Jason Bronson - Floral Portrait Interview
Tell me about growing up in Savannah, GA. When did you first begin to fall in love with music, more specifically the keys? Was this something that was relevant around your household growing up? Do you have any siblings? Who were some of your earliest influences in your more formative years?
Thanks for having me, and that’s a great question. I grew up in a small town called Guyton, Georgia, which is about a half hour drive away from Savannah. I lived right across from my elementary school. There was a music teacher there named Mr. Paul Petit that could play the piano extraordinarily well. He would play Charlie Brown and Stevie Wonder songs, and just about anything that could ‘wow’ an audience – kind of like Liberace. I didn’t really think about what I wanted to do when I grew up or how he would be relevant to that. However, I was really observant – especially of adults – because kids were hard to watch and didn’t have style yet. I saw a great intensity, personality, and even comedic value in what he was doing. He really expressed himself well with the piano, and that always stuck with me. Music was almost entirely irrelevant around my household growing up. Neither of my parents were particularly interested in music as an art form. It was moreso for background noise. I was exposed to some church hymnal music and also to Top 40 radio. My aunt was always around, and she would always be singing or humming around the house. She sung in her church’s choir. It’s funny because I always say that kind of stuff didn’t really influence me, but now that I think about it, it definitely did. She helped me get in touch with a piano teacher early on, too, which was of course foundational to my music career. I have an older brother, and I do think he got into music a little bit before me. He was interested in that wave of 2000s nu-metal and still is. It wasn’t bad, but I just could not be bothered to get into it. Our music interests are entirely separate. I do believe music is important to him, though, which is nice. I was gifted my very first CD in the first grade. It was The Best of The Beach Boys (10 Best Series). I still have it in my car today. The Beach Boys changed the way I appreciate and listen to music. I tried to absorb all I could from Brian Wilson as if I knew him personally.
When and where did you see your first show and what ultimately inspired you to pursue a life in music? I understand you also play keys in Freeman Leverett Band and Sunset Honor Unit. Before we get into Floral Portrait, can you tell me about these outfits?
Going out to concerts was not something that happened for me growing up. It was not until I moved to Athens, GA for college that I started to really experience shows and show culture. I would go out to see my friends’ bands, or any of the large collective of Elephant 6, or Elephant 6-adjacent bands whenever I could. It was all I wanted to do. Fast forward by a few years: Freeman’s band is great. We’ve been friends for a long time now, and we initially started playing together in Delorean Gray. Freeman’s music has an uplifting energy about it that is both infectious and life-affirming. The energy that he and the band can create in a room is very hard to explain unless you’ve been there, but it’s extremely special and I’m honored to be a part of it. Sunset Honor Unit is very special to me as well. To work side-by-side (literally to my left and to my right) with some of the most talented “dueling” songwriters in Georgia is a plus: Drew Kirby and Jacob Chisenhall. We recently finished up a residency at Argosy in East Atlanta, which was sort of this weekly amped-up honky tonk variety show. It was extremely successful, and I’ve never had as much fun playing music as I’ve had with those guys.
What initially inspired you to start Floral Portrait and when was this exactly? How did you land on the name and what were you most eager to express and explore with this project? You released your already classic self-titled debut in 2023 on Marching Banana Records, a label already familiar with your work with SHU.
Thanks for the compliment on the record. I’m glad you think it’s a classic. I had always wanted to write an album like Pet Sounds. I think a lot of young musicians do, because they hear what Brian Wilson was doing, and they daydream of doing it themselves. I’m no different, but I actually realized that I had the know-how and connections to make it happen sometime during my senior year of college (2017-2018). I was living in Athens and surrounded by some of the best up-and-coming musicians in the state, whether it be musicians in “bands”, or musicians in the UGA orchestra. I rallied and sweet-talked my friends into making this record with me. It was made with a lot of love and care, and with a whole lot of patience. We [Jake and I] cycled through a few different names before we landed on Floral Portrait. There’s no special story to how it came about, other than the fact that it somehow matches our personalities quite well, and that speaks for itself. Yes, so Marching Banana, ran by Drew Kirby, is a DIY tape label and loose coalition of outsiders making what we would call “pop music” in and around Atlanta and Athens. Again, I’m very observant – and I always saw them as these impossibly cool local guys (they are only a couple years older) that had the best local releases in Athens. Time and time again, they have proven to find exactly what makes artists so special here in Georgia, and they’ve bottled a little magic with each and every release. Check it out - there’s a rich history to explore there of nearly 100 releases.
I would love to know some backstory to tracks such as “Sunset Stroll”, “Winter isolation”, “Silver Thread Lullaby (intro/outro)” and “Vale and Variations”. What was the ultimate vision for this record as well as the overall process of writing and recording it?
“Sunset Stroll”: This was my first attempt at an exotica track. Exotica was always in mind when making this record, and Freeman and Jake turned me on to the good stuff. I was also thinking it would be the token instrumental of the album, which was a common link in a lot of ‘60s records. “Winter Isolation”: I think it started out as a composition exercise based around my resting heart rate. The ever-present cog rattle in the background represents a state of constant nervousness. The flutes represent how that nervousness doesn’t matter as long as I’m myself. Maybe I’m just saying all of that in retrospect, though. “Silver Thread Lullaby (intro/outro)”: Simply the main recurring theme and the thesis for the album: “Please remember you’re no burden/rest, my weary friend.” The first time it is presented is as a custom-made music box. I was cranking it into the microphone. Then it reappears as a piano track later on. “Vale and Variations”: Jesse Mangum (engineer/producer), and I did do a lot of experimenting with recording cranked music boxes, and you’ll notice those everywhere on the album. That kind of sound has also become a staple of our live set interludes. This track in particular was a result of our long hours of experimentation that turned out quite beautiful. The vision for the record was, at first, nothing but a distant daydream, but with the help of Jesse Mangum and his studio [The Glow Recording Studio], we were able to achieve exactly what I set out to do. It took a lot of patience and determination, and Jesse noted that it was the most ambitious record he had ever worked on. We all kept our spirits high throughout the process and made it happen, purely because we all deeply love this kind of music.
What have you got in store for the year 2024? Is there anything else you would like to further share with the readers?
I want to continue to play bigger and better shows. As our audience grows, so does my ambition. Our shows have become somewhat of a safe haven for the younger queer/non-binary community, so I take pride in that. Someone said our performance at Hendershot’s was like a “gay, leftist SMiLE.” They weren’t wrong. We’re getting more, and more into costumes, and absurd stage antics. We were chosen to participate in The Center for Puppetry Arts’ XPT (Xperimental Puppet Theater) this summer, so all of my efforts will be focused on that. We’ll be curating an immersive puppet experience that is just as absurd, and ridiculous as it is ambitious. More on that TBA! We also have plenty of shows and one-offs planned. We’re not stopping for anybody. I’ll lead my rag-tag team of circus musicians onward, bravely, into the dark, hoping that some day we can all look back, and be proud of what we accomplished and the joy that we brought people along the way.
