Visqueen's Rachel Flotard Marches On

Written by Chrissy Mauck

When Rachel Flotard went Christmas shopping one year at Seattle's Craft Uprising, the Visqueen frontwoman had no inkling she'd be returning home with her future Message to Garcia album cover.

"I went to this craft show and this cheetah with an eye patch just hit me in the face and I thought, 'That's the greatest thing I've ever seen,'" she recalls. "This artist had all sorts of animals wearing suits and ties and I just loved them. I bought all of the animals, brought them home and ended up hanging the cheetah up on my wall."

For over a year, the cheetah portrait brought a smile to Flotard's face every time she passed it. And when it came time to select the cover for Visqueen's first album in five years, the spotted cat provided the perfect solution.

"I couldn't think of anything and then I just looked at that guy and thought, 'Yeah, it's that guy,'" says Flotard. "He's equal parts funny, debonair-he's dashing. And it's a strong image, but without taking yourself too seriously, and I feel like that's my whole deal. Life is too short to be an a-hole."

Coincidentally, Flotard lost sight in her left eye about six years ago from macular degeneration.

"I didn't even put that together with the cheetah until much later, but it has only one good eye and it's the same side as mine," she shares.  "At first, I had to tape lines behind my frets so I could see. If a light hit me in my good eye, I was blind, so I had to figure out where the heck my hand was going. That was the first few years of touring. Now I'm an old pro at being a blind old bat."

Even for those who don't instantly connect with Message to Garcia's crunchy pop melodies and powerful hooks, it's virtually irresistible not to respect and admire its earnestness. The album is a rock ′n' roll epitaph for her father, George Flotard, who passed away in April 2008 after a long battle with cancer.

Flotard even borrowed its title from an essay of the same name from a book written by Elbert Hubbard - the only book her father ever physically handed her. Inspired by the Spanish-American War, the essay applauds the initiative of a soldier who gets the daunting job done without assistance or complaint.

"I really just tried to build the songs and the record, and kind of encase them in something that meant something to me," Flotard says.  "I just wanted to think of something that made me happy, regardless of whether it was dumb or not. Message to Garcia made me happy because it was my dad's total code of honor. That's the suit that wraps around all 11 of those songs, and that's just because of him."

Flotard put her musical career on hold in order to serve as her father's primary caretaker during his lengthy illness.

"The last two years of his life were very intense," shares Flotard. "I was in cancer town. I could rattle of 30 medications and their dosages and spent my days in sweats, going to Safeway to buy Ensure and Depends. I was so depressed that I really thought to myself where could the band possibly go?"

Turns out nowhere but up.

With the gentle prodding from her best friend and drummer, Ben Hooker, Flotard forged ahead with band practice.

"I have the best relationship with Ben; he was my rock," says Flotard. "So you force yourself to go to band practice every day. Sometimes it was a good escape and sometimes it was just a blinding reminder of how stalled out everything really was with the band. But Ben just kept reminding me that we needed to put out a new record."

As captured in the "I'm gonna write while you're in bed" lyrics in Message to Garcia's eloquent and emotional farewell "So Long," Flotard continued to set aside time for her craft during her father's illness. And after his passing, there was little time to wallow in grief as three weeks later, her sister gave birth to her niece, Beatrice; an "intergalactic high 5."

"That was the best thing ever," remarks Flotard. "We lost our dad, but then this little person comes and your entire perspective and attention turns to new life. And my dad was so adamant about being a good father - whether you are a perfect man in this world in the rest of your dealings is anybody's game - but to be a good dad and raise kids is a pretty monumental achievement. If we for a second neglected this new kid in any ounce of love, he would fly off his cloud and kick our asses. So we just put every emotion and heartbeat into that little girl."

About six months later, Flotard decided to pour some of her energy elsewhere. The ginger-haired beauty traveled to Laos, where she taught English at an elementary school.

"I needed to shock my system," she explains. "I had never been to a Third World country or anything of that ilk, so I decided to go along with a friend. I walked into this school with 340 kids who had nothing but slates and pieces of chalk. I took them pencils and stuff and ended up crying for weeks because it was the coolest thing I had ever done. Once I got home in December 2008, I was like, 'Screw this, I have no problems.' I'm finishing this record and putting it out and I'm not going to be grief- stricken anymore. That's when it (the new record) started."

So that soldier who kept trudging on despite encountering numerous obstacles proved to be a great parallel for Flotard, who, fueled by her time in Laos, worked tirelessly throughout 2009 setting up her own independent record label, Local 638 (inspired by her dad's New York City Steamfitters union), and investigating distribution.

"I don't think I slept much, but I was just so jam-filled with adrenaline and excitement to finish it and put it out myself," she says.

With the backing of her band and some help from friends like co-producer and longtime collaborator Barrett Jones (Nirvana, Foo Fighters) and Neko Case, who contributed background vocals on five cuts, Flotard was able to release the album on her new label in September 2009.

In testament to its diversity, A Message to Garcia was named one of 2009's top three records by CNN. It also drew attention from bassist Duff McKagan, formerly of Guns N' Roses and Velvet Revolver and now with Jane's Addiction.

These dolled-up kitties go everywhere Flotard's Fender Super-Sonic™ amp goes. "I'm really not an insane cat woman, but I bought a 7" somewhere and the inside of the sleeve had a picture of cats wearing clothes and sweeping out a house. I was like, 'Shut up!' Then I opened it up and there was another kitten dressed as a fireman. So I just stuck one of the photos on my amp and now I can not not have those little dudes on there. And since I would never allow anything bad to happen to a head, these kitties have traveled with me for a long, long time."

"I listened to this CD last week on a drive through the mountains with my band, and silenced a car full of over-caffeinated men, and perhaps drew a tear or two," McKagan said in a quote that appears on the Visqueen website. "Rachel Flotard has written one of the best records that I have heard in a while. Period."

But even better than the heady reviews by her peers has been the personal connection with her fans.

"It's more than just a response to the music," says Flotard. "It's been this whole other thing that I could have never imagined. Less than two years ago I was wearing a sleeping bag and walking around devastated. So sometimes I can't believe I'm here. In my mind, I hoped that we would maybe play a show again, but for it to be this visceral reaction from people, I'm so psyched. It's not just, 'Your band is all right.' It's this, "My sister died of breast cancer" or "I lost someone and your album helped me get through it.'"

With anthemic and breakneck-speed tracks like "Fight For Love," it's hard not to be inspired by Flotard's moxie and spunk.

"That's probably one of my album favorites," says Flotard. "Just because I'm a sucker and I like love, and I would fight for it. It's one of those overbiters. Even when I hear it, my teeth kind of buck out and I do this little dance."

Like she said, she doesn't take herself too seriously. We can't say the same thing about Visqueen. This Seattle-based band is back and here to stay, and one you should seriously add to your playlist as soon as possible.

Visqueen will be in Los Angeles on July 21, for a show at The Mint, followed by a July 30 stop at the Bell House in Brooklyn, N.Y. More show info here.

 

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