Flashguns: Interview

Whether you like the NME or not, its yearly awards tour culminating in the big gig after the awards ceremony itself is a bit of a coup for any band invited to be a part of it.  Probably no more so than for the newer bands just starting out on their musical journey.  Just ask Flashguns, a band comprising 4 teenagers who formed at boarding school in the rural depths of the countryside just over a year ago, and who were invited to play on the tour alongside Ida Maria. 

Their hyperactive show at Camden’s infamous Koko captured the shuffling crowds attention despite the earliness of their slot and the usual indifference to the support acts by those there to see main event, Ida.  And for a 4-piece so young in age and experience they dominated the vast stage as if they were its proprietors, presenting each song with vigour and star quality and giving every person there reason to remember who and what Flashguns are about. 

In short, a blinding success, and thus it transpires why Flashguns have been touted as serious contenders for this years chart battles and why NME gave them a shot on their tour.

Smiths and Blur legendary producer, Stephen Street apparently thinks so as well, after being introduced to their demos and promptly holing them up in Olympia Studios to produce and record their recent single, ‘Locarno’.

As if that wasn’t enough, with labels clamouring to get a look in, Flashguns could get the chance to refine their hook laden “epic” tunes and take them mainstream; a far cry from the boarding school which shaped the lads into the music loving, multi-influenced band that they are for all their relative immaturity in years!

We spoke to frontman and main songwriter Sam Johnston in the lead up to the release of ‘Locarno’ on Blue Flowers and those hotly anticipated NME shows.

4TR: For anyone that hasn’t heard of Flashguns before give us a brief overview of who you are.
Sam: Ok, so we are called Flashguns and there are 4 of us in the band.  We basically met at school, so have been a band playing shows and writing music probably for about a year and a half now. 

4TR: And in your eyes what kind of music do you make?
Sam: We make kind of big, epic, energetic, guitar driven soulful rock music and in terms of influences we are very varied.  Like there’s not a very particular sound that we convene to because naturally we draw from lots of different influences, which we kind of found ourselves.  We all went to boarding school in the middle of the countryside and so that was a bit weird in terms of what music we listened to, because we weren’t influenced by a scene or anything like that.  Because of that, we write by drawing on an eclectic range of the music we discovered ourselves.  So our songs all kind of vary from one to another, like one will be a lot more pop and then we will have a real 80s sound and then we will have a much bigger, more epic kind of rockier sound in another track.

4TR: Your recent single release ‘Locarno’ was produced by Stephen Street, who is probably on many a ‘dream list’, how did you find yourselves working with him?
Sam: Well basically we have been releasing singles with a label called Blue Flowers and our man there is good friends with Will Street, Stephens son, who runs Chess Club Records.  So he showed him our stuff and Stephen was really keen to do a session with us, which was a real compliment, and so we decided to do the next single, ‘Locarno’ with him.

4TR: And you recorded it at Olympic Studios? 
Sam: Yeah, we went in for a week to Olympic studios and were actually the last band in history to record there which is quite cool.  It closed down on our final day of recording and I think we beat U2 to it by about a few hours. 

4TR: Did you learn anything from working with someone held in such legendary high regard as Stephen Street?
Sam: Yeah we did, it was amazing. Although I think we were maybe a little bit awestruck at first but then we really got into it. Before when we have worked with producers we kind of almost employed them to work for us, whereas this time it was kind of the other way round, so it was a really interesting way of working.  He was amazing, the way he was so organised and just knew what he wanted and how to get it; so it was very inspiring for us. 

4TR: And were you pleased with the results?
Sam: Yeah, but I think in the future we wont go for a sound similar to that on the single, because it was quite indie.  The music that Stephen produces is kind of along the lines of the likes of Blur and The Smiths and so it was quite commercial sounding, like with the vocals, which were very high etc.  But he heard ‘Locarno’ and knew exactly where it needed to go, so for that track I think he absolutely captured it incredibly.  Our more recent recordings have a bigger, more rockier sound, so in the future we will go for that and keep it raw.  But as I say, with ‘Locarno’ itself I think he really took it and maximised its potential to make it what it is now.

4TR: You are releasing an EP in May, so can people expect a mix of sounds and differing directions taken with each track?
Sam: I think so, I mean we are including 2 tracks that have been up on our MySpace that we recorded previously, ‘Bells at Midnight’ and ‘St.George’ and then we will probably take a slightly different direction.  It’s going to be big; I think the sonic scape of it is going to be epic and quite raw at the same time, with a live feel to it.  Then there are a couple of new tracks, which are definitely like a step towards the future of Flashguns’ sound, which is big and energetic. 

4TR: Will the EP be released on Blue Flowers?
Sam: I think so yeah, but I mean we are looking around and surveying options and the general situation.  Blue Flowers is a great label but in terms of the kind of influence and the size of the label we may look to progress eventually.

