Understanding Flatsound: I Clung To You Hoping We'd Both Drown - 2011

Discovering Sleep (2012) Scotland, I Wish You Had Stayed (2009) & more

The year is 2013, and the dreary Canadian spring is shockingly wet. Y'know the feeling when you haven't seen the sun in 365 days, and have come to terms with the seasonal depression? Yeah, me too. I turned to a website where you could discover SO MUCH new music. 8tracks was the Lofi hip-hop studying playlist creator before YouTube streaming. It allowed you to upload music to post playlists and discover other playlists with common genre's, artists, and overall vibes. Think of the discovery level of Bandcamp with the capabilities of Spotify and an algorithm from the gods.

Somehow in my teenage dirtbag years, I fell head over heals into this poetic discovery. I was actively listening from 00:01 to 05:14 of "I Exist I Exist I Exist". Whatever I was doing, I couldn't drop it fast enough. I ran to see the artist in question but as fate would have it, I was too late! The song and its existence had disappeared and the next song was already playing. The one fatal flaw of 8tracks was that you weren't able to go back in the playlist, you could only move forward. Which is still true to this day.

Cut to, over a year later, I had scoured the internet for this mystery song that I heard but to no avail. My (at the time) newly found best friend from California was listening to my recent obsessions such as: Starry Cat, Cyberbully Mom Club, spookyghostboy, and Acid Ghost. In a stark attempt to wow me he sent me a link from Bandcamp.

This was my first reaction:

Oh no... I'm in love.

I finally found the mystery artist I had been searching for, SoCal's very own Mitch Welling -"Flatsound". Of course I was appreciative for the lead on my new found music obsession, but oh man did it become an obsession. After that day I spent countless nights listening to the mourning and inconsolable sounds of "I Clung To You Hoping We'd Both Drown".

10/10 - Will listen to again when I am homesick and feeling lonely at the ripe age of 25.

From underground to 600K listeners

Almost 10 years have gone by for me and Mitch is consistently releasing new additions to his discography. His newest release being "when you run away, do you close your eyes" amongst his other side projects in Wishing and updating his followers on Instagram and his blog.

People might not be aware of all the amazing things he is doing so I implore you to read his writings and follow him on his socials. There is a very tight knit community of his fans and I am happy to report that his fanbase is only growing.

Standing the test of time

Have you been in this position where you cant find that one song you heard? Recently my little brother expressed his frustration with not being able to remember a music video he watched years ago. He explained it to me, but of course words can only say so much by way of frustration. (For anyone interested he said it was in black and white, with a solo singer, and spooky vibes. Jeez, It's no wonder I couldn't figure out what he was talking about... but let me know if you know!)

All of this to say, Flatsound does an exquisite job when standing out amongst the rest. Once was lost was SO happily found, thanks to the ongoing search for fantastic music.

Here is my favorite song from Flatsound that will make you miss your cat:

Learn more about my work on my About Page

Listen to Flatsound on Spotify

Leave a comment if you have a favourite Flatsound song.