Feature Friday: Finding Dream Days with Flaxxies
Living their best lives - just talking to the guys from Flaxxies on Instagram gave me such a genuine vibe from them. Excited to bring you this Feature Friday! (ALL photos provided by Flaxxies).
Welcome to Feature Friday #7 and this week is the wonderful Auckland-based surf-rockers, Flaxxies who love the Coromandel, are working towards big goals and fulfilling their passion of creating full-time careers out of music. These five mates are not letting anything slow them down - they’re pushing forward at full force and are getting their name quickly out there. I’m really stoked to feature Flaxxies this week because I love their strive and energy that they send out into the world. While a majority of their monthly listeners are based in Auckland, it’s good to see that they have made it over the ditch and have a few listeners in Sydney, Australia too. Get to know more about these exceptionally talented guys below and don’t forget to have a listen and go see them at a gig when you can!
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What would be your dream to happen over the next year?
Benji: The dream for me would be to release some new music, tour around NZ and meet some cool new people in the industry. Can’t wait to play in some new cities…
Jayden: To not have to work a 9 to 5 anymore... My biggest life dream is to turn my passion for music into my full-time job.
Eric: I'd love for us to get to a point where we can sign on with a manager! Also, it would be great to get into as many festivals as possible and record some more music!
Chris: It'd be so awnn if we could get a song to 100K on Spotify, release a bangin’ EP, get to a few more festivals like Bay Dreams, Soundy, etc. -- also we would LOVE to open for an international act!
Nick: A huge goal of mine for next year is to just keep growing ourselves as a band, be it on both individual and collective grounds. If I had to pin that onto specifics I'd say that I'd be super stoked to be hitting bigger venues, more festies, and really just more progression onto bigger achievements!
Looking forward to some slapping Flaxxies gigs soon!
Flaxxies song that you are most proud of and why?
Eric: I'd have to go with Erica, because it was the first song I wrote for the band, (the name might make a bit more sense now!) and I think that experience really sealed my connection with the rest of the team!
Benji: That’s on Me is the song I feel most attached to. I wrote the lyrics to the chorus in a dream of mine, and when we play together on stage or even just when practicing, everything feels so natural and clear. We play… you jump. It's as simple as that!
Jayden: King of the Reef, (which is an unreleased one that you might know if you've been to any of our recent gigs) just because of the energy it has! Love playin' that song live.
Nick: One song I always look forward to in our set is That's on Me. I think Benji did a brilliant job lyrically on that one, and Eric's riff is just way too nasty! It never ceases to amaze me how much it seems to get people going at gigs!
Chris: Lot 61, which is a new jam we've been working super hard on over this lockdown, I just think it's got some great potential and is really radio-playable! Also, it's got an aaabsolutely slappin' bassline.
Hella summer vibes.
Ever wish that you could go back to the past and change something? If so, what would it be?
Eric: I wish I picked up the guitar much earlier in my life... It's such an amazing outlet for emotion and I don't know how I ever lived without it. It's something that I can always count on to be there for me when I've had a sh*tty day, and nothing beats the feeling of satisfaction it gives me when I've fully figured out a part I've been struggling with.
Jayden: Honestly, overall, I'm pretty stoked with the progress we've made. I've been in a few bands over the years and this one has made it pretty damn far in a short amount of time.
Benji: There are a few things I would try to change in my past. I think the one thing I would tell myself is to stop comparing myself to others. Every person takes their own path and comparing with others is something so toxic that I wish I drifted away from growing up. However, we are who we are, if something needs changing go out there and do it, it’s only yourself holding you back.
Nick: The only thing I ever really regret in regards to music is the fact that it took me so long to find my own motivation for playing my instrument - I've had a guitar in my hands since I was really young, and it's always been a real go-to for me in times of stress or struggle, but it hasn't really been since I started playing with the boys that I've felt truly inspired to grow as a musician.
Chris: I wish we'd have gotten Benji involved earlier! He's been a huge motivator for us and puts the fire under our asses when it's needed.
