Treetop Flyers interview


Over the past couple of years there's been one new band I've seen live that has made me prick up my ears with their Crosby, Stills & Nash-style harmonies and Neil Young rock outs: London band Treetop Flyers. It's not often you see a small band playing support who feel like they could be headlining, so I jumped at the chance to speak to singer Reid Morrison for Hive Mag, which you can read here or on this very blog below...

Sounding like they came straight out of the golden age of Laurel Canyon, people are starting to catch on to London band Treetop Flyers and their unique sound dubbed “country soul”. With such famous fans as Adele and Laura Marling, they have been particularly busy in 2011 releasing their second EP, Things Will Change, winning the prestigious Emerging Talent competition at this year’s Glastonbury festival and now releasing a new single, It’s About Time. We caught up with frontman Reid Morrison to talk about their successful year, the band’s forthcoming debut album and more

So it’s been a busy year for Treetop Flyers. Does it feel like it’s starting to really happen for you guys?
Yeah over the past six months especially it’s been pretty crazy. Things have been good.


Winning the Glastonbury competition to win a spot on the main stage must have been exciting…
It’s since around that time really that things have got really busy. But I suppose that’s what you want from those things. It’s such a big competition to win so you hope you get some good stuff off it and so far we have got some great stuff, we’re really enjoying things since we won that competition. When we entered it we were on tour with Caitlin Rose and we forgot we entered it, well I did anyway. Then when we got back we were told we were in the finals! Obviously you’re not going to go there expecting to win it but we had a good time there anyway, and Michael Eavis is really nice and all the other bands were really great, so to actually win it too was a really nice feeling to have.

Can you tell me a little bit about the history of the band and how you guys came together?
Basically I used to be in a band with Tomer [Danan], the drummer, about a year or so before we started Treetop Flyers. I’ve known Sam [Beer, guitarist], Laurie [Sherman, guitarist] and Matthew [Starritt, bassist] for years, they were in different bands that we just crossed paths with. To make the story short we were at Sam’s house for his birthday and we all happened to be there apart from Matthew and we just said, “Let’s have a jam and have a laugh and see what comes out of it”. And as soon as everyone went into the room and plugged in and started playing, it was like, “this is it”. We were a four piece at first, Laurie was playing bass but he’s really a guitar player so we thought it was best to use him at his strength. And then we got a phone call from Matthew saying, “I’m thinking of starting a band in this sort of style” and I said, “Well, that’s funny actually because I was going to call you because I’ve already started one!” It was quite organic how it happened. I think it was always going to happen at some point, us five getting together and playing, as we all like the same stuff it was only just a matter of time.

There’s been a return to more roots-based music in the past couple of years, as seen with the rise of Mumford & Sons and Laura Marling, and you’re definitely part of that. Why do you that is?
I think it’s one of those things where, if you can pick up a guitar then basically that’s all you need. You don’t need to have computers, or anything like that, anyone in the world can play that style of music really. It’s all about getting a guitar and just doing it really. It’s the same sort of thing as when Oasis came out and everyone started buying guitars again and wanted to be in a band. Obviously it’s not as raucous and rock and roll as that, but it’s that same kind of mentality. Anyone can do it and that’s what I think the appeal is.

You guys have a little more of a country influence though, don’t you?
Yeah definitely.

Why do you think country has been considered uncool here in the UK in the past?
It’s one of those things. I’ve always thought country was cool but a lot of people hear the word country and they think, “cheesy” like LeAnn Rimes, all that sort of stuff. To me, that’s pop music, that’s not country music. There’s the folk side which is chilled and quiet stuff, but with country you can also rock it up and then you can do the quiet thing. And it’s got a good beat and you can dance to it or you can cry to it. You can do a lot of things within that banner of country really. And the Stones did it, The Beatles did it, every massive band you can name under the sun has dabbled in country, it’s always been cool in a certain way but I don’t know, perceptions of things change I suppose, but yeah it’s always been cool to me.

You’re definitely not just a country band though, there seems to be quite a cool mix of styles in your music…
Well, I love Otis Redding, Van Morrison, Bob Marley and loads of reggae stuff and a lot of soul, Sam likes prog rock and Fairport Convention, that’s really folky. Our bassist loves Frank Zappa and Laurie loves Black Sabbath. There’s a complete mismatch, if you go into our collections they are quite varied. Obviously, I think you need that. I’m not saying that we are going to go write a prog album but you can take what they do into your own style of music. That’s what we like really, taking lots of influences to put into the cauldron and make our own sound out of it. It’s pretty hard to be unique because everything’s been done before but if you do it and you mean it and you try to put your own slant on it, I think that is original and that’s what we’re trying to aim for really.

So you are heading out on a big UK tour?
It’s our first tour as a headliner and it’s pretty exciting. We’re done a few as support, which has been great, but this is our first proper stint out on our own. It’s been pretty good actually. We are starting Thursday in Brighton and then we have a launch in Hoxton in London for the new single and then it’s just basically us out for the next two weeks I think. Some bands have three months for their first tour so it’s good. We’re looking forward to everyone just hearing us basically.

Do you like touring so far?
I do like playing. I think if you ask any band, the driving around and the waiting can get irritating. What do you do with the time off? You can’t really get drunk all the time, well you can [laughs] but it’s that kind of fine line. What do you do? But we’re all best mates so it’s always fun and obviously the gigs are the main thing. If they go well then you’re in a good mood and that just keeps it all rolling along really.

Is there going to be an album soon?
Yes there is. We went to Scotland last week to finish tracks off. We’ve got the bulk of it done, we just have to get it all together and see what we have and see what needs to be taken out or put in. But I think we have about 12 to 13 tracks now for it, which is good. It will probably be out maybe February next year. It takes a while to get the artwork and all that boring stuff sorted. But we’re really pleased with it so far, and that’s listening to it unmixed and unmastered, so as soon as that gets done that’s when it will definitely come to life. I’m really looking forward to it finally coming out.

Finally, do you have any good music recommendations for us?
There’s been a band I’ve been into for a while, we all have really, they’re called Floating Action and their first album is great but I got the new one [Desert Etiquette] yesterday, I can’t stop listening to it. There’s not one bad track on it. It’s a really retro sound, it’s hard to explain, like garage rock with loads of soulful stuff. The production is all analogue, you can tell that it’s produced in that old kind of way and there’s loads of weird sound effects. Check it out, it’s really cool.

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