Meet Gary Flick | Songwriter, Singer, & Multi-instrumentalist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Gary Flick and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Gary, what do you think makes you most happy? Why?
Music in any and all instances. It’s always in my head. I, of course, love creating it and am very fortunate that doing so pays some bills, too, but I also am a huge fan. I love going to shows, I love discovering new tunes, and I love teaching it to kids who have never been told they can create music. It’s pretty easy at the end of the day!

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
As a performer, I’ve worn a lot of different hats in the San Diego music scene. My first gig in this fine city was in 2009 when I got hired as a drummer for OB punk band Strangely Strange, who I’m very proud to say is still rocking hard, even though I haven’t been a member since 2010. Reason being: I moved to Milwaukee area for a while where I founded and fronted my first band, Zen Franklin, who played psychedelic rock.

I moved back to San Diego in 2015 and actually played a fill-in show my first night in town on guitar. I played in a few cover bands for the next year or two and then decided I needed to create again. I was working from home, so I decided to get a 5-month lease in the Mexican jungle between Guadalajara and Puerto Vallarta, and my dog and me wrote about 40 songs together, eventually cutting it down to 7. I returned to San Diego and recorded those 7 songs on all the instruments and released it at “Suede Radio” to some positive feedback amongst tunes friends. Side Shoutout: Ryan Finch was the fella who produced it at Studio West and he is a master of his craft and a joy to work with (@ryanfinchmusic on the ‘gram).

Obviously I couldn’t play drums, bass, and 2 guitars at shows, so I shopped the album around a bit and found some dynamite tunesfolk to join me on stage. We scheduled our first gig for March 2020. That show never happened because of a certain pandemic hahaha!

We decided to continue writing, and as 4 brains are always better than 1, we recorded a song together and submitted it to the San Diego Music Awards. Sure enough, it won Best Rock Song and we decided it would probably be a good idea to keep writing together and wait out the COVID storm.

I’m very thankful we did, as Suede Radio now has more than 20 songs and has played a lot of the rad spots in San Diego like The Holding Company, The Music Box, and our favorite, the OB Street Fair & Chili-Cookoff (our chili was not as enjoyable as our music).

I think a silver lining of COVID was realizing how f****** much I love being on stage, and having it taken away made me realize there wouldn’t be a month for the rest of my life that I wouldn’t seek out an opportunity to share my tunes with people in hopes they’d dance and have a good time.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Maybe don’t share this answer, but I think San Diego has changed a lot for the worst in the last decade and I’d probably spend the majority of the time in Rosarito or Mt. Laguna. (this could also be my 30s talking)

If we did a night in San Diego, it would definitely involve an OB sunset and a big, fat joint though.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
My best friend, Gerber, introduced me to music in high school and has repeatedly made me believe I am good enough to do it professionally. I would not be a musician today without him. Not a chance. Nowadays, that extra shot of motivation comes from my wonderfully supportive girlfriend (and biggest fan), Kristen, who is always in my corner. I love them both very much.

Instagram: garyflickmusic

Youtube: https://youtu.be/uYdyJXcSdy8?si=OgojyP62_4Cn3J7D

Image Credits
Brady Cooling for “Gary Flick 2” and “Gary Flick 3”