It really can’t be overstated how significant the early 1990’s in Chicago were for creating a fertile ground in experimental music that wielded the creative energy to forge a legion of bands that would go on to make some of the most influential and innovative music in math rock, post rock, noise rock, no wave, post-hardcore, etc. over the past 35 years.
One band that emerged out of this significant period that is still around today, and was one of early pioneering bands associated with math rock to incorporate elements of free jazz, no wave, and classical avant-garde, is The Flying Luttenbachers.
Formed in Chicago in 1991, moved to California in 2003, disbanded in 2007, reformed in New York in 2017, then relocated back to Chicago in 2022, the seminal punk jazz/brutal prog/no wave band The Flying Luttenbachers has steadily deconstructed music, reason, and all notions of sanity over the course of 20 releases. Predictably unpredictable, the Luttenabachers’ fierce, modernistic approach draws from inspirations like no wave, free jazz, death metal, noise, modern classical, free improvisation, punk and the blackest humor possible. During the initial runs in Chicago and the Bay Area of California, some of the prominent musicians that came through the ranks included: Ed Rodriguez (Deerhoof), Mick Barr (Krallice), Hal Russell (NRG Ensemble), Jonathan Hischke (Dot Hacker), Alex Perkolup (Cheer-Accident), Fred Lonberg-Holm, Ken Vandermark and many others.
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Unlike many of the experimental rock bands coming out Chicago in the early 90’s that focused on a quieter minimalist rock approach like Tortoise, Gastr del Sol, Seam, The Sea and Cake, etc; The Flying Luttenbachers have always maintained a wild maximalist approach to music that can really be seen and heard live. It’s a real treasure to now have 90’s Luttenbachers videos on YouTube that showcase the raw uncanny energy the young band possessed, and energy the band has continued to wield while moving away from intricate free jazz bombast of the early lineup to the brutal prog math rock of the current iteration.
After a ten year break, a now NYC-based Flying Luttenbachers emerged again in 2017, making four full-length albums and numerous shows and tours with the New York-based lineups of the band (featuring various combinations of Tim Dahl, Matt Nelson, Brandon Seabrook, Katie Battistoni, Alex Ward, Wendy Eisenberg, Henry Kaiser, Chris Welcome and Evan Lipson), erstwhile leader and founding member Weasel Walter decided to change up the scenery by heading back to the original ground zero – Chicago in 2022. The latest formation is a stripped down brutal prog power trio featuring Weasel Walter on guitar, bassist Luke Polipnick, and drummer James Paul Nadien.
The current formation of the Luttenbachers is a tight, intense, wild beast executing complex compositions with visceral showmanship and presence. The music is described by band founder/leader Weasel Walter as, “Hyper composed BRUTAL PROG – not your grandpa’s “prog rock”, but an intricate, detailed assault fueled by punk, no wave, free jazz, and extreme metal.” The latest full-length by the current lineup of the band, 2024’s Losing The War Inside Our Heads is full-blown banger and if you missed it when it came out last year, it is highly recommended listening especially for the time- signature curious. The band is currently on tour in Europe in support of the album, with more expected dates in the U.S. later this year.
To talk more about the new album and reflect on different parts of the band’s history and style, Weasel Walter answered some questions for an exclusive interview on Fecking Bahamas:
FB: I want to get into the current iteration of the band, but for the uninitiated, can
you give background on the formation of The Flying Luttenbachers? Can you
give some context of the Chicago music scene at the time the band formed and
what you were into musically when creating the band?
Weasel Walter: The Flying Luttenbachers were formed in late 1991 by me and my then
college teacher, the late Hal Russell, whose real surname was Luttenbacher. We played
wooly, raw free jazz. I got more ambitious and started composing a lot, taking the helm
of the band as many people came in and out and I changed direction. The impetus for
me was combining all of my major influences like punk, no wave, free jazz, modern
classical, prog, and death metal. When we formed, I was going to see free jazz gigs
around town, but didn't really know of any rock bands that were good for a while. I fell
into a scene of weird, arty bands by 1993 centered around the up and coming Wicker
Park neighborhood, and there was a cool scene for a few years based on cheap rent
and convenience. I feel like I helped put a major spotlight on the connection between
free jazz and intense rock for a lot of people back then, for what it's worth. I wasn't a
dilettante – I was equally invested in both, as I still am. The band turned into a kind of
fusiony jazz rock thing, then a caustic no wavish trio informed by death metal, then back
into a hardcore free jazz band, then a Magma influenced prog trio, then I did an insane
solo album, moved from Chicago to the Bay Area and had a sick group with Mick Barr
(Krallice, etc), Ed Rodriguez (Deerhoof) and Mike Green (Burmese) before that broke
up and I made one more extremely ambitious solo album, calling it quits for ten years. I
moved from Oakland to New York at one point and didn't pursue the concept for a long
time. Finally in 2017, there was an offer to tour France, so I put a greatest hits sort of
trio together, then hemmed and hawed about continuing until we got an offer to open
some Osees shows in 2018, so I put together a permanent lineup that was kind of a
hardcore jazz rock incarnation that morphed into something more complex before I
broke it up and moved back to Chicago in 2021. 17 full length albums later, here I am.
