right time, right people” sort of situation with starting Flesh of Morning.
Travis: I had been wanting to start a minimal synth project for awhile but never could really find the time between my other obligations. I had some time off at the start of COVID, which afforded me the ability to spend a little more time on music. Having known Faiza for a long time, I thought that she would be a great person to collaborate with. I started sending her some things I had been working on and she would put vocals to it and it just seemed to click.
Why did you choose Flesh of Morning as a name?
Faiza: The name is from a short film from experimental pioneer Stan Brakhage. Outside of music, both Flesh of Morning and myself are very influenced by art & film. I am also an experimental filmmaker and am always looking for ways to bridge my love of film & music.
Since being a band, what is your favorite band story or experience?
Travis: I think just seeing the response to what we’ve done so far has been incredible. Due to geographic distance and our schedules, putting together a tour at this point in time is logistically difficult but we are hoping to play some shows in the near future.
Faiza: Doing a cover of Britney Spears “Everytime” was a major moment for me. Pushing myself vocally and also Travis experimenting with a cover of an ICONIC pop song was so much fun.
Who are your biggest influences and who would you say that you sound like?
Faiza: I’ll talk a bit about influences excluding music. As an experimental filmmaker and artist, I am very inspired in all my work by cinema & visual images. Some major visual influences in my work are Maya Deren, Stan Brakhage, and Man Ray. I am also inspired by books and poetry. I love Jean-Michel Basquiat, Harmony Korine, Simone de Beauvoir, Jorge Luis Borges and the list goes on. Sound is obviously a huge inspiration of mine and I tend to draw inspiration from scoring & soundtracks to films —everything from Italian Horror pioneers to weird & creepy experimental shorts. I don’t really think any of these things listed “influence” directly Flesh of Morning but rather are ongoing inspiration of my life as an artist & what inspires me to create.
Travis: From a music perspective, I think we draw a lot of influences from different corners of the synth spectrum. I spent a lot of my younger years in the power electronics/industrial scene so projects like early SPK and anything on Broken Flag or Industrial Records has played a big role in my interpretation of synth music. More apparent influences would be anything from Italo acts like Clio to the French scene with Jacno to stuff like Strawberry Switchblade. Ultimately, I’m just here to make dance music.
What does Post-Punk mean to you and what do you think of the Post-Punk/Darkwave community in recent years?
Travis: I don’t know, I think there’s so many different interpretations of the genre. When someone says post-punk do they mean stuff like The Chameleons or do they mean stuff like Essential Logic? The two sound pretty different to me, so a term like post-punk to me serves as more of a catch-all for anything in that realm. It has been interesting seeing the scene fluctuate over time, though. Growing up in Portland, Oregon, the scene went through it’s own post-punk renaissance in the late 2000’s that had a much stronger punk vibe than a lot of the scene now. It’s cool to see how people interpret that style differently.
Could you briefly describe the music-making process? How do you write your songs?
Travis: It usually just starts with me messing around on a synth and accidentally playing something that catches my ear. I record it and throw it in a collection of other ideas. Typically, Faiza will hear them and we’ll agree on what sounds interesting enough to keep playing with. Eventually, it turns into a song and Faiza will track vocals. We end up scrapping a lot of material because it just didn’t resonate with us completely.
What are the lyrics about?
Faiza: Anything and everything. When I play in punk bands, I tend to feel angry and really channeled as far as my lyrics and writing. With Flesh of Morning, so much of it is an experiment with my voice, sound, and words. I write about everything from inner personal trauma, dreams, thoughts, politics, nightmares, reality, so much. Nothing is off limits. Which in a way, is very freeing as a creator.
How has your music evolved since you first began playing music together?
Faiza: I think all things evolve the more you create. Nothing should stay the same, that’s boring. I embrace change and think it’s exciting.
Travis: Musically, I think it’s gotten a bit poppier, which I love. Overall, I had no experience with audio engineering going into this project and we’ve handled pretty much all production on our end with the exception of mastering the LP, which was done by Will Killingsworth at Dead Air Studio. So I think there is a clear progression in the quality of the sound and mix between our first demo tape and the new LP.
What are some things that inspire you to keep playing music?
Travis: Really just the need to constantly be creating something. I have enough irons in the fire that fulfill that role that Flesh of Morning has really become more of a passion project where we are able to take our time with things.
Faiza: I think I will always have the drive to create art & music. As Travis said, you just have this urge inside to constantly be creating something.
How is the music scene in Austin?
Faiza: Well, COVID definitely completely shattered the local music communities. From festivals like SXSW that bring much needed business to local venues to clubs completely shuttering due to the heartbreaking losses (that continue). People are slowly starting to play again but I am not sure if you’re aware —Texas is REALLY fucked up politically and there continues to be many barriers for working class folks to access basic needs (like housing and food).
Who are some of your favorite bands to listen to?
Travis: With respect to new bands, the ones that have caught my ear the most recently have been Division of Doubt, Body Maintenance, Old Moon, Tragic Figures, Docile Bodies, and Crime of Passing. If I had to name my top 5 bands of all-time though, in no particular order it would be Wire, Sparks, New Order, Cocteau Twins, and Pixies.
Faiza: Autopsy’s Mental Funeral is always on heavy rotation. Florida death metal in general is something I listen to a lot.
What are your plans for the future?
Travis: Write more, play more.
Faiza: What Travis said. And try not to die.
We’d like to thank Faiza and Travis so much!
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