“Guaranteed to sizzle up local dancefloors this Spring” – Undertheradar
Continuing their upbeat momentum from the recently released ‘How 2 Feel’, praised for its “swirling four-on-the-floor rhythms,” (Sniffers), Flamingo Pier unveils ‘Remedy,’ the latest offering from their lively Beneath The Neon EP.
In contrast to the high-energy club vibes of the last track, ‘Remedy’ takes Flamingo Pier back to their indie-disco roots, with an infectious groove, dynamic bass lines, and vibrant percussion. They add a Hammond organ in the chorus for the first time, giving a classic house feel. Luke Walker of Flamingo Pier explains, “We wanted a dance floor-friendly loop that keeps people interested, with sweeping chords to really elevate the energy.”
Beneath The Neon EP will be available digitally and for streaming on September 1st, followed by a worldwide vinyl release on September 8th through prolific New York-based dance label Razor-N-Tape (Midnight Magic, Tigerbalm, Frank Booker). The band is currently on a worldwide release tour, with parties in Berlin, Leeds, London, New York, Mexico City, and six headline New Zealand shows starting on October 6th. Tickets from Banishedmusic.com.
Known for parties in East London and their massive homegrown Waiheke Festival, as well as previous releases on UK’s tastemaker Soundway Records, the Kiwi collective are set to deliver a trio of new songs that solidify and expand their signature danceable blue-eyed indie-soul sound. ‘Beneath the Neon’ and ‘Remedy’ are more familiar Flamingo Pier territory, upbeat indie disco anthems that boast incendiary vocal hooks, funky guitar work, and crisp production by Luke Walker. Rounding out the EP are remixes by Chicago house legend Glenn Underground, and Razor-N-Tape’s co-head JKriv, whose mix features a guest appearance by Afro-boogie royalty Steve Monite.
Pre-order / Pre-save Flamingo Pier – Beneath The Neon EP: https://flamingopier.
Flamingo Pier – ‘Remedy’
Flamingo Pier – ‘How 2 Feel’
BENEATH THE NEON TOUR
Friday October 6 – Meow, Wellington
Saturday October 7 – Portside, Napier *
Friday October 13 – The Church, Christchurch
Saturday October 14 – Seek, Queenstown *
Friday October 27 – Hollywood Avondale, Auckland
Saturday October 28 – Theatre Royal, New Plymouth
*DJ Set
PROMOTER PRESALE STARTS THURSDAY 20 JULY, 10AM
GENERAL ON-SALE STARTS FRIDAY 21 JULY, 10AM
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Tickets from Banished Music
About Flamingo Pier – Words by Bill Brewster
Born and raised in New Zealand but schooled in London, Flamingo Pier may well be the southern hemisphere’s best kept secret. But with one album and some serious live playing under their tightly-worn belts, that may be about to end, as they plot a course back towards Europe and beyond for summer 2023.
Flamingo Pier are Luke Walker (the DJ), Dom Jones and Brad Craig (the musical chops), a rather perfect combo that you can hear in their music, with its electronic heft weighted lightly with tropical sounds atop, influences pouring in from all directions: Masters At Work, Khruangbin, Prince, Ron Trent.
Shot through with sunshine and festival-friendly joy, their roots are in the somewhat more gritty environs of Hackney Wick, formerly a somewhat desolate spot in the East End of London that has been revived by a new generation of creatives (with a soupçon of aid from the London Olympics in 2012), among them Luke, Brad and Dom. “We were all living in this warehouse in Hackney Wick and started DJing with each other at home and playing music together,” says Luke. “Originally, Brad was over as part of another band who’d been brought over by a record label. But we had Counter Café as this incredible little spot on the canal there.”
They started throwing monthly Friday parties at the café. All the parties sold out. Suitably encouraged, they decided to throw a festival on the beautiful island of Waiheke, a 30 minute scoot from Auckland, as you do. It was only one day, in an olive grove, but they attracted 700 optimistic souls with a line-up that included Marcus Marr, Late Night Tuff Guy and, naturally, Flamingo Pier, which also happened to be the name of the festival. It was so much fun, they’re still doing it (these days it’s three days and a tad larger).
Their excellent self-titled debut album on Soundway fell foul of ill-starred timing, coming out during a brutal Covid-driven clusterfuck. “I remember the main single, ‘Eternal’, which is a big uplifting house track,” says Luke, “came out when London went into a major lockdown. No one was really interested in euphoria that week…” However, silver linings and all that. Since then, they’ve had a few synch licenses on Netflix shows like Good Girls, Partner Track and The One and their numbers on Spotify are equally impressive, with both ‘Hold It’ and ‘Tripping Up’ gliding past the 2m. streams mark.
Out of adversity comes joy, though, and their live performing has scaled new heights thanks to New Zealand’s lockdown-averse approach and a season of heavy live touring. At one stage, they’d grown to a nine-piece behemoth, coming on like a Kiwi Earth, Wind & Fire – it’s now scaled back to five. “We’ve definitely stepped up the live element,” observes Luke, “and because Brad and Dom are both from a live background, this is their natural environment. It means we can do something that’s more interesting than just playing the usual DJ set.” The end result was a season of headline tours in their native country, with battle-hardened performances that have brought the album alive in a new setting.
Not ones to sit around waiting for someone to discover them, they’ve also been throwing parties in Auckland, with a Sunday series called Afternoon Delight with buddy Frank Booker, who also collaborated with the boys on Pleasure, another successful weekly party held in the country’s oldest strip club (now nightclub). Both sellouts.
You can almost hear New Zealand in their music, the sound of Kiwi tropicalia. “Our environment influences our attitude. We’re more relaxed here. There’s a lot more just being by the ocean, in native bush, in nature. I think that translates into more joyful, fun, percussive music.” Rooted in the underground, but with a commercial nous that suggests they are capable of progressing much further up the greasy pole that is the music industry, they are ambitious to move forward, to improve, to get better, and with a new studio setup, they’re determined to make it happen, primed for a new European assault in summer 2023. “We’re trying to get to the point where we’re releasing consistently incredible music.” Amen to that.
Flamingo Pier – Beneath The Neon EP is out September 1st on Razor-N-Tape
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