A Q&A with Flawes
Huddersfield trio move up a gear – here’s JC, Huss & Freddie…
How did you get the title of your latest release, and what does it mean to you?
JC: ‘Holding Out for The Win’ is based at the start of a relationship and documents the moment of falling in love with someone and realising that it could be the start of something really special. When writing lyrics, I always tend to lean towards positive themes – I feel like that’s what the world needs right now.
What was the hardest part about putting this release together, and why?
Huss: The most challenging thing was doing everything remotely, I think, although it was super exciting. We recorded the whole thing separately from our own homes. So, for me, I had to set up a whole home recording studio (and have a kind word with neighbours about the continuous noise of the drums) but it turned out great, and we all learned a lot too.
Who produced the release – what did they bring to it?
Freddie: ‘Holding Out for The Win’ was a collaborative effort with a producer named Toby Scott. Toby is a really talented guy with so many cool ideas. We really enjoyed designing the soundscape for the track with him and delving into some of those 80s synth sounds. As Huss said, the sessions were done remotely, so that added a new dimension to everything! Shoutout to Toby for being so patient with our internet connections… haha.
What do you want the listener to take away from listening to your music?
JC: The whole ‘Reverie’ EP is full of positive themes and we as a band are very optimistic. We have a very ‘glass half full’ kind of attitude. We hope it is empowering – we’ve created this whole world with this EP, and anyone can join us there for half an hour.
How does a track normally come together? Can you tell us something about the process?
JC: We like to keep the song writing process as open as possible so there is no specific right or wrong way to approach. Sometimes it will be a vocal melody and a few chords that I come up with and send to the boys to develop, or a loop Freddie has come up with which I write a vocal melody on top. Other times we’ll start from the bottom up with a drum beat Huss sends over. All three of us use logic so it’s quite handy to pass projects back and forth between us.
What band/artists have influenced you the most since you started this project, and why?
Freddie: I think the answers we’d have given at the start of the band would be very different to our influences today! We’re currently loving acts like Lauv, Sam Fender, The Band Camino and Holly Humberstone. We also took some older influences into this EP like Massive Attack and Prince.
When the world is back to normal where would like to tour, and why?
Huss: Honestly, anywhere. We LOVE playing live; it’s what Flawes was born to do. So as soon as we can tour again, we’ll be on the road wherever we can travel to safely. Nothing beats that excitement of playing new songs live, so we have a lot to look forward to!
If you could pick one track for our readers to listen to in order to get a taste of your music, what would you pick, and why?
Huss: The song ‘Holding Out for The Win’ definitely sets the tone for where Flawes is heading musically… also the music video will give you a pretty good picture of what we’re all about! It’s fun, upbeat and about holding out for something you believe in.
What ambitions do you have for the band/your career?
Freddie: It might feel like a fairly generic answer, but our dream is to share our music with as many people as possible for as long as possible! Even if that is mainly through live streaming for the time being…
Finally, as you leave the stage, what are your parting words?
Thanks so much, we’ve been Flawes. We hope to see you very soon!?
The new EP from Flawes, ‘Holding Out for The Win’ is out now
For more info visit: facebook.com/FlawesBand
