Flying Spiders live at the intersection of galaxies: hip hop lyrics about the transformation of fear and a thirst for social change, merging with the layers and textures of live instrumentalists from different musical and metaphysical practices.
Flying Spiders debuted on 10/10/10 and operates with a core group of emcees/vocalists and instrumentalists, with a revolving door of special guests. The collective brings electrifying plate tectonics of genres, such as jazz from saxophone and trombone, the rock sound of drums and electric guitar, the classical of acoustic piano, folk and orchestral ambience of violin, and the wide range of vocal textures from beatboxing to singing to rap.
Past shows have included the People With Instruments (PWI) Festival (August 2013) in Carnation, Wash., Elkfest (2011 and 2013) in Spokane, Wash., various BeGin! events for the MAC Museum, and benefit shows for the Village Experience. Flying Spiders is all-ages friendly.
September 2013 brought a death in the family: lead emcee and founder Isamu “Darkside Som” Jordan. The several months to follow were a challenging time, both musically and philosophically. Flying Spiders were relearning to exist in a reality of losing a best friend, but also a prominent and well-connected voice of the Spider brand. We revised our self-narrative and rediscovered our own power. The band took a creative sabbatical, reconvened in January 2014, and voted unanimously to stay together – continuing Som’s mission of producing sexy, intelligent, organic hip hop that encourages positive social change.
Flying Spiders will always be synesthetic and in the present tense, in polymorphic evolution… with the ability to interpret and reinterpret existing work in different configurations as well as creating the new and spontaneous. Since conception, the band has described itself as a constantly evolving entity, in which we will always be Flying Spiders even if we will be different. Som’s departure pitted us against the most radical identity crisis possible, a post-apocalyptic scenario of living up to what we always believed about polymorphic evolution. The best way to face these fears has been to distill it into art and let it loose: to be storytellers, to transform darkness into sound and memory, to love fearlessly, and to promote peace and foster community.
