ifitbeyourwill #166 • The Flip Phones

The Flip Phones write songs like they're in no hurry to impress you—and that's exactly the point. On this episode, the married duo breaks down Spinning Adrift, an EP that trades algorithmic urgency for melodica hum and earned harmonies. They talk craft: how classical instincts and Britpop muscle share the same arrangement, why the best lyric sometimes waits years to finish itself, and what it means to close a record on its darkest, most necessary note.

Transcript

Meeting The Flip Phones

colleyc 0:32

On Infamilial Podcast, I'm joined by the indie uh band The Flip Phones. Their name alone sparked this kind of instant nostalgia, taking us back to a time before this notifications and endless scrolling. When communication fell a little slower and maybe a little more intentional because you had so many buttons you had to push. But their music really brings you back to kind of a beautiful, melodic, I'd even say jangly, indie feel to it. I've been listening to it quite a lot, their latest record, and let me get the name of it right, Spinning Adrift, which came out in April of 2025. Great listen. You can find it on Bandcamp. And I'm really happy to have Lindsay and Ryan here from the Flip Phone. So thanks guys for joining me uh on this beautiful Saturday where we're starting to feel maybe spring in the air a little bit. Yeah, thanks for having us.

Lindsay 1:24

Glad to be here.

Origins And Early Collaboration

colleyc 1:26

So my usual approach to these first questions is kind of your background a little bit. And I'm I'm particularly how did you guys find one another? How did your paths cross so that you know and a musicality kind of formed or a bond formed around the music that you made? Ryan, why don't you you start us off? What how what was the circumstances around your union as musicians?

Ryan 1:52

Yeah, and so I played in a band, North of Canada, with childhood friends for many years. And through the band, one of our bass players actually met Lindsay at one of his other band shows. And so we uh we first connected and started dating through that through that connection, one of the band members. And he he ended up actually marrying us seven years later after we met. So we've been together for quite a long time. But you know, Lindsay is a classically trained musician who played flute and piano and piccolo. And early on in our relationship, you know, we we had a shared love of music. She jumped in with that old band on keyboard sometimes, maybe like playing a part in the studio, uh, jumping in live with us. And somehow, you know, we just started working on songs together on the side that weren't really a fit for that band. And that that was sort of how we transitioned from being in a relationship to being in a band, but music was always there from the get-go, Linzo, anything.

Lindsay 2:50

Yeah. And I I had always liked the behind the scenes stuff more, you know, being in, you know, just being in my own living room or being in a the recording studio. But playing live with Ryan's old band, North of Canada, kind of gave me that just before a piano recital feeling. You know, you get you get the nerves, but you get excited too. So I liked kind of bringing in some different ideas to the songs without changing the intent from from that band before we ever even moved into doing stuff, just the two of us.

Ryan 3:18

Yeah. And we we had we started to get a critical mass of songs together actually many years ago in 2009 and started putting some tracks down together.

Lindsay 3:29

Yeah. Then I mean, that was Moran said 2009. So then life happened, and then fast forward to 2019 when we thought, hey, we really need to get our act together and do something with this stuff that we already have. So we didn't pick up the project again in until 2019.

Ryan 3:46

But yeah, but then and that's really where that picking that back up, that's where the band came together, right? So we went into the studio with, you know, a little more than half a dozen tracks that were unfinished, sat down with the producer, the three of us kind of hammered it out. And I think that's where you started to see the genesis of the flip phone sound, right? The way we did the vocals, the melodica wasn't really on any of the tracks until those sessions. And that that was what became better in the dark. But that was that over six months. I think we really figured out kind of our sound and our name too.

Lindsay 4:19

And then bringing us to today, we've been lucky enough to play with a couple of other musicians and expand our work beyond just the duo of the phone. So that's kind of brings us to today.

