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Over the span of nine years that included releasing four records, the one thing, the last thing, that Oleander front man Thomas Flowers wants to hear someone say are the words, “Same old Oleander.” The Sacramento, California based band would like to keep it fresh.   Same old, same old, is not an option.

Perhaps that’s why it’s been more than six years since Oleander has put out a record…but that will be changing soon.  The band is in the studio and is close to coming out with a new sound.

“I think the last six songs that we put together for this record are going to be our most aggressive music of this batch because we’re all pretty much digging that right now,” Flowers told Alternative Addiction. “I’m not saying we’re going to be invited to play Ozzfest...I just enjoy taking the music to another level, some place we haven’t been before. My biggest fear is being called ‘same old Oleander.’ I don’t want to see that review anywhere.”

The record is not done yet, but according to Flowers, the band has finished nine songs, and the finished product should be released in March or April barring any setbacks.
“We are what we are. We’ve always been a between band. We like the softer side of things, and we like to rev it up,” Flowers said. “One of the things I’ve noticed on the last batch of songs is we’ve gotten very aggressive. We’ve almost got a riff rock element into the new stuff that we’re putting out which is really nice. It’s really aggressive and really riffy.”

In addition to a little harder edge, look for Flowers to create a different vocal sound.

“I’m definitely trying to do something different on the vocals because if we don’t we’re just putting out the same music. I’m really trying to expand my vocal character a bit,” he said. “It’s a little bit different then we’re used to, but the product is coming out great. I just might be a 100-years old when the record comes out. We’ve got nine done now. We need another six to be able to pick 10. Basically we tend to record 15 and pick 10 and that leaves us extra songs for other stuff.”

Oleander broke out with its debut album February Son, that featured “Why I'm Here” and "I Walk Alone." Their follow-up record Unwind was released in 2001, but didn’t get the same reception.

“I’ve realized that one of the things we did with the second record was we rushed to put something out instead of taking our time and making sure everything was as solid as possible,” Flowers said. “I think the second record suffered from us thinking we could quickly put out a record and it would be fantastic. It ended up being that sophomore slump. The second record didn’t do very well, but the third record was really good because we did it a lot like we’re doing it right now.”

Oleander bounced back with Joyride in 2003, but since then has been on hiatus. They reunited to work on their latest record a few months ago, but progress has been slow. The band’s geographical differences have made recording a little more difficult and more time consuming.

“We’ve been taking our time in the studio, a little bit more time than I prefer, but with half of us living in Southern California and half of us living up north, it’s a little different. So instead of us maxing out a credit card on the record label’s dime and holding up in a studio somewhere for two months, what we’ve been doing is demoing out all the material online, then once we have everything figured out the way we like it, then we set aside studio time. We’re still just plugging away with the record.”

When the record is finally finished, the band hopes the wait will have been worth it, and the patience of their fans will pay off. “I’m excited to see what people think of the music,” Flowers said, “And I’m definitely excited to get the record done because we can’t go forward until we get the record done.”

Listen to Alternative Addiction’s Interview with Oleander
Links:
More on Oleander on Alternative Addiction

Comments:

Febuary Son is their best hands down. I have to say I'm a little skeptical, but will give it a chance.
Posted by pickle on Thursday, February 04, 2010 at 7:40:51 PM

I LOVE Oleander! I am so excited for a new album, hope they haven't changed too much!
Posted by lovey84 on Monday, January 25, 2010 at 11:50:38 AM

I have personally heard one of the new songs & IT KICKS @$$. Aaron no worries, just a little more intense, stay posted with news direct from the band at oleanderforums.net
Posted by Galvin on Friday, January 15, 2010 at 7:15:19 PM

Oleander has a Very distinctive sound and they are one of those bands I do NOT want to change. A harder record? Eh, we'll see.
Posted by Aaron on Thursday, January 14, 2010 at 9:59:33 PM

I think they're second cd was the best that they released, so it's sad to hear that they don't think that it was.
Posted by Steve on Thursday, January 14, 2010 at 12:58:43 PM

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