Flaxxies on their latest EP ‘Sunstruck’
Tāmaki Makaurau indie-alt surf-dub rockers Flaxxies have released their third EP full of feel-good tracks with a summer vibe, and it’s no surprise the band is fast becoming one of Aotearoa’s most in-demand young live acts!
Hey guys, thanks so much for taking the time to chat to us! First of all, we'd love to know about your musical journey from when you first started making music together?
Gidday! We’re Flaxxies: five munters who share a dream. Thanks for having us! It’s been a few years on the grind now … Neo, our drummer, is the newest member – having joined the band earlier this year, but other than that - we all met at high school and started jamming in one of the music rooms together. One thing led to another and we found ourselves in Chris’ old man’s lounge running pretty regular practices. Once we left school we agreed to keep it up, and ended up locking down together a few times, which resulted in more jamming and heaps of songwriting. Fast forward to today, and we’re still crackin’ away at it, and have been loving it ever since.
Amazing! And congrats on your third EP - we absolutely love your unique sun-drenched dub-roots-rock’n’blues sound! What are the main themes you've written about for this project?
Cheers! We wanted to hit a few different subjects throughout this one, mainly in the realm of introspect, touching on things like self reflection, personal growth, rebellion; and how these things are affected by authoritative pressure and external crises. We’ve tried to present these ideas in a digestible, enjoyable context that hopefully leaves you feelin’ better about said topics.
What were your artistic influences going into this project?
As a band, we generally draw from a super wide variety when it comes to influence. We all love a bit of classic blues rock, with the likes of Hendrix and Knopfler, obviously to play reggae you’ve gotta love Marley, and all that have followed, such as Katchafire, Fat Freddy’s, and so on. There’s of course tinges of Oceanic surf rock throughout as well, which is a much more contextual side of our sound, and has come from us growing up listening to the likes of Ocean Alley, Hockey Dad, Spacey Jane, Sticky Fingers etc.
Awesome! I wanted to chat about ‘Snapped Up (By The Boss)’ which is such an incredible tune! Can you tell us about the concept of this song?
Haha ‘Snapped Up’ is one of our favourites too. We had a lot of fun recording this one with Tiki Taane and got to experiment a little bit. We felt that he really brought the vision we had to life, and got to explore the sound we have been trying to find for a while and come out with a really bouncy tune. The story behind it’s a fun one! Benji was working for one of his mates' dads at the time. Him and his friends were all around at the boss’ place and Benji was having a joint out the back when bossman walked in. He then came up with the message of getting snapped up by the boss and thought there might be other people out there who’ve felt the same.
This EP was produced and mixed by NZ legend Tiki Taane! What was your experience like working with him?
Hell yeah! It was both a pleasure and an honour to work with one of our inspirations! Tiki was really quick to make us feel welcome at this home studio. He’s obviously worked with countless NZ music icons, and was keen to share his industry, songwriting and production knowledge with us. Shoutout uncle Tiki!
What were your main highlights working on this EP?
Having a mission of this scale to all pitch in on together was great – being able to travel as a group for music and nothing else is a dream of ours, and this was a great taste of it. Being able to sit in on a variety of professionals (i.e. Olly Harmer, Evan Pope, and obviously Tiki!) and observe their workflow was a wicked opportunity. The finished product is certainly a highlight in and of itself, and something the five of us are really proud of.
Plus, you've just wrapped your North Island tour! What was the most fun or memorable moment performing?
Selling out Whammy Bar was sick. A dream come true. It’s been a super enjoyable first proper tour for us, the van was definitely a good time. Let’s do it again!
Who are some of your favourite NZ artists right now and are there any songs in particular that you especially love?
We were lucky enough to assemble a great entourage of local openers for the tour! There’s a really great scene brewing round our end of New Zealand music. To name a few: Frank on Tap, Wet Denim, Daily J, Bella Rafflyn, Caught Inside, Marmalade Skies, the list goes on!
Great picks! What are some of the biggest lessons you’ve learnt in your career so far?
Don’t let Eric take the hotel keys, and put an airtag inside Neo’s snare. Seriously though, it’s a lot of hard work to pull off a tour, and it takes a village. It’s really important to build a wider team of people who can help with planning, logistics, etc! Keep your whanau close!
Lastly, we end every interview with this question - if you could say one thing to every person in the world, what would it be?
Love your mates, or more importantly - let them know! Also go stream our EP ‘Sunstruck’ now!
Thanks so much Flaxxies! Make sure to keep up with them on Instagram, Facebook, Spotify or Apple Music, or high-school students can catch them at their next gig All Ages Pass on Thu 5 Oct at The Tuning Fork.
