Over here at Arch City Media we sometimes learn about new music early on. And sometimes it’s even good or better than good. What’s even more exciting is when the music is by someone from our hometown region of St. Louis.
You read it here first. This kid. This young adult. This young man. This person. This musician — whatever label you attach to his name—Connor Fiehler is going places (well, he and his skills have already toured some places as a member of other bands but not out on his own, until now). You have the opportunity to get in on the ground floor of what is sure to be a long, promising career of this talented multi-instrumentalist singer-songwriter.
If graduating Kirkwood High School in St. Louis a week (or two) ago isn’t momentous enough (well, perhaps this year, during a pandemic it was not all it should have been), Flehler has dropped his debut album, Generation Flee as well.
The album varies from a little rock ’n’ roll to a little blues, a little groove to a little folk, and more showing off a lot of expertise that’s still growing (he’s off to Belmont University this fall to continue his music education). Fiehler not only plays the majority of instruments on the album’s songs he also is the main vocalist (he did have some help from other St. Louis artists). Full of bold lyrics such as “living is a cancer that only death can cure,” amid the sweeter, more upbeat “Give Me a Reason to Love” show that while Fiehler’s views can be weighty they don’t weigh you down. Dare we say he’s wise beyond his 18 years on earth.
Fiehler shared that Generation Flee is a play on words for his generation (Gen Z), “The inspiration behind ‘Generation Flee’ came to me because, in my view, my generation tends to be misportrayed as screen-addicted, lazy, and mentally unstable people.” Which he addresses in the title track. In a blog post, he wrote, “The chorus of the song reflects more of that sarcastic attitude towards how older generations view us. ‘We’re young and dumb and hopelessly in love with death and anxiety, sincerely all of us from generation flee.’
In the song’s bridge, the lyric ’So don’t you tell me that kids these days are lazy, ‘cuz when you’re dead and gone, we’ll be forced to fix your past mistakes,’ is one of the only non-sarcastic lines in this song. It means that however we are viewed today, in the future, we’re going to have to grow up and take care of the world’s problems that past generations have created and left unfixed.”
We’ve listened to Generation Flee at least two dozen times in a row already and plan on keeping it on repeat for a long while.
Now, go check out Generation Flee — it’s available to stream everywhere including Spotify, Apple Music, and Amazon Music. If you like it, consider purchasing a track or two, or even the whole album so Fiehler will have a little pocket change when he heads off to university later this year. And you can someday say you supported him when.
Generation Flee tracks are:
- The One You’re Using 3:09
- All My Life 5:05
- Painted Lady 3:15
- This Just In 5:41
- Generation Flee 4:35
- Give Me a Reason To Love 3:43
- Animals 3:43
- Cynical 4:42
Generation Flee was recorded at Firebrand Recording Studios between February and March 2020 with Brian Scheffer as the audio engineer. Album cover photography by Jason Fiehler.
Session musicians:
Ryan Torpea – keyboards and organs (5 tracks)
Sean Buchert – drums (6 tracks)
Dave Anderson (of Tritone Guitars), pedal steel on “Painted Lady”
Eve Rigby – featured vocalist on “The One You’re Using”
In my work life, I help nonprofits and small businesses with media and public relations. In my what I love to do life, you can typically find me photographing either wild horses or concerts.