Finding A Distinct Sound

colleyc 4:31

Amazing. And like, what was the difference between like North of Canada, Ryan? You were saying was, you know, a band that you were playing in. How did the songs become their own and have to be flip phone? How did they have to not be, you know, North of Canada? What was the realization that you had that you actually had something that was different on your in your hands that you were going to pursue?

Ryan 4:55

Yeah, great question. I think that the songs probably started more on the acoustic guitar for the flip phones, where the North of Canada songs, a little bit of a heavier rock band. I think there was more focus and interest in like melody and lyrics. I think, again, kind of like with the the other band, maybe the priority was on the guitar interplay and really rocking out. Not that we didn't care about those other things there too, but I think certainly with the flip phones and the song, those songs. I think you know, Lindsay in particular puts a premium on things like melody and lyrics. Um, and she kind of holds us accountable for doing that.

Lindsay 5:32

Yeah, it's nice to be able to be part of a a duo where you can actually hear the lyrics rather than just uh you know a rock band where where people are just turning up the volume, not yeah, totally.

colleyc 5:44

And what is that interplay? How does a song come to be a flip phone song? Ryan, do they originate from you noodling or you know, Lindsay, do you bring pieces in? Like how does a song come to be where you're both it sounds like it's such a partnership, your your voices anyway, as they interplay with one another. But how do how does a song come to be?

Ryan 6:06

Yeah, great question. So I think that early on we had kind of a a lot of the early songs started a certain way, which is I had these, you know, ideas on the guitar, right? Acoustic guitar, and and we would work together to build melody and lyrics and and harmony and and other parts on top of it. But I think that we've actually really evolved our process quite a bit. I don't know if you want to talk about some of the other ways that we've been writing songs.

Songwriting Methods Evolve

Lindsay 6:32

Yeah, I mean, I think the answer is it's it's different for every song and every little project we have. In an ideal world, something happens where, you know, I'll I'll read something that it kind of inspires me and try to write some lyrics and then kind of bring them to Ryan and say, Hey, what do you think? Do we have something here? And he just like, you know, a musical idea pops in his head and then everything just kind of comes together really easily. And uh and same also with the music. Sometimes Ryan will noodle on a musical idea and I'll say, Oh, I think I've I've got some you know lyrical ideas to fit that. But then on the other end of the spectrum, we have some song ideas or fragments that are still living either in our heads or in a songbook that you know we haven't managed to do anything with, and and those are yeah, they're still worth revisiting, but they they may need some more work. So everything doesn't come together super easily.

colleyc 7:27

And I think that's kind of like every musician's kind of they always have a grab bag of of you know phone notes or you know, a lyric scrolled on a paper somewhere that all of these beautiful things that can actually come back into play over time. Has that been a case with newer songs that you've been working on that they're they're they're from a past like quite a long time ago? I mean, I'm trying to, is that nostalgia also like of the flip phone name also going back in time and and pulling out ideas from a a time that's passed?

Lindsay 8:02

Yeah, I mean, a little bit. I mean, we we definitely embody that Luddite kind of vibe with the flip phones, you know, when we were in the studio, we were still T9 texting and actually had flip phones, which was the genesis of our name. But for our first album, Better in the Dark, we had some songs that we had going for a long time. And then we had others that we wrote while we were recording the album. So I think we're kind of you know, just like a flip phone, maybe we're a mix of old and new.

colleyc 8:35

Right. Right.

Ryan 8:35

And and I I would just add that I think, you know, we draw on a lot of influences from I don't know, I don't want to call it like a simpler era, but a different era. I think Lindsay grew up playing classical pianos, so she has a lot of kind of classical music influences. And then for me, you know, I think that my musical influences, you can draw a straight line from the 1960s bands like the Beatles and the Kinks straight through until, you know, I I love bands like Blur and Gorillas and and others and and more modern acts that kind of draw on those same traditions. So I do think that we have a lot of a lot of influence from that perspective.

colleyc 9:15

Right, right. And am I am I wrong in saying that it's it's a very do-it-yourself kind of band as well? Like the footphones in itself as like you guys take care of pretty much everything from from the songwriting to you know the end result of a CD or a show or whatever, wherever you put yourselves forward. Can you can you talk a little bit to that of that shifting of a little bit of how your sound and your processes have kind of changed over time from when you were first writing songs to you know this latest batch that came out in 2025?

