FLOTSAM AND JETSAM: Behind-The-Scenes Footage From 'Life Is A Mess' Video Shoot

FeMetal TV was on the set as Arizona metal veterans FLOTSAM AND JETSAM filmed the video for the song “Life Is A Mess” from their new self-titled album. FeMetal TV‘s Mercedes Romero got a few minutes between the takes to ask each member a couple of questions, and then one question that was asked of all the band members. “What is your favorite song off the new album and what is your favorite FLOTSAM song of all time?” Check out the footage below.

The full “Life Is A Mess” video will be released on June 3.

FLOTSAM AND JETSAM in 2014 parted ways with guitarist Edward Carlson and bassist Jason Ward and replaced them with Steve Conley and Michael Spencer, respectively. The band also recruited SHADOWS FALL drummer Jason Bittner after Kelly Smith left the group in November 2014 to focus on caring for his family.

FLOTSAM AND JETSAM singer Eric “A.K.” Knutson recently told Metalholic about “Flotsam And Jetsam”: “There’s a couple of songs on there that Spencer wrote for ‘No Place [For Disgrace]’ back in the ’80s that never made it to the record that we kid of revamped and put on this new one. The remaining songs were half Steve Conley and half Mike Gilbert so they put a lot of input into this new record. Bittner‘s drumming just brought everything up to the next life level from where it was when we wrote everything. He’s really been a huge addition.”

Regarding the band’s decision to make the new FLOTSAM AND JETSAM album a self-titled affair, Spencer told Metal Invader: “When we started talking through songtitles to see if there was a lyric theme, we felt there really wasn’t anything that tied the songs together when it came to a theme. But the one thing that did tie the songs together was the new entity of FLOTSAM that we now are, with Steve Conley, myself, and Jason Bittner now in the band. We were all wanting to get back to more of the old-school FLOTSAM thrash sound, since that’s where the band was when I left them in 1987. We looked at the self-titled aspect as being the start of the incarnation of the band that was always looking back on the history of the band’s sound.”

Spencer also talked about FLOTSAM AND JETSAM‘s current lineup. He said: “Steve and I have been in the band for three years now, and Jason about one and a half years. So we’ve became a tight unit on and off stage in that time. Steve is a great fit as a player and songwriter, has the same musical influence as the rest of us, and Jason has been a fan of the band since he was 16-17 years old, playing to ‘Doomsday’ and ‘No Place’ in his bedroom. So he understands the legacy of the band and he’s allowed to still put his personality into the songs to still be himself, while keeping it as FLOTSAM as he feels it needs to be. The current lineup is also what drove the self title for the album, because we’re really starting off new as a band putting out their first album.”

The track listing for “Flotsam And Jetsam” is as follows:

01. Seventh Seal
02. Life Is A Mess
03. Taser
04. Iron Maiden
05. Verge Of Tragedy
06. Creeper
07. L.O.T.D.
08. The Incantation
09. Monkey Wrench
10. Time To Go
11. Smoking Gun
12. Forbidden Territories