4TR: How does the writing process work within Flashguns, do you have one main songwriter?
Sam: Yeah definitely, I mean I will come to the band with like essentially a finished track and then kind of orchestrate it with the bass and the keys and the drums and then will add the lyrics as well.  That’s kind of how it works so obviously the song forms from there.  The writing part comes from me and then the final form comes out of the studio when we are rehearsing together and stuff like that.  We’re quite efficient at it now and defining the sound like that.

4TR: Is it true that many of your lyrics are gleaned from American Literature and Shakespeare?
Sam: Yeah they are, I mean I read a lot and in the same way that the music that I’m listening to at the current time will influence the music that I write, similarly the books that I read or the films that I have seen will definitely influence the lyrics.  It’s just what is going through my head, whether its like a style or a feel to the phrasing of the lyrics or whether its literally quoting literature as well.  I mean I like that, it can be quite ambiguous and interesting you know and I love the way words sound, so I like to mess around with it.

4TR: Is there anything else that inspires you, like bringing an autobiographical element to what you do?
Sam: Yeah definitely.  I think I probably find it easier to express myself in like an ambiguous lyric where I feel I’m telling people how I feel but not having to give anything away, which could be good and bad.  The writing definitely comes from a lot of past experience and emotions that I have felt.  You know I have my ups and downs so I find it quite good to express myself through a lyrical process.  It’s a helpful tool I suppose, and there are a few kind of themes that I like to play around with as well that are not so autobiographical, you know like the kind of torrid love affair and stuff like that.  I mean they can be construed as quite dark and but I think they can often come from dark places as well.

4TR: You have often been put into the category of 80’s sounding bands, following on from greats like The Cure, what do you think about that?
Sam: Well when people make comparisons its hard, like I don’t think we sound particularly 80s, but there are elements of our music, like the musicality of it and the way we approach it which are relevant to the 80s sound.  You know in the 80s there was a huge synth and electronic thing and then guitars came back with bands like the Cure and the Smiths who were looking to be more musical and that element is definitely present in our music. But then there’s a more alternative progressive rock element to us, like with bands like Biffy Clyro and then the kind of big sonic-scape element of bands like The Killers.  I mean its tough, I’d be reluctant to ever put a label onto the music or make a direct comparison ‘cos next week I’ll write a song that sounds nothing like it.  Anyway I don’t want to make a record where people can just pigeonhole you, I want to make a record where people might adore half the tracks, but maybe won’t connect with the other ones, and make it really eclectic; so people will have to address each song.

4TR: Is it true you pulled out of the Road to V competition last year?
Sam: [laughs] Yeah we did.

4TR: But you did play the BBC Introducing stage at Reading and Leeds.
Sam: Yeah we did that, which was amazing.

4TR: Have you had support from those BBC Introducing types like Huw Stevens?
Sam: They have been very supportive and I think we owe a lot to them.  They kind of appreciate us I think a lot and I don’t know, I assume they like what they hear!  So they’ve given us a lot of radio play, and the Reading and Leeds spot and so we have just got good links there, which are very valuable nowadays.

4TR: Have you done a live session at Maida Vale for them?
Sam: Yeah we did a Maida Vale session for Huw Stevens, which was incredible as well; its just things like that which a lot of bands don’t get the chance to do and we were actually doing it quite early on in our careers so we were very lucky.  They have been a big part of how we have flourished in the past 6 months, so we are very lucky and very grateful as well.

4TR: And you have been booked onto the NME tour for a few dates?
Sam: Yeah, which is this week with Ida Maria in London, Manchester and Glasgow which is going to be pretty cool as well.   We are playing at Koko, which is a big deal for us, they are going to have to drag me kicking and screaming off the stage when we are done.

4TR: So what’s next for the year?  You guys are all 18 or 19 so is University on the cards?
Sam: Well we’re on a gap year now and are hopefully recording quite a lot over the next few weeks and getting the EP done and then releasing another single after that.  Then we will be touring as much as possible and doing the festivals etc and then in October we all have places at Uni’s that are quite central to London.  I think we are all going to go, but then play it by ear really.   It’s a tough one; I mean no one has really made their mind up about anything yet, so it’s a bit of a dilemma, although a nice dilemma to have.  Do you go and get a degree or tour for an album? But for now we are literally just going to go hell for leather and see where it takes us by the end of the year.

Words: Francesca Strange

Anonymous
Posts: 2

Re: Flashguns: Interview
Reply #2 on : Mon February 14, 2011, 02:33:45

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wow, intense comment..

Anonymous
Posts: 2

Re: Flashguns: Interview
Reply #1 on : Sat January 01, 2011, 20:33:42

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Hi, Don't know if you remember me but I am IN LOVE WITH YOU. I met you last night in Northumberland!!!! I hope to see you soon now it is 2011 and you said you would come out for me this year and dump your skinny bitch girlfriend!!! Love Francis - call me 07853556723

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