quinta-feira, 18 de setembro de 2014

Torch of the Mystics with Flamingods - An Interview



Quando Hyperborea o recém lançado álbum dos londrinos do Flamingods chegou aos meus ouvidos eu pensei comigo - esse é o álbum mais maluco que ouvi até agora neste 2014, o mais esquizofrênico, o mais tudo.

É uma puta mistura maluca e freak de free jazz, psych, ritmo africanos, jazz e sei lá mais o que, Hyperborea é uma freaknice generalizada e faz todo sentido, simplesmente quando dei por mim já estava completamente hipnotizado pelos caminhos tortuosos e psicodelicamente tribais do Flamingods.

Logicamente que os purista torceram o nariz, mas quem souber aproveitar, meu, vai transcender, vai por mim, discaço.

***** Interview with Flamingods *****


Q. When did Flamingods starts tell us about the history...
It started in 2009 as my solo bedroom project! I was sick of the indie music I was previously making and wanted to break away into some less explored territory, looking more into mystic chanting, psychedelic music from around the world and hypnotic rhythms seen in tribal music. I grew up with the rest of the guys in Bahrain, they joined in 2010 and helped define the sound we are known for today by bringing their many other influences on board!

Q: Who are your influences?
We listen to so many different styles of music, which is why we probably sound so varied at times! Anything from Ghanian highlife to psychedelic music and traditional Arabian sounds. If it’s got an interesting sound, we’ll be all over it!

Q. Made a list of 5 albuns of all time…
1. Sun Ra – Sleeping Beauty
2. Animal Collective – Feels
3. OOIOO - Gold and Green
4. Ghana Special: Modern Highlife, Afro-Sounds & Ghanaian Blues 1968-81 (Soundway Records Compilation)
5. Sun City Girls – Torch of the Mystics

Q. How do you feel playing live?
It always feels so alive, like bringing all these ideas in our heads into a physical action – it’s deeply satisfying! When people are able to understand the feeling & spirit of the sounds we create, it always feels gratifying, especially if they show this by dancing. It makes us feel like we’ve achieved what we set out to do.

Q. How do you describe Flamingods´sounds?
I tend to think our sound is split into two, one by our records and the other our live performances. Our recordings (specially our new album) is a sort of voyage of worldly sounds, conjuring up imagery of ancient civilisations and dreamy landscapes. Our live sound is more like a shamanic, out of body surge of energy and tends to be quite loud and psychedelic whilst maintaining danceable grooves.

Q: Tell us about the process of recording the songs ?
Well this has changed quite a lot in the past year or two. We’re living very far away from each other right now so most of our songs are written through sending audio files back and forth through the internet. Someone in the band has an idea for a song: the imagery, the vibe and a riff to work with and the others try to interpret this and add elements until the song is finished.


Q. Which new bands do you recommended?
Beaty Heart are one of our favourite bands of all time, we’d recommend their brilliant debut album ‘Mixed Blessings’. Islet also create fantastic sounds and offer one of the finest live shows we’ve ever seen!

Q: Which bands you love to made a cover version?
We’ve always wanted to cover ‘Genius of Love’ by Tom Tom Club! We don’t tend to do many covers though. The only cover we ever created is being released later this month via Art is Hard Records Pavement cover album, you can learn more about that here: https://artishardrecords.bandcamp.com/album/jam-kids

Q: What´s the plans for future....
Things are tricky for us right now. Visa issues have caused the band to be living in far away parts of the world, we tour when we can but this is usually only in summer. We do have some fun projects being released in the coming months though such as a dance remix album. We might also be scheming a top secret winter show in the new year – stay tuned!

Q: Any parting words?
Try to use the right side of your brain more people!! Oh and buy our new record https://shaperecords.bandcamp.com/album/hyperborea
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Thanks guys

https://www.facebook.com/flamingodsmusic
http://www.flamingods.bandcamp.com
http://soundcloud.com/flamingodsmusic