Flumergex is what happens when you merge within a state of flux.
Flumergex is also the name of the musical showcase rock band of singer-songwriter multi-instrumentalist Jesse S. Smith.
Basement-brewed Lo-Fi Indie Alternative Rock
“What’s the style?” Why do people always want to put you in a box, man? Nah I’m kidding, it’s just difficult to categorize because the music has always explored a variety of styles: from jazzy funk to industrial electronic dance music (EDM) to Eastern-infused fusion to folk rock and hippie jam band stuff… plus some obvious pop influences. What the hell kind of a style is that? It’s “alternative,” that’s what it is.
Flumergex plays alternative rock. These days, we’re doing a lot of stuff that’s influenced by the groovy electronica and trip-hop sounds and styles of Gorillaz, Morcheeba, Tricky, Portishead, Sneaker Pimps, The Chemical Brothers, Air, Afro Celt Sound System, and Nine Inch Nails… plus maybe Beck and The Beatles and some late-60s folk-rock like Simon and Garfunkel and Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young.
Officially, Flumergex has been around for decades; but there’s no reason you would have heard of the project before, because Jesse wasn’t actively doing anything with it for a long time. But now, after a lengthy career detour into web design and marketing, Jesse is returning to his musical roots.
Or read on for ancient history.
The Story: The Semi-Short-ish Version
Flumergex grew out of a home recording project with roots in a concrete basement where Smith was living way back in the summer of 1996 when he first had the idea of starting his own production company.
After the switch to digital (described here) Smith produced several albums’ worth of music and performed with several bands in and around Portland Oregon and the greater Pacific Northwest for several years.
The band name “Flumergex” was dreamed up by Smith and keyboardist Andrew Hoke after a band rehearsal for Operation J, late one fine evening in close-in Southeast Portland, Oregon, probably in early 2005. Flumergex was initially a side project because we were all playing in several other bands in those days. Hoke appeared on one song on This One (2007), which was the first album to debut the Flumergex name.
The name “Flumergex” is the product of the union of the words “flux” and “merge.” It represents togetherness and change, blended together to create a universal whole. Flumergex is what happens when you merge within a state of flux. It is a shifting join, a complex transition, a transformational unity: a Flumergex.
Changing Direction
By 2007, Smith needed to focus on his family and on what he had thought would be his career. He regretfully stepped down as the bass player in hard-workin’ blues-rock band T. Ray and the Shades, and thereafter largely withdrew from the live scene; although in his spare time he did continue to work on the next Flumergex album, Emerges, which featured a few songs each with Andy, Jon, and Tom Morgan. That project wasn’t completed until 2011 (with a mix by Moon St. Clair); but by then, Smith had moved, and was in the middle of his MBA program, and wasn’t actively promoting music.
Yeah, life doesn’t always go in the direction you think it will! Somebody should write a song about that.
In 2012, Smith moved again, started a new business, and began another recording project. That recording project wrapped in 2014; the business venture effectively crumpled by 2016, although bits of it sort of grotesquely limped along for another few years after that; but Smith himself has stayed put for the time being.
It takes a lot to let go of a dream; but once Smith had finally resigned himself to the loss of the web design venture, he returned to his roots as a creator. In 2018, Smith started writing and recording new songs again for the first time in a long time. These were not happy songs, or love songs, or songs about the creatures of the forest. No. Not this time. These were songs of frustration, self-loathing, and despair, born of business failure and personal turmoil. At one point, Smith shelved the partially completed project for several years. All told, it took fully six years to complete and release the 18-song project which eventually became Broken Pieces (2024).
Trying to wrap up Broken Pieces with all its creatively overdubbed sonic texture layers reminded Smith why he had always loved making home recordings in the first place. So once he had finally completed that album (and released it on the Vernal Equinox), he returned to another long-shelved idea: and before the end of the year, Flumergex had released a holiday album titled Pagan Yuletide Carols Vol. 1.
In the meantime, Smith had developed a strange new obsession with synthesizer setups like modular Eurorack systems for Electronic Dance Music (EDM, the catchall term that includes all kinds of techno, psy-trance, jungle, and so on) and rumors of some kind of a strange mythical beast known as a DAWless. After edits, Smith’s bold adventures in the realm of sequencers and oscillators became the basic tracks for an experimental new album exploring an all-new Flumergex sound: the groundbreaking 2025 album titled, Synthetic.
Returning to Life
But these changes go well beyond the studio. In addition to recording and releasing music, Jesse is also teaching music lessons again for the first time in decades, and just recently performed in public again for the first time after a hiatus of 14 years!
Before February of 2025, Jesse’s last performance had been an acoustic gig in March of 2011.
As exciting as it is to perform live, Flumergex has always been primarily a studio project, and that’s not going to change anytime soon. And although there’s a backlog of previously unreleased material that could potentially see the light of day at some point, primarily we’re excited about the possibilities of creating new recordings in new styles.
Rotating lineup
Jesse S. Smith is the core of the band, and the only continuous member.
For more details, read about the band’s personnel.
Recordings. On the Flumergex albums, Smith performs on drums, hand drums, drum machine sequencer, bass, keyboards, sitar, mandolin, clarinet, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, percussion, vocals, and random noises. The vast majority of the songs feature music and lyrics composed by Smith.
Over the years, in addition to Smith, the group’s recordings have also showcased the talents of a rotating lineup of additional musicians: including Mark Wells (drums), Jon Rigby (ashiko hand drum), Andy Hoke (keyboards), and Tom Morgan (drums), as well as, more recently, young David Smith (wind instruments).
Live performances, 2005 to 2009. Live performances by Flumergex from 2005 to 2009 were always built around Smith’s guitar and vocals. With only a few exceptions, live performances during this era almost always featured Rigby on ashiko hand drum. Some of the most memorable Flumergex performances also included the talented Hoke on keyboards.
(And when we say, “live performances,” we mean, “in public.” The various basement jam sessions with maybe two friends in attendance, do not count.)
All of this took place long, long ago, and written records are scarce; so a few performances also included people whose names we might not even remember any more: including a female vocalist who sang with us at Essential Elements Apothecary a couple times on an impromptu basis; and the guy with the hair, who sat in with us that one time at that one bar, you remember; and of course those other two guys, I think it was Dylan on bass and Ian on drums, who threw that one awesome, unforgettable house party on Memorial Day weekend of 2006, there were people sitting on the roof, and the neighbors called the cops because we were too loud, and Jesse gave away a bunch of clothes: it was rad; those were the days.
Be well, friends. Now go grab yourself some Flumergex. The new stuff is available for streaming on your favorite platform! Rock on.