Flour is the musical project and nickname of

Minneapolis Minneapolis is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 429,954 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the state's List of cities in Minnesota, most populous city. Locat ...

musician A musician is someone who Composer, composes, Conducting, conducts, or Performing arts#Performers, performs music. According to the United States Employment Service, "musician" is a general Terminology, term used to designate a person who fol ...

Pete Conway, who wrote songs and played

bass guitar The bass guitar (), also known as the electric bass guitar, electric bass, or simply the bass, is the lowest-pitched member of the guitar family. It is similar in appearance and construction to an Electric guitar, electric but with a longer nec ...

in the bands Rifle Sport and Breaking Circus until the mid-1980s.Strong, Martin C. (2003) ''The Great Indie Discography'', Canongate, , p. 483Frampton, Scott
Flour
, ''

Trouser Press ''Trouser Press'' was a rock and roll magazine started in New York in 1974 as a mimeographed fanzine by editor/publisher Ira Robbins, fellow fan of the Who, Dave Schulps, and Karen Rose under the name "Trans-Oceanic Trouser Press" (a reference ...

'', retrieved 2010-03-27 He released four

solo album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track or cassette), or digital. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th century ...

s on

Touch and Go Records Touch and Go Records is an American independent record label based in Chicago, Illinois. After its genesis as a handmade fanzine in 1979, it grew into one of the key record labels in the American 1980s underground and alternative rock scenes. To ...

from 1988 to 1994 on which he plays most of the instruments himself. Flour toured as a live band twice with a lineup that featured ex-

Big Black Big Black was an American punk rock band from Evanston, Illinois, active from 1981 to 1987. Founded first as a solo project by singer and guitarist Steve Albini, the band became a trio with an initial lineup that included guitarist Santiago Dur ...

guitarist A guitarist (or a guitar player) is a person who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of guitar family instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselve ...

Steve Albini Steven Frank Albini (; July 22, 1962 – May 7, 2024) was an American musician and audio engineer. He founded and fronted the influential post-hardcore and noise rock bands Big Black (1981–1987), Rapeman (1987–1989) and Shellac (band), ...

on bass and former Breaking Circus

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a percussion mallet, beater including attached or enclosed beaters or Rattle (percussion beater), rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or ...

ist Todd Trainer on

drums The drum is a member of the percussion instrument, percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophones, membranophone. Drums consist of at least one Acoustic membrane, membrane, c ...

before they went on to form the band

Shellac Shellac () is a resin secreted by the female Kerria lacca, lac bug on trees in the forests of India and Thailand. Chemically, it is mainly composed of aleuritic acid, jalaric acid, shellolic acid, and other natural waxes. It is processed and s ...

. Flour's solo recordings feature the

drum machine A drum machine is an electronic musical instrument that creates percussion sounds, drum beats, and patterns. Drum machines may imitate drum kits or other percussion instruments, or produce unique sounds, such as synthesized electronic tones. A d ...

sound characteristic of Big Black, which was also toyed with by many other independent rock bands in the

Midwest The Midwestern United States (also referred to as the Midwest, the Heartland or the American Midwest) is one of the four census regions defined by the United States Census Bureau. It occupies the northern central part of the United States. It ...

during that time period. Flour's third solo album ''Machinery Hill'' was described by

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

s Richard Foss as "an oddball masterpiece of grinding guitar, fluid bass, hammering drums, and very creative ideas".Foss, Richard " ''Machinery Hill'' Review,

, retrieved 2010-03-27 In the mid-1990s, Conway was part of an all-bass trio, called Brits Out of America, along with Dana Cochrane of Mickey Finn, Amy Larson of Strumpet, and Ben Ivascu of Polica, STNNNG, Marijuana Deathsquads, etc.Music Notes: Last Nights
", ''

City Pages ''City Pages'' was an alternative newspaper serving the Minneapolis–St. Paul metropolitan area. It featured news, film, theatre and restaurant reviews and music criticism, available free every Wednesday. It ceased publication in 2020 due to a ...

'', April 24, 1996, retrieved 2010-03-26 In 1992, Conway performed as the bass player on the supergroup Pigface's "Fook You '92" tour.

Album discography

Solo albums

*''Flour'' LP (1988) *''Luv 713'' LP (1990) *''Machinery Hill'' LP,CD (1991) *''Fourth and Final'' CD (1994)

Collections

* ''Luv 713/Flour'' CD (1990)

As a band member

With Breaking Circus

*'' The Ice Machine'' (Homestead Records HMS075, 1986) *'' Smokers' Paradise EP'' (Homestead Records HMS092, 1987)

With Rifle Sport

*'' Voice of Reason'' ( Reflex Records Reflex-E, 1983) *" Complex EP" (Ruthless Records RRRS-014, 1985) *'' White (Made In France)'' (

Ruthless Records Ruthless Records was an American independent record label founded by Eric "Eazy-E" Wright and Jerry Heller in Compton, California on March 3, 1987. All of the Ruthless trademarks have been owned by Comptown Records, Inc. since 1987. Several ...

RRRS-016, 1987) *'' Live At The Entry, Dead At The Exit'' (Ruthless Records RRRS-021, 1989) *'' Primo'' (Big Money-Ruthless BMI-011, 1991)

References

American rock singers American rock songwriters Musical groups from Minnesota Touch and Go Records artists Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Pigface members {{US-rock-band-stub