Flipping Out

It's always interesting to spot things that are selling strong in isolated instances and dig a little deeper. For instance, a few weeks ago, there was a curious trend at Relics in Cedar Rapids, IA. Flipp-a band without a current major label deal-had its latest release, Blow It Out Your Ass!, hit #1 in the store one week, #3 the following week and it's been charting strong ever since. What was happening?

"I saw them perform at a one-stop party for Electric Fetus and loved them," says Marcus Draves, owner of Relics. "This band takes having fun seriously. Not every word that comes out of a singer's moth has to drip with wisdom!" Fun obviously plays into the members' names, including Freaky Useless, Chia Karaoke and my favorite, Kilo Bale (the singer's name is Brynn Arens).

Minneapolis' Flipp put out one record-a self-titled debut-during a short lived association with Hollywood. The current record, Blow It Out Your Ass!, is on Rock Steady/Boxov.

In-store performances have become a regular part of Flipp's strategy. A release-day party and in-store performance at a Best Buy in the Minneapolis area packed the store with "Flippheads"-diehard fans apparently borrowing a moniker from the Deadheads. A crowd made up of little kids from the toy section, middle-aged folks browsing books and hundreds of teenagers there for the performance looked "more like an amusement park than an in-store," according to a Best Buy employee. Another performance, intended to be put on in the window of Minneapolis' CD Warehouse for shoppers strolling the sidewalks (complete with outdoor speakers) was moved inside due to a surprise snowstorm. "We figured the whole thing would be a bust due to the weather," said manager Dan Stressman. "Out of nowhere, the crew shows up and set up the stage right in the middle of the store. Everybody had a blast."

Marcus Draves took it upon himself to get involved. "I heard the new record and liked it," he comments. Draves E-mailed the band, requesting a few posters. The next day, he received a reply. Flipp mentioned that they were going to be in the area soon and volunteered to do an in-store at Relics. This gave Marcus only two weeks to prepare, but with the help of posters, advertising and word-of-mouth, 100 people showed up. "I played the record and talked it up," Draves says, who went one step further. "I challenged people to come."

"People always walk around this town, bitching that there's nothing to do," he continues. "I told them to show up for this; it won't cost anything and, if they don't like it, they can leave." Ninety percent stayed.

The band brought in six speaker stacks for the appearance. "During the performance, they walked around the store, pulling CDs off the racks and breaking into whatever song was on the CD," laughs Draves. "Customers were singing-even I played a little guitar with them!" Flipp also hung out for a few hours, signing anything and everything the Flippheads brought along.

Draves judges the success of this event not only by the sales that night, but also by the pre-sales and the lingering effect two weeks later. The packed in-store even helped the band parlay it's way into a future large-scale show in the area.

"Part of the reason I do this is because it's really nice to find something you connect with," Draves says. "Flipp and I both take the business of having fun seriously."