Puddlegum began in 1997 as a way to bring the music magazine format to the Internet. It started as an idea in a college dorm room, and with the help of Kevin Flick’s roommate, Josh Smith (Hydro74), and close friend, Jim Mendenhall (Starry Hope), Puddlegum became a reality. Their first album review was Pedro the Lion’s debut Whole EP. Flick and Mendenhall updated the site on a regular basis for two years, reviewing albums, interviewing bands, and posting music news. It was one of the first music blogs (called an ezine, short for electronic `zine, since blogs didn’t exist yet).
Flick and Mendenhall attempted to form a record label, Puddlegum Communications, in 1999. They released a shoegaze album by Estis P@rc, And So It Begins. Flick was the executive producer, and their friend Jesse Sprinkle produced the album at his Bluebrick Recordings studio in Rochester, New York. They also released a compilation CD called Puddlegum: Kids Like Us before running out of money.
Puddlegum, the MP3 blog
In 2005, Flick decided to relaunch Puddlegum, this time as an MP3 blog. He posted daily for over five years, writing over a thousand posts and articles. The focus was supporting independent music, particularly indie bands.
In 2006, Flick predicted that Myspace would fail, explaining why in an article titled Myspace is Dying; his claims came painfully true two years later. In 2007, he predicted that vinyl would outlast the CD, and that people would subscribe to streaming services (fourteen months before Spotify was launched). Over a dozen Puddlegum articles would hit the front page of Digg during this time. Yet, a vast majority of his write-ups centered around bringing exposure to indie artists.
One article sparked a controversial Radiohead theory, that became known as the Binary Theory. (Spotify has since created an official Radiohead 0110 Playlist.) Regarding the theory, MTV recently wrote this in an article about Radiohead:
“Blogger Kevin Flick devised the complicated Binary Theory, asserting that 1997’s ‘OK Computer’ and ‘In Rainbows’ are companion albums linked by ones and zeroes, and that ‘In Rainbows’ marked the culmination of a 10-year master plan to blow our minds.”
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Flick was involved in a number of other projects. In one of these projects, he released a CD Compilation, Six World Records, for a record label concept with Jesse Sprinkle (Poor Old Lu, Bluebrick Recordings). An artist by the name of Stately English was on this compilation, releasing his very first single (produced by Sprinkle); he would later become known as Father John Misty.
Eventually, Flick decided to refocus his attention on returning to college (Indiana University in Bloomington), recording bands, and raising his two small daughters with his wife.
In 2019, Flick co-produced with Marshall Baker and released the debut Saeyers ep. He continues to record with Saeyers and manage his music. Since then, he has mixed and mastered for Cathedral Bells, Midi Memory, Processions, and a growing number of artists. (Visit Puddlegum.Studio.)
Relaunched as Puddlegum.blog
It was during the quarantine of 2020 that Flick revisited the idea of bringing Puddlegum back. In April, 2020, the third version of Puddlegum was born, this time as Puddlegum.blog. He has been writing daily since. Daniel Belgrad of Vern Matz joins him as a writer. (They have written over 130 posts and articles in the first year.)
Helping you create music at Puddlegum.Studio
In 2021, Flick launched Puddlegum.Studio to better help artists create their music. While a physical studio is in the works, Flick is actively mixing and mastering projects. Visit the studio site, and listen to his demo reel.