Name: FAMILY GARDEN
Members: CHUBBROCK (guitar, vocals), Ryan Flannery (bass, vocals), Evan Madden (drums), James Daniel Horn (synths)
Nationality: American
Current release: FAMILY GARDEN's new album Dreams beyond Control is out April 25th 2025 via Strange Mono.
Global Recommendation:
CHUBBROCK: Mütter Museam, K & A.
Ryan F.- There’s a massage parlor on the corner of Woodstock and Broad street that’ll take good care of you.
Topics we are passionate about but rarely get to talk about:
Evan: The world is an evil place. Take care of the people around you. If you're accustomed to the darkness, be a light for others.
Ryan F.: We have to be a beacon for others when they get lost. Cherish your friendships, don’t take yourself too seriously, and try to smile often. After all, we are just specs in a cosmic void.
CHUBBROCK: My passions are all worn on my sleeve. Hiding is hard for a man my size. My friends and chosen family are the universe for sure.

If you enjoyed this FAMILY GARDEN interview and would like to stay up to date with the band, visit them on Instagram, and bandcamp.



When was the first time you noticed you were drawn to darker themes and moods in music, literature or the movies?

CHUBBROCK: When I was young my mom and I would watch old sci-fi and horror movies on Sundays. War of the Worlds, Fiend Without a Face, THEM. All those old campy black and white films. I was sucked in instantly. Then a while later Night of the Living Dead and Psycho both blew me away and I still watch them regularly.

When I was a preteen in the late 80’s there was a comic shop that sold Fangoria and Gorezone along with the regular comics I liked BUT they had an awesome record store too. Anything that looked gross I took a chance on. I didn't know what it was really but I knew I liked it.

In the 80’s the physical media meant a lot. I remember spending hour and hours looking at comics, magazines, VHS tapes and records trying to figure out where to blow my lawn mowing money.

Evan: As a kid you are afraid of the dark and afraid of what lurks in the dark, but your brain isn't fully developed, and you have an ability to compartmentalize things or block things out.

Then you get older and your brain starts forming all these new connections and for some reason certain things resonate with you even if you don't know why. I think this is true for a lot of people who connect with dark or heavy music.

Ryan F.: As a kid I was always drawn to whatever was outside of the box, because that's what most people are afraid of, it’s what makes people uneasy.

As we age the werewolves and zombies become less scary and we start having a fear of other things, abandonment, loss, uncertainty, and death. I think art is a coping mechanism for most people who deal with these kind of fears.

“Darkness” is, of course, not strictly speaking a term related to sound. What constitutes darkness to you, especially in instrumental terms?

CHUBBROCK: Anything that makes you feel uneasy. Minor chords, eerie synths, sometimes slowing things down. Harsh noises that kinda make ya feel sick.

JAMES DANIEL HORN: Darkness to me is the antithesis of all things, so sonically things that are atonal and disharmonic are what really turn me on.

How would you describe the physical sensation and possible attraction of being exposed to darkness in music?

CHUBBROCK: It's like electricity in your brain and limbs. Feeling that you need to jump outta your skin and set something on fire.

Evan: For me it's a feeling of being both attracted and repulsed simultaneously, and you are forced to find a balance in order to exist within that space. It is a constant challenge instrumentally, physically, and in the psychic sense to find your place in the chaos.

Ryan F.- It has a medicinal value, something you can really soak into and experience. It’s a mood setter that can really clear your headspace if needed.

Does your interest in darker musical themes extend into extra-musical fields such as fashion, or politics?

CHUBBROCK: Fashion should be purely utilitarian - but yeah, all my shirts are black. Politics for me are not anything I really express musically or artistically.

Evan: The world is a dark place full of evil people, and music helps you survive.

Ryan F.: Fashion is something I’m not really concerned with. Politics, well that's another story. Everything is up to interpretation and I believe musical stimulation goes hand in hand with visual and literary stimulation. The creative process is circular, not linear.

Who/what are currently artists, labels or even genres which draw you in because of their darker approaches, aesthetics and sound(s)?

Evan: Pissgrave, Sunvher, Plaguefever, Unholy Altar, Crossspiter



Ryan F. I have really been into almost anything Rites of Pestilence has put out lately. Chiroptera Press has also been reprinting a lot of rare gothic and cosmic horror short stories from authors that have been a major influence on our lyrical content.

CHUBBROCK: These labels have some awesome offerings: Beach Impediment, Chronic Death, Toxic State, Strange Mono, Contra Records, Pure Noise Records

What were some of the first performances or releases when you became active in exploring truly dark places in your music yourself?

CHUBBROCK: All the standards, Priest, Slayer, Ministry, Carnivore, Poison Idea, Killing Joke, Dystopia, Fang, Neurosis. Too many to name.

Ryan F.: Rudimentary Peni, Christian Death, and Poison Idea.



