Modern Rock band Space Flamingo is on a musical journey that blends the
raw power of heavy rock with the captivating stylings of theatre.
We had a chat with the band about their latest track 'Augury'
Debuting in 2021, Space Flamingo has quickly made its mark on the vibrant
Brisbane music scene. Since their inception, the band has been steadily
crafting their unique voice, sculpting their sound from a rich tapestry of
influences, taking notes from artists such as Queens Of The Stone Age,
Mastodon, Ghost, Anderson. Paak, 1000Mods, and Nothing but Thieves.
What inspired you to infuse intricate tales of mythology and fantasy into Space Flamingo's music?
"Mythology and fantasy play a massive role in the culture of Space Flamingo. It sounds pretentious to say, but because we love fiction we want to establish a narrative and a lore to our band and our music. 'Los Villanos' was the inception point for this grand plan. We wanted to distance ourselves from the idea that it was simply based on Star Wars, so we chatted about what this place for denizens could be.
From there we established factions, and how the band functioned as characters in the world. We built a lore around the music, and have sprinkled that into every release. Dropping little bits of this broader narrative throughout our marketing, creating a scavenger hunt for those particularly invested."
You had the awesome opportunity to create a theme song for a D&D podcast. How did your song idea for it come about, and what made you excited to take on this project?
"Aaron is a D&D fanatic, so when we were approached by 'Roll for Role' we knew it had the potential to be something quite special. This was also the first time we had ever really stepped outside of the music bubble, which we saw as a chance for growth. Especially after meeting with “Roll for Role” producers Taine Harding and Jordan Ferguson, they reinforced this sentiment of artists uplifting other artists.
It was in conversation with the podcast producers where we discussed what the theme song could look like, and what ideas we wanted to explore. The biggest comment was that the song needed to be versatile for whatever campaign they were going to run next. On the drive home, Aaron was trying to boil down what the most poignant aspect of D&D was and he kept getting stuck on Luck and Fortune. Rolling dice is the main aspect of the game, so the theme song naturally evolved from there."
What's your take on the connection between music and the gaming scene, especially when it comes to making a theme song for a D&D podcast and a gaming channel.
"Each band member finds themselves within a faction of the gaming community, we’ve got video gamers, tabletop fanatics, and Dungeon Masters. Suffice it to say, we are all pretty avid gamers, and the opportunity to create something for the 'Roll for Role' team was exciting. Music and games in our minds are intrinsically linked, with the heart of both being the narrative experience of your audience. For us as storytellers, we saw writing the theme as an extension of that. At the time, we thought it was a great way to enhance the experience for the audiences of the 'Roll for Role podcast. However, we’ve found that through the process of creating 'Augury' our audience engagement has fundamentally changed.
We have been incredibly intentional about our live work since producing the track, and have made every show a very specific experience. We’ve chaptered each gig and chased a very specific goal; make it different, make it fun, make it unique. The best example is our three show arc, starting with 'Fortune & Favour' which led to 'Augury' and then finally 'Chaos & Calamity'.
We went from a quieter unplugged set, then introduced our audience to Augury, and ended on an explosive, high-octane party. We were telling a story, and inviting our audience to come along and see the firework before it explodes.
'Roll for Role' were similarly affected by the creative process and really pushed to support our unique narrative in their own way. Incorporating established Space Flamingo “Lore” into their game universe. Taking our concepts for songs like 'Los Villanos' and unpacking the spiraling concepts of cults, dead gods, and space wars. We were incredibly lucky in that sense, as the opportunity for a game to be based around your music is not one you get very often. It’s typically the other way around!
There’s a sense of symmetry with us creating music for their podcast, alongside them expanding the narratives of our music. For us at the end of the day, that symmetry is what this collaboration was all about. Supporting artists and expanding potential, finding inventive ways to expand the creative scope. Oh, and weaving good tales!"
Can we expect more collaborations like this from Space Flamingo in the future? Are there other creative industries or genres you'd like to explore through your music?
"Lyrically Space Flamingo has always been heavily inspired by Horror, Mythology, Fantasy and Sci-Fi. Los Villanos is based on Mos Eisley Cantina from Star Wars, Voices is based in the mind of Psycho’s Norman Bates, and of course Augury is entrenched in the world of D&D. A lot of our inspiration comes from film and screen media, so a full circle moment would be to collaborate on a film project. Whether it be a horror film, an A24 Oscar darling, or the newest fantasy adventure film, we would be so down.
Speaking of film and music though, Aaron is obsessed with orchestras playing the soundtrack to a film live, while the film is playing. So who knows, maybe we’ll make a short film that’s entirely scored live? *Wink*
Alongside the film industry, we have a vested interest in the world of video games and interactive media. Don’t get us started on the DOOM soundtrack! We reckon the games industry would really push us out of our comfort zones, which is a thrilling prospect. The intricacies of getting melodies to a point where they can be looped and not frustrate players is a whole world of brainpower that we do not have yet… We’d learn though!"
