The late, great Exeter Flud was an alternative rock from the Atlanta area, whose music danced around indie rock, emo, and shoegaze, but never fully committed to any of those. It’s not too surprising that the band had formal connections to other Georgia and Florida bands like Dear Ephesus, My Hotel Year, Vivian, and more.
The roots of Exeter Flud were in Remnant, who released one brilliant 7″ single in 1995, “The Cloud/Dirge.” The songs were recorded while they were still in high school, and engineered by the masterful J.C. Richardson of sundays child. Band members were comprised primarily of youth group kids from churches in Cobb County (Atlanta’s northern suburbs), and though the band wasn’t preachy or confrontational in their lyrics, members were firmly rooted in Christianity.
I actually had a bit of a personal connection with the band, in that I went to college with the older brother (Daniel) of lead singer Dave Ott, and a few years later had the privilege of working with Dave at a Christian school in the area. This was a few years after the band had finished and Dave had spent time in both Dear Ephesus and My Hotel Year. Early Remnant member Josh Rice was also a college friend, and he even filled in on drums for my unknown band at the time. The 90s era was a really fun time for friendships and musical collaborations. When Rice left for college, the band carried on with a new name–I suspect Remnant was a little to difficult/generic to allow the band to stand apart.
Exeter Flud released two full-length albums: 1996’s Disconnected via their own indie label Flud Water Records, and 1998’s self-titled album on Atlanta-based Bulletproof Records. I’ve always loved their take on emo/shoegaze/indie rock that should appeal to fans of Mineral, later Sunny Day Real Estate, Dumpster, Bloomsday, and so forth without actually sounding like any of those bands.
I still have their self titled CD. Just listened to them a few weeks ago. Good chill music!