I have had a hard time explaining that listening to death metal calms me down. When you're performing a piece with a darker energy, does it tend to fill you with the same energy or feeling – or are there “paradoxical” effects?

CHUBBROCK: Myself, I thrive in chaos. I get very antsy in ‘nice’ or ‘calm’ spaces. When I am making noise in front of people in dark beer-soaked rooms I definitely feel a sense of calm. The chaos makes my brain have to focus on just one thing.

Evan: Drumming requires discipline and repetition, and following that practice can help you manage your emotions and mental health. It’s good to challenge yourself and push yourself physically.

Ryan F- For me it’s a major physical and mental release. Very similar to climaxing. It fills me with energy and calms me down at the same time while ultimately ending in clarity.

Tell me, if applicable, about the concrete lyrical themes that you felt drawn to for your current release.

CHUBBROCK: Personally I just really wanted each song to be a short story or poem. Part grief and loss, part religious imagery and part monsters of the mind.

Ryan F.: The horrors and struggles of being human, the constant reminder that we are ultimately out of control of reality, and the fear of what's really in control. Maybe that thing is actually inside of us but beyond our comprehension.

When it comes to exploring darker themes, what's your approach to writing lyrics? What makes lyrics good in this regard?

Ryan F.: You have to look at the words as if they are a painting or a sculpture. The approach is jotting down the words, and then letting them tell their own story, eventually getting the finished product.

One of the main goals with Dreams Beyond Control was to not put ourselves in a box. It’s very easy to fit a genre mold and pick a sellable topic that can be packaged up to be consumed easily. We wanted something more than that.

Tell me about the creative process for Dreams Beyond Control, please.

CHUBBROCK: We really just let ourselves go. Usually there is a guy in the band with a singular vision. Family Garden is 3 guys throwing spaghetti at the wall and seeing what sticks.

The trade off is that we definitely have to have open ears and be willing to axe parts or arrangements if they don't work for everyone.

However there is a level of trust when something is kinda outta left field and not like the others. IE the song “Over The Wall”

For Dreams Beyond Control, how did you realise your goals in terms of the production, including effects for your current release?

Evan: We had the live versions of the songs as played in a room by three people.

But by being able to add subtle layers of guitars, keys, acoustic instruments, samples, spoken word, etc, the album took on a life of its own, and in the final sequence became something beyond what we could have planned for.

Exploring darker themes in the music often goes hand in hand with the accompanying artwork. Tell me a bit about this relating to your new release.

CHUBBROCK: Well I have done the paintings and layouts for both releases. This was a huge compliment from A) Ryan Flannery saying we should use something I painted and B) Evan Madden for agreeing.

As an outsider artist in the painting world I have no schooling or training so I just go for it. Learning from mistakes is the best way to grow at anything for me. There was no discussion about what it should look like Ryan was just in my house, saw the paintings on the wall and said “that's it!”

Ryan F.: I’m a major fan of how visual layout can set the mood for an album. Colors are very important and when I saw Chubbrock’s paintings I knew they would fit. It helps having someone in the band produce the art as they truly understand the feel of the album.

Furthermore, I wanted the record to be something you could explore as you unpackaged it. that's where color gradients and layouts come into play.

We had our good friend and creative comrade Hayden Hall to join in on illustrative duties for the border of the lyric sheet on the record. I told him to just listen to the record and just draw what came to his mind. He crushed it. Hayden and Chubbrock’s art really complement each other with this release.

I would love to know a little about the feedback you've received from listeners or critics about what they thought some of your darker songs are about or the impact it had on them – have there been “misunderstandings” or did you perhaps even gain new “insights?”

Ryan F.: For the most part the feedback has been pretty surprising considering the broad source material. I guess we’ll see how the rest goes once the LP gets releases

Sharing music on stage can change the way it is experienced, both for musicians the listeners. Can you talk about this a bit, especially in the light of darker themes?  

CHUBBROCK: Despite the dark or horrid themes I think live people really just want to have fun.

We have a goal to take ourselves serious enough. Nothing kills the party more than someone who takes themselves too seriously. Take it all for what it's worth. Have fun and crush it.

Throughout the history of art, there have been artists who did not want to exorcise their demons, afraid they might lose their creative spark. What's your take on that?

JAMES DANIEL HORN: I relate to this tremendously

CHUBBROCK: I’m gonna assume you mean alcohol and drugs and general naughty behavior.

As much as I like to take a pinch from all vices, is it necessary? No fuckin way. If you are a true creative human that comes through. If you need chemical enhancement to create then I'm sayin you might not be that creative to begin with.

Evan: If we could ever be so lucky, we wouldn't need to make music anymore. Unfortunately for most musicians, life is a regular struggle just like it is for everyone else in the working classes.

Ryan F.: It’s more important to take care of who you truly are rather than the person that you think you are and to get out of your own way.