Thursday 22 August 2019

INTERVIEW: Flyte (August 2019)

It's time for another interview and I am very excited about this one - the lovely Flyte guys agreed to answer some questions about their recent collaboration with The Staves, upcoming shows and what is coming up for the band this year. Dates for your diary: the band's new EP is due for release on 20th September and they headline London's Village Underground on November 11th.

Flyte with Jess from The Staves

Hello guys! It is wonderful to have you back, but for those who were living under a rock when you released your gorgeous debut 'The Loved Ones' back in 2017 - who are Flyte?

Well hello and thank you it feels very good being back. Ha, well that record still seems to be getting discovered by rock dwelling types, in fact it seems to be getting more attention now than it did on it’s release - which is I suppose is a good sign. Well we’re a band from London who all sing and all write and play instruments. I suppose we’ve become known for singing in harmony in an interesting way but that’s not all there is to it. Our influences are primarily from the past but we definitely bring those influences with us into the present day. Much like artists like Big Thief, Whitney, Phoeobe Bridgers, people like that. There seems to be a fantastic wave of music from America and Australia that seem to be coming from where we’re coming from which we’ve found inspiring. 

You released the track White Roses a few weeks back. It was a much awaited and longed for return for your fans and the reception looks to have been incredibly positive. The track features The Staves - harmonies upon harmonies! How did that dream collaboration come about? 

Very kind of you thank you. We love The Staves, we were always in each others orbit but we only properly met recently. They came to see us on our tour with The Lemon Twigs and we hung out in the pub afterwards. We talked almost exclusively about Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings and The Office I seem to remember. So we instantly got on. Not long after that they were doing a Christmas show at Earth in Dalston and asked us if we wanted to do a Christmas song with them. That was obviously a wonderful experience. So when we were making White Roses we instantly thought of them. We just knew it would work and people seem to be reacting really well to it, so hopefully it was the right move!


What's next now that you've got this new track out in the world? Should we keep our eyes peeled for album two? 

Not sure how much information we’re revealing at this point but there’s plenty of music coming that much is for certain. It’s definitely a very personal collection of songs. The Loved Ones was very much an album about other people and this time round it's very much a personal thing. It feels strange and a little terrifying knowing how exposed the writing is.

I've seen various videos online from your years of busking and I get the impression that you are definitely a band that thrive off of live shows and sessions (your Arcade Fire cover is one of my favourite session videos to exist, ever.) How has it been getting back to playing live after a break - the recent Omeara gig must have been pretty special? Not to mention BST at Hyde Park!

It was always good for us to do those very simple live videos. You can sometimes go overboard in the recording studio by thinking everything has to be big and ambitious. Those live videos kept us in check and showed us how well people react when we’re just singing a good song, completely exposed. We’ve tried to bring that mentality with us into the recording environment this time round definitely. The shows we’ve played recently have been incredible, our fans are just the most amazing, thoughtful, passionate, engaged people and it makes preforming so easy - sorry a lot of hyperbole but its true! The only thing I will say is this new material is so close to the bone that I’ve felt emotionally drained after the shows, if you give that much of yourself it can definitely take its toll.


Where can we see you live in the coming months? A little bird (AKA some internet stalking) tells me you're heading stateside soon! 

Haha yes it’s true we’ll be touring all over the States and then the UK and Europe this Autumn, that’ll be announced properly in the coming weeks!

Finally - what are you all listening to at the moment, any must haves for the tour bus playlist? For me it's mostly the new Friendly Fires album... 

Weyes Blood's new album is fantastic, we went to see her London show and she was mesmerising. Aldous Harding is also fantastic. Tunnel of Love by Springsteen has been giving the goods recently - a really good divorce album, put it on the shelf with Blood on the Tracks and Graceland. 

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