March 19, 2024

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Flirt with Danger discuss their new album ‘The mini album’ with Stereo Buzz – Buzzing On our stereo now

British-based electrosurfbilly band, Flirt With Danger have released their debut album, ‘The Mini-Album’.

The music is an imaginative, provocative and eclectic mix of neo-rockabilly, surf, 60s garage and proto-punk, combined with analogue synth sounds. The lyrics draw on both modern concerns and retro-futuristic imagery, very much in line with the burgeoning atompunk artistic scene. It represents a significant departure from the existing UK music scene and has already attracted considerable interest in the USA, particularly in California and Texas.

The tracks were written by Les ‘Spaceman’ Rowley, the former keyboard player of South London indie rock band, Brilliant Pink, theatrical heavy metallers, Aunt May, and drum’n’bass trio, Tectonic.

Mr Rowley said, “This is just a taste of a large catalogue of material that provides a refreshing alternative to a popular music scene that’s become somewhat staid and formulaic in recent years.”

In true punk DIY spirit, Flirt With Danger are not signed to a record company, and the mini-album is both self-financed and self-produced. All songs were recorded in Worcester-based studio, The Space Underground and professionally mastered at Metropolis Studios.

The mini-album can be heard at https://flirtwithdanger.bandcamp.com/releases

The mini-album will be available through bandcamp, iTunes, Google Play, Spotify and all the usual digital stores.

Frontman Les Rowley had a sit down with Stereo Buzz – Interview 

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How would you describe your music ?

‘Punk Noir’ – a term I use to describe its mix of rockabilly, surf, garage/punk, 40s detective film themes and analog electronics.

What is your new single about and where did the inspiration come from ?

Main track on the Mini-album is Even Spooks Need To Rock & Roll. Inspired by checking the server stats for the band website and discovering a whole load of hits from British Indian Ocean Territories – it gave me a vision of guys working the spy centres out there, getting bored on the night shift and using their surveillance equipment to listen to rock & roll instead.

How do you make your music, do you have a set process ? 

Write and produce all myself. Most are heavily guitar-based, so my guitars, particularly my Gretsch Tennessee Rose, are of major importance. I’m also very fond of my Rickenbacker 4003 bass. These 2 instruments are enormously inspirational. Everything’s recorded into Logic Pro, it’s the only DAW I’ve used so I can’t really compare it to the rest. Also added a few synth plugins, emulations of a mini-Moog, a VCS3 and an ARP 2600. Creating new analog synth patches, I find, is a very interesting experience.

An idea comes to me for just a few words or a fragment of a tune and I try to capture it as quickly as possible, then work it up over a few days. The annoying thing is I get most ideas while having a shower before going to work on my day-job, which gives me precious little time to do anything other than scribble down a few chord diagrams on the back of an envelope. Often when I come back to them, I can’t remember the feel behind the fragment.

Where does your name come from ?

An idea for a website project a long time ago, I still had the domain name when I started recording my own material and it seemed a natural choice. There’s a line from a Doors song which may have inspired it, “There’s danger on the edge of town”

Do you get nervous before a live gig  ?

Rehearse, rehearse, rehearse. Still get nerves in the few minutes before starting, usually feel fine as soon as I start playing, the nerves just disappear when the focused mind takes over. For all that, it’s a great adrenalin rush, and to some extent I enjoy that. I suspect a lot of other performers do, too.

How often and for how long do you practice ?

If you consider song-writing and production a form of practice, a couple of hours most days. Other than that, very little time for genuine practice.

How do you balance your music with other life obligations – partner, children, job ?

No family obligations but day-job and Buddhist practice leave me very time-poor. There simply aren’t enough hours in the day.

Do you write your own songs ?

Yes.

Flirt with Danger can be found Online here:

http://flirtwithdanger.com