FLARE VOYANT

'Flarevoyancy'. It's only the second gig that I've attended, and these boys have already managed to coin a word that captures their whole essence. With impeccable dress, bohemian airs and cosmic vibrations, Flare Voyant radiate rock 'n' roll and they haven't even started playing yet.

Before the beginning of their debut gig, I met a friend of the band's outside. Sonia Shahid, 'seamstress for the band'. Flare Voyant's style has definitely been influenced by this Tiny Dancer, and her press shots capture the velveteen decadence of the boys' dress.

I find myself back for more at their second gig in Hackney's Paper Dress Vintage. It's the perfect venue for Flare Voyant: picture shimmering garments made in days of old, bannering the room as the boys, clad in flares and satin shirts, set up their instruments. Frontman extraordinaire,Thomas Baignères, struts through the crowd, pounces onstage, and Flare Voyant's set begins. 'Borders' channels a similar essence of tongue in cheek, stiffened upper lip glam rock, reminiscent of Glimmer Twins-era groove. Baignères is a phenomenal frontman. His fearless energy hooks the audience and they immediately respond to his cathartic delivery. The moves, riffs, licks and vocals are incendiary and Flare Voyant set a high bar very early on. Then, 'Ephemeral Romance' slides in with a honey-glazed riff that oozes through your ears.

The next song, entitled 'So Contextual', is my favourite of the set. The rhythm section come into their own, feeding off each other flawlessly. George Hudson's bass licks are the music's fundamental time line. They correlate beautifully with Lucas Roxo's explosive drumming. Lead guitarist, Rod Bourganos, belongs on the stage. He and his Gibson Les Paul are vital in delivering the bluesy chaos that ensues as Flare Voyant play.

Baignères announces that the next tune, 'Light and Shade', is an extra 'special' one because it is his favourite. It brings out something more profound and emotional, but retains their signature 'Flarevoyancy' through its hungrily passionate deliverance.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_McaomiNKm4

Pounding rhythmic sections keep the bees buzzing all night, as infectious tracks like 'Heart Attack' and 'Gotta Gotta' set the stage aflame. The show is concluded by 'Empty Soul', and the room isn't ready for it to end. The dancing carries on throughout the night, but that's another story...

As always, I tried my luck bagging an interview with the boys for the blog, and succeeded.

So, Flare Voyant all hail from different countries. Can you each tell us where you're from, and what about your hometown has influenced your music/sound?

George: I’m from Southend-On-Sea which has a rich musical history, it’s a small seaside town just outside of London. I was lucky enough to be surrounded by some influential people growing up who turned me on to 60s pop and garage at the right age. My musical discovery started there.

Rod: I was born in Brazil but my blood is a crazy Greco-Italian blend and I've also got dual nationality. I was actually very influenced by British rock and eastern music but the Latin origins must have opened a different perception to rhythm and melodies.

Thomas: I am from Paris, French literature and poetry had a strong influence on my music/sound.

Lucas: I'm from a city on the montains nearby São Paulo, Brazil. This complex Brazilian cultural miscellany gave me different tastes and perceptions about music and rhythm. So, I've been into delta blues, 50's - 70's MPB (Brazilian popular music) and some American Jazz. But I've always been enthusiastic about 70's British rock. The oceanic distance may have ignited my curiosity about this genre of music.

The (most part) of the band are based in London, now. Does the capital still resonate with you all, musically and culturally?

Rod: Absolutely! London is the perfect place to be playing and appreciating our sort of music.

George: I’ve never actually lived in London but I’m only 45 minutes away, I still consider it to be a home crowd. The UK is a tough place to tour these days and live music is very under appreciated, that’s not the case in London though and I’m always glad to play there.

Lucas: Indeed, because London is fantastic to network, besides all the rock music tradition of the city. However, I miss spending more time in the countryside.

Your first gig was at the Old Blue Last in Shoreditch. What is the band's favourite music venue?

George: In London I think the Roundhouse is a great place both to play and to spectate. Elsewhere it would be hard to pick but I think the Tennessee Theatre is up there with my favourites I’ve played. Brooklyn Bowl is also a great venue and concept, I’m yet to see the all of the London venues though so hopefully we can play there before long.

Rod: I agree with George, the Roundhouse is a superb venue.

Lucas: I dig some nice small venues, such as the Lexington.

If you could see any band - dead or alive - who would you choose, and why?

Rod: Led Zeppelin between 1972 and 1973!! That was absolute rock and roll perfection…

George: David Bowie and The Spiders From Mars, 1973 Hammersmith Odeon. My mum was there aged 14 and I’ll never forgive her. Mick Ronson is my guitar hero.

Lucas: Any Tom Jobim's gig in the 1970s, because the melodies and lyrics take you to real places. And of course, John Bonham or Buddy Rich playing live!

I know that Chris Kimsey produced Flare Voyant's debut EP. What is the EP called?

Rod: Yes! It was such an honour working with such a legendary producer who has worked with all our inspirations! And he is such a lovely person, we became great friends. He's a Master for all of us! And the EP is called Flare Voyant!

Lucas: It was a huge honour indeed to be in the studio with Chris. Working with his great sensibility was surreal and he has a very intense working rhythm like us, we were all never stopping!!

How did you manage to get your hands on him?

Rod: Basically, I met him at an event about audio and showed him some demos that caught his attention! Things happened very fast and next thing I know we were in the studio!

What is each band member's favourite song from the EP, and why?

Rod: I really dig all of them but maybe I would pick ‘Borders’ as I think it is a concise composition, joining different time signatures, groove and melody!

Thomas: I love ‘Light and Shade’ because the chorus and the lyrics are very strong and emotional. It is a song from the album/demo and we play it live.

