A former bassist and singer with the band Dirty Projectors, Deradoorian’s lovely, clear voice has been heard in music from Flying Lotus, Slasher Flicks, and others.
With her debut LP, the singer and multi-instrumentalist has crafted an album that feels like a throwback to the arty jam-band era of yesteryear, while still employing some modern flourishes.
The main point of reference in a number of these tracks is the experimental krautrock group Can, with that band’s minimalist beats and fusion of pulsing electronica and instrumental drone popping up throughout The Expanding Flower Planet.
I think the only concept I had was to combine certain elements sonically into songs. SIRISUK: Were there certain things you wanted to experiment with sonically?It's a good practice to get into at a young age: to think about what you want to do, and do it; to assert yourself and rely on yourself." Growing up in Northern California, Deradoorian was the youngest of three siblings. Lots of noise, lots of music being played, watching movies, cooking, all making art. Which was a funny combination to grow up in." Deradoorian moved to New York at 20 and joined Dirty Projectors just as the band was undergoing a transformation from Dave Longstreth's project to a more fully fledged band.Her father was a jazz musician, her mother an artist; the house creative and chaotic. Her first solo EP, 2009's Mind Raft, came out a month before the breakout DP LP Bitte Orca, whose success meant tending to both the band and her solo work became untenable.I wanted it to be a very insular experience on many levels… It took a while to figure out, I wrote a lot of complete pieces of shit for a while. And that was really the first song where I was finally 'okay, this one doesn't suck to me'.So, I looked at the elements in it that I liked, and worked out how I could turn that into more." Spending years working on The Expanding Flower Planet, Deradoorian drew on something she's harboured since her childhood: self-discipline.