"Flare Acoustic Arts League — A.K.A. Flare (band) — were an experimental pop band formed by guitarist Damian Costilla and singer LD Beghtol in New York in 1996 who made intense, darkly romantic, atmospheric songs deeply influenced by their love of The Smiths, The Magnetic Fields (with whom Beghtol sometimes collaborated), Love, various 4AD bands, and The Velvet Underground. Flare soon became a small chamber ensemble, augmenting Costilla's guitar work with other instrumentalists for recording and live shows."