Interview by Kris Peters
One look at any press release from Brisbane rock outfit Full Flower Moon Band and you know everything you need to know about their music in two words.
Babyshakes Dillon.
Just try and tell me that a band whose frontperson proudly wears that monicker is anything but the real deal. In all honesty when I first came across Full Flower Moon Band and was asked to speak with the band about their new release Megaflower I almost skipped on by, thinking the band name indicated strongly that Megaflower would comprise washed-up, whimsical love songs borne out of the hippy era designed to make me feel even less in touch with reality than I already am.
Which provides another lesson here. Don't judge a book by its cover - or a band by its name in this case.
Thankfully, I hit play on the link and instantly made a mental note to be less judgemental in the future when the sweet, blues-drenched sounds of Devil filled my ears as I rushed to press confirm on the interview request.
Since releasing their 2021 EP Death Or Hell, the public has fallen in love more readily with Full Flower Moon Band, earning them the sought-after national support for The Black Crowes, allowing the band to spread their rock goodness over more of this country.
2023 release Diesel Forever solidified Full Flower Moon Band's rapidly growing stature, with all indications pointing towards Megaflower - out July 19 - magnifying that acceleration even more. HEAVY sat down with Babyshakes herself to talk about the album and upcoming tour.
"I just came home from listening to the test pressings, and I'm feeling really good," she enthused. "I finished the record a few months ago but haven't had that break to listen to it with fresh ears until now. I had a full listen through and (laughs) for the first time can say I'm pretty proud of it."
We ask Babyshakes to tell us more about the musical side of Megaflower.
"Our last album Diesel Forever was an album that gained us a larger audience," she offered, "and it was a heavy rock album. With this album, I really wanted to be as expansive and generous as I could in terms of it being a studio album and being genre-bending. I felt like I had two choices. I could double down on hard rock riffs and continue to… I guess play into the last record. Or I could be a little bit more adventurous and take a bigger risk. And I chose to do the latter."
In the full interview, Babyshakes talks more about Megaflower and what to expect, the temptation to rehash the winning formula on Diesel Forever and how she pushed herself away from doing that, how Full Flower Moon Bands music has changed over their journey, the metamorphosis of the songs during the writing and recording process, experimenting more and trusting her instincts, the band's upcoming tour which will be their biggest yet and more.