Flyying Colours’ lead singer Brodie J Brümmer and guitarist Gemma O’Connor go back a long way.
“It feels like we’ve known each other forever,” Brümmer says. “We went to high school together. Gemma gave me my first joint, and you can’t really beat that.”
Nonetheless, it’s not just the casual sharing of drugs that has defined the pair’s relationship: they have also spent the last half decade making incredible music together. Since their formation in the spring of 2011, the band have released two EPs (Flyying Colours, 2011, and Roygbiv, 2015) to critical acclaim, and this month sees the release of their debut full-length, Mindfulness.
“This album is almost like the answer to our pervious EPs,”Brümmer says. “It’s been really nice to finally put the nail in the coffin. We’ve been working on these songs for a while, and I feel a great sense of relief to have this album out there. It was like a slab of concrete that had been tied to my back was lifted off, and I could play guitar for enjoyment without purpose again.”
Mindfulness is a heady mix of psych, indie, grunge and shoegaze, and features bassist Melanie Barbaro and drummer Andy Lloyd Russel for the first time. “Mel and Andy joined us just before we went over to Europe last year. It’s been an adventure working out exactly what we sound like together – but one of the best things about being in a band is the fact that you can constantly explore techniques and create new sounds, and because Andy and Mel didn’t play on our previous EPs, Mindfulness is a good example of where we are at the moment – it’s really indicative of us all.”
Produced by Brümmer and their manager/musician (and partner to Clare Bowditch) Marty Brown, Mindfulness was a labour of love thatbegan to take shape at Brown’s studio in Coburg, in Melbourne’s northern suburbs. “We did the tracking at Marty’s studio, but I did a few bits of mixing at home – I’ve got a studio set up there now,” Brümmer explains.
A self-proclaimed perfectionist, he says that he spent time painstakingly working on every detail, and relished the opportunity to have complete creative control. He is evidently a musician who likes to sweat the details, and he draws a great deal of strength from micro-managing every single element of his sound. “I really insisted on taking my time with it and letting myself experience every avenue – I experimented with every possible sound of the snare drum, for example. It was the only way I was going to be able to get through it and actually be happy with it, and be able to put it out.
“I wanted it [Mindfulness] to sound particularly like us,” Brümmer continues, “and if someone other than myself did the mixing, the songs may not have the same feeling. I wanted to capture what we sound like live – just the four of us playing together in a room.”
Brümmer says that it was difficult to produce the band’s very particular sound given their exceedingly, almost miniscule budget, but it was a challenge the four-piece revelled in. “It wasn’t a conscious thing. We didn’t say, ‘We’ve got a small budget – let’s do this or that’. We just wanted the album to sound authentic.
“For example, there’s not a single instance of Auto-Tune on the record. We didn’t try to fix stuff – we didn’t use drum replacement which so many producers do, you know? Like when they replace all the kicks so they sound huge, and we didn’t want to do that. It’s not that I think that those things are necessarily bad, it’s just that for this particular record that’s how we wanted to sound, and I think it really works for us.”
‘It’s Tomorrow Now’ is the first single from their debut. The track has already received ample servings of attention, not only for its complex arrangement and Brümmer’s subtle yet significant vocal delivery, but also for its visually-mesmerising video clip, made by visual artist and good friend Thom Russell. “He [Russell] made the ‘Running Late’ video as well, and he also did the cover art for our first two EPs,” Brümmer says.
“It’s always fun to be making videos, especially with Thom because we never know what he’s going to do. He’ll explain the concept to us: it’s not like we’re in the dark, but we never really understand what he’s saying.” Brümmer laughs. “But we love to work with him: he’s such a great artist. He’s got a very unique way of working, and a unique style. That’s what he brings. We do our thing and he does his thing, and it just feels really natural. We love this clip as well, because it’s the first to feature all four of us – the full lineup.”
So the lineup is complete? “Yeah, there won’t be any more changes. This record showcases exactly who we are as players and I think that’s going to develop even more over time, and we’re excited to start recording again. We can’t wait to make more music together and work harder as a band.”
[Flyying Colours photo by Bianca Milani]
