Aug 25, 2019

TREETOP FLYERS - "Sometimes someone breaking the seal and doing something stupid can open the door."

Having just released their self-titled third album, Treetop Flyers have brought their London based mix of smooth indie rock to the Halkett Hoedown. Singer Reid Morrison talks of interpretative dance, drawing the line between band mates and friends, and the difference a saxophone can make.

This is your first time in Jersey, what have you been up to so far?

Got to our hotel for a drink, we had to leave at 7 in the morning, after having a gig last night and not getting in until 3am... we’ve been trying to get energy. We’ve lucked out with the weather, these types of things are really good in theory, and the weather is just pot luck.

Any particular acts you’re looking forward to seeing?

Jersey Elvis, actually. It’s pretty cool to hear, ‘you’re on after Elvis,’ which I get to say now.

Your latest album, self-titled ‘Treetop Flyers,’ how was the recording process different with this one?

This one took a longer time to do, which means you have time to think too much about it, and sometimes that can be good. The new one we’ve done a lot quicker which you can hear, it’s a lot more condensed.

You also recorded this one in a tiny cube studio, how did that affect the record?

Well this is also the first one we’ve done on our own, so there’s a lot of experimenting and we’ve had enough time to try things again and again. Doing that has given us a better idea of how things work.

‘Ain’t it funny how a kiss can turn you blue, and a smile can run you right through,’ from ‘Sweet Greens and Blues’, is an interesting line. Where do you find most of your inspiration for your lyrics?

Our guitar player wrote that song, and I’ve always wondered that too but I also understand the sentiment of it. We all write, I’ll write about things that happen in life because that’s what I like to do. Other people might be a bit more obscure, and we all have to pass it by everyone to a degree. When you write something and you want to do it and some of us say it’s good or it’s not good, you have to understand what they mean. But sometimes someone breaking the seal and doing something stupid can open the door to end up doing something light hearted sometimes.

Favourite song to play live?

‘Art of Deception’ from the last album is really good, ‘Needle’ too is good, and ‘Dance Through the Night’ as well. Our first ever single we released ‘Things Will Change’, which we haven’t done in three years is something we’re going to be playing today.

What unique things do you think each member brings to the group?

We were a five-piece before, but then we added a saxophonist, that brings an interesting dynamic. We wanted to try a few different things and the saxophone is quite an underrated and unique instrument. We’ve all got different styles of guitar playing, I’ve got a distinctive voice so I’ve been told.

You’ve been a band for almost a decade now, how do you think you’ve changed in that time?

I’ve never thought about it that way. We started off as five mates trying to have a laugh, and have been a band since we were 16. We’ve done quite well off a few albums, having travelled the world doing this, meeting loads of cool people. We’ve seen each other go through our bad patches and highs too, as friends that’s quite a nice journey to look back on. There are bits where you have to separate the friendship from the band stuff, it’s not personal when you tell someone something’s not good enough, you have to not take it to heart. It’s tough sometimes, and we’re still getting some idea of the balance of that.

Tell me about the interpretative dance music video to ‘I Knew I’d Find You.’

Our manager’s son is in the video, and it’s hard to do videos with new ideas so we thought we’d try something different. He’s into dancing so we let him have a show reel, but it’s also a nice sentiment for a song, it’s not necessarily about a couple but you can interpret it in different ways. The dance is romantic, the song is more personal and about finding yourself.

You can listen to the Treetop Flyer's discography on their YouTube Channel, Facebook, or look them up on Spotify.