Old Ideas, New Songs

Ryan 9:53

Yeah, sure. Well, I think you know, we've talked a little bit about how the the songs were written, but you you are right. We we've we basically how we our creative process starts with the two of us, right? And and our kind of collaboration. And we, while we have roles that we're better at, maybe, we do cross over, right? You know, it's not just one person writing lyrics or one person writing music. It's very kind of back and forth. Um, but we do have some kind of, I would call like the next circle of collaborators that are kind of critical to us getting to where we are. I think, and the and the two that have been there the longest would probably be uh Dave from Innovation Station Music Studio. He he's produced both of those EPs. He he played the only three people on the first one are me, Lindsay, and Dave, played drums. And then on the second one, our bass player, Phoenix, joined in on a few songs, but uh it's the same kind of approach. And then the other, I think another critical collaborator is uh Beth Walrand. She's our she's done all the artwork for all our for all our releases, and and that's really important to us. And I think we just love working with her, and she's she's wonderful.

colleyc 10:59

You can tell she gets you. Like the album covers and the music just seem to such a beautiful marriage together. The complimentary of the side of both, they just work so well together. Well, and shout out to those collaborators. I mean, uh you get to a certain stage where you kind of need more input, right? To kind of like keep pushing forward, marching up those stairs of you know what we call success or what we think see success as being. How does it how does the relationship and the band what's that dynamic? Because I'll I I'll I'll say this. Oftentimes songwriting is a very personal, cathartic, uh journalistic endeavor. How do how do you guys navigate what you're gonna put out there for people to listen to? How deep do you guys get? How deep into your relationship do you guys get when you're penning these tunes that you put forth?

DIY Ethos And Key Collaborators

Lindsay 11:53

We have well, it's it's a good question. We have some songs that are are personal in kind of a quirky way, maybe an unexpected way. I don't think we're writing, you know, full out love songs and you know, that would be recognizable to a random listener. And then I come from a journalism background. So telling stories through song is always something that's really important to me. So sometimes we're telling stories that I've read in the news or telling other people's stories. And I think it's really a fun part of the creative process to come together with Ryan and be able to do that, to put kind of word and feeling behind both our story and our songs and then other people's stories as well.

colleyc 12:40

Right, right. I think, yeah, like how do you guys how do you navigate that as well on from your perspective of relationship band? Like, do you draw lines? Do you have like, okay, we're not talking band anymore the rest of the night, or like how does that evolve over?

Ryan 12:57

Yeah, I I think that, you know, like any band and and being married, right? Yeah, adds an interesting dynamic to it, right? Not everybody has like sort of the same objectives exactly, right? Yeah, you know, there's there's like that area of overlap, but I think there's areas where you might have different kind of values and and different priorities. And and obviously, like being in a band and doing it all yourself for the most part is a lot of work. And it's you know, how do you find that balance? You know, are the band's important, but our relationship's more important. And I think that um I but I but I think it actually it's it ultimately like the best part about it is like the creative process, right? Creating together. We can't always, you know, we don't always have the same energy for it, right? Like I might be standing there with my guitar and Lindsay walks in the door and I'm like, oh, check this out. And she's like, I just had a day. Like, Steve for tomorrow. But but I think that I think that ultimately like having this ability to create something together is is is is one of the best parts of the group in and our relationship. Yeah, and and Lindsay did mention we did have one song that's like super personal, uh When the Lights Go Low in our first release, that's that actually we played that at our wedding. And we kind of wrote it about our relationship. But yeah, the rest of them, there's some personal stuff in there, but it's not like we're kind of laying our our like blood on the tracks as much.