Their beachy/surfy tunes will make you want to go to the sea - I went straight to the beach after the guys sent through their answers for this FF! Their latest single, Take Me Home is very calming and relaxing.
What has been the most rewarding moment being in Flaxxies?
Eric: I'd have to go with the time a younger kid came up to me after a gig and said something along the lines of "I hope one day I'm in a band as good as yours..." It sounds cliché, but it's the moments like that which really do keep you going sometimes.
Nick: Honestly, for me, it comes down to the five minutes before we go on stage at any venue. That look of determination and commitment I see on any one of the boys' faces gives me all I need to know that I've got four brothers who are willing to commit every last ounce of their energy into giving it their all.
Benji: Not sure I can pin it to any specific moment... The most rewarding thing would be the mate-ship we’ve created. Every moment is big. Those small, little achievements all add up to who we are and that’s something we appreciate a lot. From high school mates to playing shows we’d never dreamed of has been pretty surreal. Watching the other four grow as people and musicians is pretty rewarding, and I just enjoy being able to share some cool memories with them.
Jayden: Hearing the lyrics of Dream Days getting absolutely screamed back at us at our Galatos show, it was just so crazy to me that people's vocal cords could drown out even some of the sound coming from my kit... Which is quite a lot.
Chris: Definitely when we played a New Years’ Eve slot at Rhythm and Vines' Garden stage - it's something we worked super hard for, and the payoff was just absolutely great.
Impressing audiences for a while - their first EP hit the shelf last year and it is 100/10! Favourite track is either Eucatastrophe or The Runaway.
Favourite place in the entire world and why?
Benji: My favourite place in the world would have to be Whangapoua. I've been going to the Coromandel since I was a kid and nothing beats heading back there for summers and writing music. Peaceful, great beach and kind people, not a lot more I could ask for!
Nick: My first instinct is to go for anywhere with sun and salt, because that's where I've always gravitated to for happiness, but the more I think about it, the more I keep coming back to my room. I feel like anyone deep down probably feels the same... No matter where that room may be: In your parents' house, your flat, an apartment, a uni dorm; maybe you share it with a family member, maybe you share it with a non-family member - it's the one space every human truly has to make their own, and it's the one place we all have to truly just chill out and be ourselves. For me, that's the sort of environment that encourages creativity.
Chris: In hindsight, my old man's place on Beach Road in Mellons Bay would be the go-to answer for me. He was often either at work or at his partners place, so it was the first time we all had somewhere we could just show up, play music, and chill out together whenever we wanted. He's been gone from there a while now, but those memories are always super evocative of both my early teenage years and our early days as a band.
Jayden: Would probably have to be the Coromandel! I hadn't really traveled there much at all before we started going there as a band, so that place holds a real strong connection with music for me.
Eric: My favourite place in the world is our little practice room/studio that we've been working in/on since the start of 2021. It's the one space that's always there for us to come back to and regroup after we've had any amount of time apart, and it's where all of us come together to turn our song ideas into actual, tangible recordings.
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Huge thank you to Benji, Nick, Eric, Chris and Jayden for taking the time to answer the questions and be Welcome to the Gig’s Feature Friday for this week. That was super fun!
For more Flaxxies, make sure you check them out below -
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Feature Friday has been created to help promote New Zealand artists and get to know artists, no matter how big or small their following is. I think there is so much passion behind music, but we lack being able to learn about the artists personally unless we get the chance to meet them in person and while we are lucky enough to be able to do that in our little ole country, I think it’s special to have the opportunity to chat and get to know them and post it on the blog for those who aren’t able to go out and meet them. I hope that Feature Friday helps you not only discover your new favourite tunes, but helps showcase that the artists in our country and very down-to-earth and genuine people, too.
If you would like to be considered for Feature Friday, an interview/review etc., please flick me a message on Instagram or an email. At the moment, I only have capacity to cover New Zealand artists, however, keep an eye out on the Facebook and Instagram pages as this could change at any time.