Friday, April 5, 2013

INTERVIEW: Flashlights

1)     Do you get upset if people compare your musical style in any way to being that of a band like The Wanted?  (You know that “Glad You Came” song, right?)

I modeled the whole project after a line in that song - "The Sun Goes Down"

2)     What is it like to be a part of the HUG Records family?  Are there lots of free hugs going around?

We (Flashlights & ManCub) founded the HUG Records label in 2012 after Flashlights parted ways with our first label (Binary Entertainment), and its purpose is to serve as a home for some of the amazing electronic music we hear our friends making that would be most likely be self-released or overlooked. We're all about building a community around the indie/electronic music in Denver, and this is our "family label". Tons of free hugs all the time, especially around in the presence of alcohol.
 
3)     Do people bring flashlights to your shows and make strobe light effects during your performances?

That's happened a couple of times and it's mildly annoying.

4)     Who is your favorite New Kid on the Block?

Donnie Wahlberg, because it's nice to see famous people going bald. It just shows that they're real people too. 

5)     True story: I was born on January 31st, which is the last day of the month, at 11:50-something and it was very close to midnight.   Some would even say “So Close to Midnight”.   Had I been born even a few minutes later, I would have been a February baby.  Is your album (and song) in reference to this notion or something more like Cinderella?

Definitely more like Cinderella. The EP is loosely based off the idea that nights out on the town (especially when single) and romantic relationships have an ark to them. A lot of the lyrics on the EP we're inspired by friends entering and exiting relationships.
 
6)     You are from Denver, Colorado.   Will you please, please PLEASE do a cover of the theme song for the most awesome cartoon “Denver the Last Dinosaur” and post it to Band Camp for free?  Or just send it to me?   He’s my friend and a whole lot more!!

I actually had to google this one. I was born in '87 and the show finished its run in 1990 I think? Unfortunately, I missed it entirely.  However if you want a cover of George Strait's All My Exes Live In Texas, we could probably whip that one up pretty quick. 

 
7)     The majority of the music you have on Band Camp is free, along with the options to buy said releases on vinyl.   I fully support the idea that music should be made free at first (even if iTunes started doing it, but hey, for now I just love Band Camp) and then the people who like it will end up buying it in a physical capacity such as record, cassette or whatever the kids are listening to these days.   Do you agree with this?

No. Music shouldn't be free. Our generation fucked ourselves on this one. I think it was Jana Hunter (of Lower Dens) that said something to the effect of (and excuse me for butchering this completely) - People happily pay $2+ every day for a cup of coffee that takes seconds to make and only minutes to drink, yet people have trouble even paying $1 for a song that took countless hours and energy (and money) to write, rehearse, record, produce, mix, master, arrange, art design, etc, that they listen to for days, months, and even years. I know my paraphrasing is way off, but it really hit home for me and gave me a new perspective on the whole notion of "stealing music" and how we really fucked over the artist community. That being said, Flashlights is really small project at this point, so I give away our music digitally in hopes that it reaches a wider audience. Plain and simple. When we put out a full length album one of these days, I'm definitely going to charge for it in all forms. 

8)     Who are we?

I guess you could say Flashlights is just me, Ethan. For live shows I strictly sing, while Elliott Baker (of CCERULEANN) handles the production duties. Over time the project has become a collaboration of sorts with the common thread being my vocals. In the studio I co-produce the instrumentation on the tracks with help from a few different producers and friends and write/record all the vocals myself. On the first couple releases, most of the production was handled by Sam Martin (of Young Pharaohs), and Scarves was co-produced with Alex Anderson (of ManCub). For the upcoming material there's even a few more hands in the mix. It's a weird formula, but it seems to work, and I'm personally producing way more than I did at the conception of the band. Hopefully we can finish up & release some of this new material around summertime. Thanks for all the support so far. <3.

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