George: ‘Empty Soul’, it’s a slow burner and I love Rod’s lead work on it.

Lucas: My favourite is ‘Empty Soul’ as well because I like the blend between poetry and music. And there's a killer guitar solo on it!

Jim Morrison once said that there are 'no rules at a rock concert'.

George: Jim Morrison was a DRUNK ASS HOLE!

[Laughter]

George: He's incorrect, because the number one rule is to show up to the show! Also, don't get your penis out! Don't expose yourself! Don't get too drunk - as you can see, I'm not drunk! Jim Morrison had a free-form way of performing, and it was very organic, but there's more than one way of doing things and you can be very, very contrived. But I think it's good to have plans, I think it's good to be slightly choreographed. Less things go wrong if you know what you're doing. I'm not saying script the entire show, but if you know at certain points that you're going to speak to the crowd, you'll have time to tune your instruments for example. That type of stuff makes for a far more stream-lined show, and I do know this from touring and in the early days with my old band -

What was your old band called?

George: Purson! There were times when there would be long periods of silence onstage while people tuned, and no one knew what to say and it's very unprofessional! You need to refine the show to the point where every night you're going out and essentially, you know what you're going to do - you can improvise within that, but as long as you know what you need to do when you get up there, you can be in any state like hungover or tired, but it will still be a good show.

Great answer! So, have any of you guys ever DJ'd before? If you have, which song would you play first?

Rod: 'Sugar Mama' by Led Zeppelin.

George: Shania Twain, 'Man! I Feel Like A Woman'.

Thomas: The first song I would play would be 'Fruit de la Passion' by Francky Vincent.

Lucas: 'Rock Steady' by Aretha Franklin.

Thomas: Urethra Franklin! [Laughter]

What do you think of the current state of music?

George: Best ever! I'm joking. It's shocking.

Rod: It's shocking because it's easy to do, but people don't buy it like they did.

Thomas: It's a good point because there's so much good music from the past, so it's really hard to invent something new.

George: Yeah, the benchmark has been set so high by past musicians that - in the style that we're emulating, and let's be honest, we are emulating to a big degree - it's been very difficult to meet that standard no matter how good you are.

Rod: We try to emulate the good ones.

Thomas: The coolest things aren't really famous, they're underground now.

George: I rate The Temples. Thomas and James are fantastic songwriters, what they're doing is really good. Kevin Parker is a fantastic songwriter. But these are the minority, and unfortunately most of popular music is uninventive. I think the reason is that the technology is such that anyone can buy a computer and anyone can record, and it so over-saturates it.

Thomas: It's a good and a bad thing at the same time. It's like with photographs: everyone can take a picture, but not everybody is a photographer. Same thing with music and the internet, everyone can put music on the internet.

George: I've always felt the same way about journalists! No offence, [None taken...] but you can get scathing reviews from people that have never even picked up an instrument, and I think that's dangerous, because you can form an opinion. I've seen some reviews about projects that I've been involved with and I think, "for fuck sake, if you can't even form a sentence in English how the fuck are you writing a review?"

My thing is that I always try to write a nice review, I don't like fucking bands over. If I don't like it I won't write about it and won't end up including it.

George: Yeah! The way reviews have gone is that everyone has their own blog, and they're trying to get popularity for their blogs by writing good reviews about every band they see because they want to get friendly with the bands and get more traffic.

Who writes the songs?

Rod: I write almost all of them. I write the lyrics as well. 'Empty Soul' is based on a poem from Thomas' book, so it's actually a French poetry book.

Have you ever gone on the Jack Daniel's Plan?

Rod: Yeah.

George: Oh yeah, love a bit of whiskey.

Freddie Mercury once said that he's 'a man of extremes'. What are you all men of?

Rod: I'm a man of sublimities, you know! I choose everything that flirts with the sublimity of existence, everything that transcends the normality and flirts with the sublimity. That's it. And I learned that with Thomas, we picked the same way up of understanding the dimension that we live in.

George: I think I'm a man of moderation these days! I try to strike a balance between having a good time and also being sensible. It is counter-productive to productivity if you are drunk or high constantly, and I fortunately grew out of that at quite a young age, and its much better for me mentally and physically.

Describe Flare Voyant in three words.

George: Very Big Willies.

Rod: It's every word that you need. Flare Voyant is a mix between flamboyant, clairvoyant, flared trousers, and everything, you know!

Favourite lyric, from the band or from any song?

Rod: I really like the lyrics from 'Empty Soul'! They are based on a poem from Thomas' poetry book.

George: I don’t know where to begin. Sometimes you just hear those passages and you are left thinking “how did that come from someone’s head?”. 'Five Years' by Bowie is an example of that, it still leaves me in pieces sometimes.

Lucas: The lyrics of 'Rain Song' (Led Zeppelin)!

Thomas: 'Fruit de la Passion', by Francky Vincent!

Keith and Mick, or Robert and Jimmy?

Rod: Robert and Jimmy. But I also love the Glimmer Twins.

George: I think if you aren’t awestruck and influenced by Jimmy’s playing when you are learning the guitar you are doing it wrong.

Thomas: Keith and Mick! But of course I love also Robert and Jimmy (don't want Rodrigo to kill me, so please mention it!)

Lucas: Jagger and Page, why not?

What do Flare Voyant have to offer the world?

Rod: We have a good balance between the musical interpretation, and we can do different time signatures, but at the same time we understand people that want to be cool but don't care about music. We find a balance between people who enjoy the music and people who just want to be cool.

Interview and words by Alicia Carpenter.

Photo Credit: Sonia Shahid and prettymalina