The Four Faces of Filligar
Sitting in one of the small alcoves upstairs at the Bowery Ballroom between soundcheck and showtime, the four of them talk over each other, pick on each other, finish each other’s thoughts and in between talk about where they’ve been and where they’re trying to go. The three brothers, Johnny, Teddy and Pete Mathias, along with their childhood friend, Casey Gibson, are chasing a familiar dream.
A decade ago, Johnny, now 22, stumbled upon his two older brothers and their friend making music in the basement. "It was kinda the ‘can I join?’ moment," he says. Johnny ended up joining them as the lead guitarist and vocalist of Flipside, later to be renamed Filligar.
The band of native Chicagoans play a brand of rock ‘n’ roll that’s infused with elements of pop and a college feel. The first few tracks they played at the Bowery show had the relatively young crowd bouncing up and down, before mellowing out through the middle and kicking back up at the end. The group is betting that its style, ripe with rock ‘n’ roll chords and melodies, is more timeless than what they might do with a few computers or synthesizers onstage.
"It took us 10 years to get the sound down," says Casey, 24, who plays keys in the band and of them all seems furthest along in developing a stage persona. "Rock ‘n’ roll is just better live." During the show, he’s having fun making eyes at friends in the crowd from beneath a brown leather fisherman’s-style hat, at one point clambering onto the piano bench to jump up and down with his outstretched fingers keeping pace on the keys.
"To do this full time," Teddy says of the band’s goal, laughing and turning red. "I mean, people talk about making money, but…" No sooner does he start to get it out than a few of his bandmates joke about how everyone has dreams of "making it"—as in making it big, coming up with cherished songs, massive album sales and touring the world. The crew has just returned from a brief tour of the U.K., and the band says it put some 16,000 miles on their red tour van last summer, traveling the U.S.
"One day Casey just called The Troubadour in L.A. and said, ‘We’d like to do a show there.’ They laughed about it. We just kept calling back until they finally said, ‘OK, put a lineup together.’ We were like, ‘Oh shit,’ and just started calling up friends," says Pete.
"But there’ve definitely been those shows where we’ve played for nobody," says Teddy about the difficulties of touring. "There was one show in North Carolina where we were playing only for the bartender and her dog. Then she had to take the dog outside to go pee and we were playing for no one."
There is a tradition of family bands in history, such as the Allman Brothers, the Jonas Brothers and the Kings of Leon. Although it can be difficult spending so much time with one’s siblings, there are upsides. "It has its advantages," says Teddy, "like I can just say [to Johnny], ‘That sounds like…’" "Randy Newman," finishes Pete. "Yeah, Randy Newman," says his brother, using a shared reference to point out when the band’s vocals and lyrics stray from their own style.
Greats like Bob Dylan, Led Zeppelin and others wrote music colored by wild or heartfelt experiences, and Filligar’s music will likely continue to benefit from more years in the world and on the road. "We’re not forever tied to that genre," Casey says of the band’s current sound. "We’re not just trying to pay homage to rock ‘n’ roll, but make strides to do something we love."
"Being out traveling, on the road," says Johnny, "It’s a constant barrage of surprises."