Wow, we’re still a little overwhelmed after Flight Facilities’ gig last Wednesday. This Australian duo, known for their indie disco music, blew our minds away at the Melkweg. Ever since I heard Crave You I’ve been a huge fan, so I felt very lucky getting the opportunity to attend the their performance and interview them. Also, they surprised us with a guest vocalist and a never-heard-before track, which, as expected, sounded amazing! Time to ask some questions.
You guys have established a solid reputation in Australia, your native country. Do you feel like the European crowd is any different from the Australian crowd?
“The European market is much harder to thrive in, basically because there is so much talent here. There are bands and producers from all over the globe constantly passing through every city. And all the countries are so close. Europe is spoiled for amazing live music shows but the crowd is just as appreciative as Australia. Everyone over here really seems to be in touch with the music scene. This is why we really loved our performing at the Melkweg Wednesday. The crowd was amazing!”
How did you come up with your artist name and how come you also perform as Hugo&Jimmy?
“The name is based on my (Hugo) grandfather´s company from the ’70s/’80s. It was a private charter flight company he ran with my dad. We just used the name, logo and theme and adapted it to our music. Sometimes we don’t play as Flight Facilities, because we want those shows to be special. It’s very easy to dilute an act by playing everywhere. This way we can still do what we love with a bit less pressure and expectation.”
Crave You was your first original hit song, co-written with Giselle Rosselli, the track’s vocalist. After that, you collaborated with female artists such as Micky Green, Jess Higgs and Christine Hoberg, and Owl Eyes supported you vocally last Wednesday. Do you enjoy collaborating with inspiring vocalists?
“Working with different vocalists is the best way to get get different results. We think our sound is starting to take shape and people can hear what we’re all about but the vocalists keep each song a little bit fresh and new. It’s something we want to continue to do, especially to show which singers we admire or think should be cast further into the limelight. This is also the case with Owl Eyes; she has an incredible voice, and she’s an invaluable member of the Flight Facilities team now.”
How come you don’t work more often with male vocalists?
“We worked with Grovesnor on With You. So far it’s our only male vocalist. We’ve worked on more material with a few male vocalists which should be released in the near future. It’s mostly a coincidence that females have worked on most of our releases, a unique male vocal is hard to come by. Male vocals on certain types of music tread a fine line into boy band territory so we’re weary of who we use but there are plenty we’d love to work with.”
We’re always mindful of our parents listening to our music.
Your music reminds me a little of Daft Punk; is it influenced by them in any way?
“That’s absolutely true. We’ve referenced them for a lot of our music. We try to not to skim too close because we want to have our own sound and image, but they’re a great guideline for making tasteful dance music while maintaining a long and successful career.”
As for now, all of your music sounds quite ‘beachy’ and ‘loungy’. Are you planning on sticking to this ‘genre’ or do you also aspire to challenge yourselves with different sounds?
“We’ve made a couple of ‘housier’ type songs that are yet to be released but there are genres we’d love to explore. We tend to have a more relaxed sound because we’re always mindful of our parents listening to the music. It’s like a strange, subconscious awareness for their taste.”
Altogether we are very pleased with the performance Flight Facilities gave us and we can’t wait until they visit our country again!
Sharing is caring!
Tweet