Lindsay 14:27

And in terms, you know, Ryan does a ton, maybe 90% of some of the you know, the social media and the business side of the band, which I really appreciate. But I think we know we are each other's checks and balances, you know, when he gets too aspirational and says, Hey, we're gonna play 35 shows this year, I'm like, oh wait, hold on, you know, maybe we should take a trip or something where we don't do band stuff. So yeah, yeah.

Writing Personal Vs Reported Stories

colleyc 14:54

Like finding the finding that balance. I I I imagine it's a constant negotiation as you go through. And like what is what would success feel like for you guys? Like I kind of touched on a little bit before, and I know success is a can be a loaded word, and but like what how do you what do you guys want to do without the flip phones from here on in? Like if you're looking like aspirationally, what what what would you guys feel successful about having this band and and having it go forward?

Lindsay 15:24

I'm gonna go straight to a pipe dream. I I would love to see a flip phone song or maybe multiple songs in a TV show or a movie. I think it sounds a little cheesy, but I definitely discovered a lot of bands that way myself, indie bands. And I I think that it would help complement the storytelling that we try to convey in our music. So, you know, we've we've tried a couple avenues there, but haven't had any traction yet. But I think that would be a really a fun thing, whether it's short term or long term.

colleyc 15:56

I love that. Yeah, I love that. I can see that totally here, totally, and you know a a a show or a movie or a documentary of some kind, like Yeah, I think it'll be fun. Yeah, because it you're your music elicits emotion, you know, it's not you have to respond to it, you know, and I think that that's the listenability of it. It's just so it it touches you as a person, you know, and you can relate to it, which is which I love. I love music like that. Ryan, what about you? What's what's that long-term light at the end of the tunnel, if if we could put it in those terms?

Ryan 16:32

Yeah, that's a great question. I think that as I've gotten older and as we've played in bands and made music and gone through periods where we didn't make music and didn't play, right? I think that for me, I've modulated my my my vision. And I I think the most important thing is that we kind of keep doing it. I think that for the songs that we have out there, we've got more, right? That I'm like, I I I really want to record them and release them and perform them. And you know, the nice thing about the communities that we get to participate in, right? Like whether it's meeting someone like yourself or meeting people in our local scene, is there are like a lot of there's like a lot of positive kind of validation and feedback to be found at that level. You know, you don't have to have, you know, cha people, I guess, try to chase streams or or whatever. And I, you know, I understand why they're doing that. But like I think, I think at the at the end of the day, you know, we just like or I like creating, I like writing music. I like and I and when you record it, it's like, hey, I've got this something, something that's gonna last now, right? And and you know, you get out there and play it a little bit and people respond to it or don't respond to it. And that that's that's that's cool. You know, I I don't know. Sorry, I've I've my my vision isn't like like maybe we want to be on SNL too. But like it's probably not gonna happen, you know?

Balancing Marriage And Band Life

colleyc 17:52

Right. No, but I love that you're you keep it human, you know, like the creativity and and the wanting to do it because there's a need in you guys to keep doing it. I just love that because you know it's it's a r it's from the heart, and it's not just like let's try to make the next thing, you know. It's much more about the feelings and the the mood and you guys behind it who are humans.

Ryan 18:16

We went through, we did, we performed at a this kind of they called it like a salon Arlington. Arlington, Virginia is where we live. And and it's supposed to be like a Parisian salon where was it this bakery, but they had an artist or a couple of artists, maybe like an author and like us as a band, and everybody kind of like spoke about their art and and had like 30 minutes or something, or in our case, we played a few songs. And I remember talking to one of the artists, and she had written a book, and we were we were kind of talking about it, and she's you know, the creative process, and she was just like, Yeah, yeah, you're an artist, you need to create. That's what you need to do, right? And even though we don't we're not full-time artists, like you know, we have that enough of that artistic drive or or or need in us to create something sometimes, even if it's not as right.

colleyc 19:02

Well, it's always in you, right? You carry it wherever you go. Yeah, sometimes you turn it on a bit higher up than other times. I I want to thank you guys, it's been really fun talking with you. I love talking to people that are together as well about their craft. I wanted to just kind of end on the latest record you put out. It's an EP, spinning adrift, really, really powerful five-song set, beautiful flow from one song to the next. Could you guys like open the door to how that came to be, this record? How what were the steps that got put in place for it to to be out here in the world in our ether? You wanna take that?