You’ve described ‘Augury’ as a blend of Queens of the Stone Age and Muse with a theatrical touch. How was it fusing these influences to create a unique sound for the theme song?
"Space Flamingos' sound has really been forged by the vast and varied influences each band member brings to the table. When writing 'Augury' we really took to finding how that sonic space could be best explored. Now, Nick is a massive QOTSA fan, and we knew bringing that guitar sound into the theme song would provide the driving energy it needed. Then we had to break down what made it unique.
For us, the sound really shone through with the addition of some hi-fi production alongside the lo-fi base. If you listen to the drums and the guitars, they feel ripped out of a 90s rock track, however the synth and vocals are a bit more modern. That’s thanks in large part to Joel Myles who brought a finesse when working alongside Aaron’s synths, and helped meld the worlds together. We also wanted the theme to sound HUGE so we leaned into the theatricality of Aaron’s vocals and got everyone to sing a bit. A highlight for us being the back and forth between Aaron and Reece in the chorus.
It’s a sound that we’ve always been aiming for, and this production really locked into that."
Do you see the future of Space Flamingo's sound evolving, considering the diverse range of influences you incorporate? Are there any new elements or genres you consider exploring in your future works?
"Genre-bending is what we love to do, so there’s an insatiable desire to have each song we write be different to the last. At the moment for example, we’re in the weeds with a funk/groove track. A clear departure from high-octane theme song riffage.
Regardless of genre however, we always keep one thing in mind. Our musical identity. A vast majority of what we write is completely out of “genre” for Space Flamingo, we write metal riffs, organ fugues, and jazz inspired beats. The trick is, we then shape it to fit our sound. One of the tracks from our EP 'Deimos' (Spellbound) started as a very theatrical piano ballad, and we played it at a couple of shows and knew it didn’t fit. We talked about what we wanted from the track and why it wasn’t meshing, and it came down to the identity we were striving toward. From that, we made the bass thicker, guitars snarlier and added some ringing synths. Then those ballad vocals could really shine, and feel at home amongst our set list.
We really love music, so we are eager to try anything. We also love the sound that we’ve created together. Audiences are going to hear tracks from us that are in a multitude of genres, but (if we do it right) they will always sound like Space Flamingo."
A wide range of genres including Desert and Stoner Rock, Synthwave, Pop Punk, and Funk influences your sonic landscape. Do all members bring a different influence to the songwriting process?
"Every band member has a definitive voice within our writing, and if you listen closely you can tell who’s musical background influenced particular songs more. It’s quite funny when we’re pitching song ideas to each other. There have been moments where, for example, Nick has written a riff, and played it to an artificial kit. The drums themselves are fine, but they’re stock, and totally out of Amy’s style and background. Often resulting in Amy yelling “you fool this doesn’t even meet a fraction of my power” while playing blast beats.
These differences help refine and shape the tones, and result in the amalgamation that is Space Flamingo."
Tell us more about the roles of each band member in the songwriting and creative process - How do Aaron, Amy, Nick, and Reece collaborate to bring Space Flamingo’s music to life?
"The creative process for our music follows a pretty consistent pattern. A Space Flamingo song starts in one of two ways, either A. Nick or Reece has a cool riff idea OR B. Aaron has some lyrics and a melody. From there we bring it to rehearsals and start to flesh out the *vibes* of the song. Whether that be assigning synth patches or guitar tones, we find what suits the base most and build up from there.
The next step in the process, we like to call the black hole. It’s the point where all experimentation needs to happen and we get totally sucked into our ideas. This particular step, is where Aaron, Nick, and Reece get totally lost in the sauce. We play through the song a couple times, then point out what we liked, then we noodle on something cool we accidentally did and- now it’s 10PM and we’ve gotta get home.
In this black hole of collaboration, Amy observes, plays along to the random outbursts of melody and ultimately keeps us on track. Once the boys have finished jamming all the things they want, Amy has pretty well worked out what her parts are and they mesh perfectly every time. It’s at this point we all need to take some time away from the song, mull it over and let it breathe.
Once the dust has settled, we start to see the song take shape. We take what worked from our previous writing sessions and arrange it the way we want, and put the other ideas in the back pocket for next time. After a couple more run-throughs and a couple more iterations, we end up with something that we’re all really keen on.
The TLDR; The boys hyperfixate, Amy finds the groove, and we experiment until we are happy."
What are your future plans and aspirations for Space Flamingo? Are there any upcoming projects or goals you'd like to share?
"Space Flamingo are working toward recording a number of tracks over the coming months and are hoping to lock in a tour for 2024. Plans for an album are also in place but we can’t give too many details on that just yet. We can assure you though, you won’t be getting any “Big Things Coming” announcements from us. We want to be pretty transparent on where we are at and what we’ve got in the works.
For now though, we are going to be back at some local haunts in December. The Brightside on December 8th & Tomcat on December 29th!"
Connect With Space Flamingo
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