The latest album is called Losing the War Inside Our Heads and we are getting ready
for a month-long European tour this April.
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FB: One of the many interesting aspects of the band’s longevity, is the fluidity of genre from free-jazz to noise rock to this current brutal prog lineup of the band. How would you describe the current sound and musical ethos of the band and how is it different, or a contemporary continuation, of the different lineups from the 90’s and 2000’s?
Weasel Walter: I suppose I’m constantly trying to refine my approach on many levels. My early stuff sounds spirited but crude. I had limited technical ability early on, as did many of my sidemen. The current band is just playing heavy, wild, intricate compositions that I come up with. Brutal Prog was a tag I came up with back around 2001 to separate the bands I liked from the generic math rock tag.
To me, math rock always seemed like college bros who listened to too much Led Zeppelin, playing lumbering odd time grooves with some dude screaming in front or something. Not my scene. I was more interested in coming up with dissonant, asymmetrical, complex forms and advanced harmonic and rhythmic concepts, like the most severe prog rock, but brutal – lacking in the sappy flutes and fairies; elements that wimped it out. In many ways, when death metal came roaring into my life around 1993, that was a kind of "brutal prog", but it was idiomatically heavy metal, whereas I wasn’t concerned with being part of that redundancy. Basically, I just write music I like, but it tends to avoid obviousness and sounding like other people’s music or ideas (unless I’m ripping them off and defacing it to make it my own). The Luttenbachers have always been about rigor and intensity, but I think we actually objectively sound better now, whereas in the past the equipment, production, and tones were not always there. It's always been a no-budget affair, but I got by on moxy.
I stopped playing drums in the band some years ago, switching to guitar. I suppose a lot of people associate my particular brand of ambitious drumming with the group, but I was needing the front line to be more intense and performative and it was obvious I had to take the helm after a certain point. Instruments are just tools to me, like a hammer or chisel. I use whatever tool I need to in order to get the job done. I’m not too sentimental about it. I still play drums now and then when I have a gig.
FB: After having the band be dormant for several years, what made you want to
bring back The Flying Luttenbachers with the current lineup?
Weasel Walter: I only wanted to revive the group if I had something serious to say with
the format. I didn’t want to cheapen it with anything less. I was demoralized about the
band when I ceased using the name in 2007. I thought people didn’t get it and I was
putting so much effort into making it as insane and complex as I could. I just ran out of
gas. I was pretty heartbroken about it. The 2017 greatest hits tour felt halfhearted to
me. Frankly, I was somewhat bored playing the old material, but we did give it our all.
Restarting the band with my good friends/great musicians was just something that felt
right at the time I got more serious about it, so I followed that and saw where it could go.
I hit a wall with New York on a bunch of levels, and wound up coming back to Chicago.
Putting a working lineup together here was pretty difficult to get off the ground, but after
years of persistence, we have a stable lineup that can play anything I come up with
pretty easily, so we can focus on intense performances with serious expression. Luke
Polipnick is on bass guitar and James Paul Nadien is on drums these days.
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FB: You guys released new music in 2024, can you talk about how the new album
came together, and if there’s any additional new music in the works?
Weasel Walter: The new album, Losing The War Inside Our Heads is kind of a “state
of the union” thing I made as our last drummer, Charlie Werber, was ready to move on.
We recorded the new long piece we had ready to go (“Excruciation”) and then I did the
rest of the stuff myself, playing everything. The current band plays 3 out of 5 of the
compositions live these days. I was working on a Messiaen piece in private for a while,
working from the score and meticulously overdubbing dozens of guitar parts to replicate
the arrangement, so that went on there, as well as a final version of a demo I wrote for
the New York band they never learned. So, the record is kind of a reflection of where my
head was generally at during the period. Lots of uncertainty and change, but myself
resolute in my own ethos and vision, regardless. My guess is the next one will be a
coherent set of compositions played by the current band. It’s going slow, but I know
what it is already.
FB: What are the band’s tour plans for 2025 and beyond?
Weasel Walter: April is Europe, we have a Chicago gig in May, then there’s talk of us
being on a noise rock package tour in July, but that isn’t finalized. We are road dogs, but
we are a cult band, so it seems better if we could open for somebody bigger and more
popular. The only problem is that we’re going to blow most bands off the stage so they
wouldn’t want to tour with us. Luckily, Melt-Banana weren’t scared! We had a great tour
with them in 2024.
FB: If someone just got into The Flying Luttenbachers and wanted to find similar
music and/or music that influenced you guys, what artists would you recommend
people check out?
Weasel Walter: I don’t know if there’s similar music. It sure doesn’t feel like it. It’s a little
lonely out here right now. I will list some of my major influences though: Albert Ayler,
Cecil Taylor, Teenage Jesus and the Jerks, Iannis Xenakis, Magma, Mayhem . . . The biggies. If anybody wants recommendations, they can always hit me up. I’m easy to find
on social media and I respond to all earnest inquiries.