Lindsay 19:43

Uh you can go for it.

colleyc 19:44

Okay.

Redefining Success And Creative Drive

Ryan 19:46

Well, I think I think it's sort of obviously it starts with the songs, right? During COVID, I think in particular, Lindsay had like a prolific surge of lyric writing, where uh, you know, she mentioned this this story-driven writing. So It's a sign, Tumbleweed, and uh, where the space falls away were all directly inspired by stories that she had read in like the New York Times or something like that. And so we set, we took the words and set music to it. And then the other two are a little bit more like personal songs that were kind of written through a different process. But we yeah, we had maybe eight songs that we went into the studio to record not long after we put out Better in the Dark, and we really wanted to capitalize on kind of the momentum, right? Yeah, we put something out, we're playing, let's go in and record. Took longer than we thought. You know, after it took about uh 12 months to record the five. We we kind of set the other ones aside for kind of future consideration, you know, they needed more work. But we thought the five had like a really nice flow. And I think that also when we started recording, we thought we were gonna end on a more upbeat note. We had some songs that aren't on the record that are kind of more positive, but we actually thought ending on a darker note with where the space falls away kind of made sense for where we were. There were some personal challenges, right, over the the the time we were recording, and as well as, you know, I think just in the world at large, there was a lot of a lot of challenges that people were facing. And so it's not without hope, the record, but it we we did like the idea of ending on some of the extreme, the most probably the most extreme sounds we've ever put on record, committed to record at the end of Where the Space Falls Away.

colleyc 21:25

Amazing. Well, I think that's a track. So, listeners, stay tuned after this. We'll play that track for you. It's a great track, and I think it's yeah, like you said, the net it's waiting for its next step. So, my final question what can we look forward to in the flip phones come 2026 into the future? Where where are you guys at? What's what's going to be happening?

Lindsay 21:48

Well, as we wrap up the spinning adrift era, we're excited to have a few videos to share with our fans out there soon. We did some performance videos, and then we're going to be working on Another more narrative video coming up in a couple months. And we're back in the studio working on some other projects. We've got a couple singles that we hope to release later this year. One about the devil statue and the GoVSD. And another one about the GoToNetter. So excited to hear that coming up. Eventually I think this will go on an album. We're gonna go to the single round, I think for 2020.

Ryan 22:44

Sometimes it takes a little longer than we can.

colleyc 23:07

Thank you. All their music from the end camera. Their album amazing, the artwork. Again, I want to just come back to that because it's really well done. I wish you guys all the best.

Ryan 23:28

Yeah, Chris, thanks so much for having us. I really appreciate it and love what you're doing to kind of help you know musicians like ourselves get our get our stories out there.

colleyc 23:36

Absolutely. I love to archive stories, and I always say to guests too, I mean, imagine ten years down the road listening back to this. Like it might be fun. So you take care, guys.

Ryan 23:50

Thank you.

Why End On A Darker Note

What’s Next For 2026

The Flip Phones 24:14

All she wanted was to see To feel the magic in the free. She found it out the door. Found a new world to explore. Finding spots to run. She ventured far from the home. There's a force below. Something from so long ago. She's filled away. It's the grid. Where the space falls away. Where the space falls away. She wants it to be free. To feel the energy. The arch points away from here. A silent way to decide She's still the way Into the Red Where the Space Balls Away Where the Space Balls Away. Swaying in the streets. Where earth in heaven me. She heads down to the gorge. The last path shall ever floor. She sail the way into the red. Where the space falls away. Where the space falls away.