Exclusive Flash Republic Interview
Flash Republic. A band that has the ability to set the dance floors alight with their music; they are set on conquering the local and international scene and have the means to do just that with their “electro-tinged and soul-drenched house” music.
The band met when “Tam and I [Craig-whom I interviewed] were working together on her solo album years ago and then we formed a deep house outfit called Soul Khula which did well overseas. Ryan and I met through the DJ scene and he met Tamara through me and next thing Flash was born.”
Picking the band name “was quite a process. We couldn’t settle on anything for a while. The band was quite 80’s influenced hence the “Flash” part and the “Republic” sort of stands for the republic of SA.”
The band just recently signed with leading Indie label Just Music and since then have released their new album Danger. It’s a double disc with one disc full of international remixes. The album did very well overseas with the Prok n Fitch mix of the song ‘Star’ going to number 12 on the UK dance charts. I think the Fonserelli Mix of ‘Shut It’ has the potential to do even better than ‘Star’ did.
Craig says what would they like to achieve in the music industry is “to break into the international market. I think it’s only a matter of time till some SA bands start really cracking it on a world stage.”
The band are “all so influenced by so many music styles and genres from old Motown, rock, indie, funk and soul to Muse, Prince, Daft Punk, Stevie Wonder, The Bravery, The Doors, Beck, Bloc Party, Ladyhawke, Santogold and The Chemical Brothers (laughs) the list could go on forever…”
They have been DJíng since their schooldays so thought it was logically the next step to want to start making and playing their own music after playing other people’s for so long.
Recording the album was quite a process as “it’s a combination of some new and old songs, some of them are 3 years old, and so it wasn’t like we sat down and did the whole album at once. We did it in bits and whenever a new idea came around we’d put it down.”
The studio time contained all “the usual antics-as there is a quite a festive energy in the studio when a great new track’s going down!”
Craig’s favourite track off the album is ‘Twister’ and the new single they are releasing after ‘Twister’ will “probably be ‘Star’ or ‘Danger’”
His favourite thing about performing is “being able to share your biggest passion in the world with the world…”
Having their music mixed by some of the best DJ’s is “always humbling to be respected by people that you grew up admiring. It’s a feather in the cap, just a little encouragement, saying you’re on the right track!”
Their favourite gig that they performed at was “the whole Fat Boy Slim, Stereo MC’s gig…”
Tam (“of course”) takes the longest to get ready before a gig and the side projects the band does is “solo stuff,DJíng, and producing for other artists…” They “all love talking rubbish although I’d say Ryan and I [Craig] take the cake..” They are all actually pretty tidy when on tour and the power always seems to go out at their shows “ALWAYS!”
Enjoy the video for their hit ‘Twister’ below
[...] have quite a few interviews lined up with some brilliant local and international acts, such as Flash Republic, Thieve and Blu Mar Ten. I’ll also be writing posts on what is hot right now in the music [...]