last december, in my first ever review for the Enfield Advertiser i brought you a review of a band i was extremely excited about.
sadly, Flamboyant Bella promptly imploded in the early part of 2010 when the male 3/4s of the band decided to take a break from rock star shenanigans in favour of furthering each of their respective educations.
Which left Flo Kirton with no band.
what didn't leave Flo was a passion to continue making music, which saw her experimenting with self-production, solo compositions, seeking collaborators and trying to avoid getting a real job.
playing a crucial contributing role within 'Flambo', Flo found herself with complete creative control of her output, but has found it hard keeping herself motivated without the structure of conventional band practises.
working from her bedroom recording demo tracks with a small set up of a PC and Logic studio has put Flo in the same position as so many other people out there that are hoping to break into the mainstream and make a name for herself, but has found that the reailty of affordable recording equipment and an over saturated internet music culture is leaving her jaded.
'Due to the new-found accessibility in entering the music industry, i'd say it makes it all the harder for a small town girl to make any impact at all these days. After all, everyone knows it's who you know, not what you know..' she told me.
and going from a treasured indie-pop band that were flirting with the prospect of stardom to being a girl that signs on every week, struggles with crashing software stunting her creativity and still dreams of 'making it' has seen a sense of cynism and bitterness creeping into Flo's songwriting and also had an adverse effect of her views of the industry and her outlook of the world.
'Although i'm only 20, because of how young i was when stuff with Flamboyant Bella peaked, it's easy to feel like i've had my time to shine. I can only hope that how bitter i've become, will spur me on to better things, because one thing i have learnt is to not trust, rely on or try to make friends with 90% of the industry, 'cos all they tend to care about anymore is money and name-dropping.'
