Treetop Flyers
Treetop Flyers started in 2009 and are a folk-rock band based in London. The five-piece consists of Reid Morrison (lead vocals and guitar), Sam Beer (vocals and guitar), Laurie Sherman (guitar), Matthew Starritt (vocals and bass) and the bands American member Tomer Danan (vocals and drums).
They smashed onto the scene in 2011 when they won the Glastonbury Emerging Talent Competition securing a spot performing on the main stage and since then have supported the likes of The Lumineers.
Their single Things Will Change is the first from their debut album The Mountain Moves, both released on 29th April. We caught up with lead singer Reid to chat about the new album, playing Glastonbury and the demise of lucky lobster mascot, Telulah.
How long have you all known each other?
“We’ve known each other for years, basically we’ve all been in bands for years and we all played the same gigs and stuff. It happened at Sam’s birthday party we just decided just to have a session together ‘cause we like the same sort of stuff and that’s just how it happened really.”
So you all knew each other before?
“Yeah, we did, we all knew each other a good few years before we actually started the band, like through different kind of arrangements and different people who knew each other.”
What inspired you to become a musician?
Basically I dropped her out of the car, so she went into retirement unfortunately...
“I don’t think you can actually answer that because I think something that happens in you and you kinda know that’s what you want. I think something just happens inside you I suppose and I think you just go with it I suppose.”
In 2011 you won the Emerging Talent Competition and the prize was a slot on the main stage at Glastonbury, how was this experience?
“Oh it was incredible! To win that, that opened a lot of doors for us. Yeah, it was amazing, the gig was great, that’s one of our favourite things we’ve ever done really. We’re actually on our way to Glastonbury now to do another gig for them!”
Tell us about Telulah the Lobster.
“Telulah the lobster! Ah, basically… that’s a good question, I’m never asked about that! Basically, for some reason we decided we wanted a mascot so that was Sam’s present from his sister. And she came around with us, she had some friends, everyone seemed to like her and then I accidentally broke her… Basically I dropped her out of the car, so she went into retirement unfortunately. We may bring her back or we may get another one. That’s the plan.”
You were first signed with Communion Records (founded by Mumford and Sons Ben Lovett, Kevin Jones from Bear’s Den, and music producer Ian Grimble) which you first released Things Will Change and It’s About Time with before signing with Loose Music last year, what inspired this change?
“With Communion they would only deal with like singles or a few EP’s so it was never going to be a case of us putting an album out through them. Obviously they helped us and we still do gigs for them, but we wanted something different really for the album. Someone has to put it out, it’s a new chapter really, so Loose kinda stepped up to the plate, and it just happened really.”
Communion seemed like a tight community, do you still see anyone from there?
“Yeah, you know, if you tour and stuff and you play loads you always cross paths. And I know there’s times when I go down to the mic still if I’m free and stuff and we still talk to them and go to gigs they put on and stuff. We weren’t as tight as some bands with them but we still see them in passing and are friends with them and stuff so, that’s good.”
Moving onto the new album The Mountain Moves, you wrote and recorded the album in Malibu, California, what made you decide to go there?
“We were talking to producers and stuff over here and there was a conversation I had with Tomer, who plays drums, and we were like ‘Look, let’s make a list of producers that we would like to work with and they’ll probably say no but you know, just ask’ and Noah Georgeson was just one that was on the list so we sent him stuff, he really liked it, so we were trying to figure out where we wanted to do it, over here or over there and he said ‘Look, come across to America’ and obviously we were like ‘Yes! That’s ace!’ so we did that. I think being there had some kind of influence over the record.”
How did you find America?
“Oh, it was great! And it’s somewhere everyone wants to go to but we’ve all been there for a like weekend or whatever so we were there for like just over two months so you get into the whole American spirit of eating shit food and you know, that kind of stuff. It was just really good to be away from England, you know, to do something. I think that definitely helped, no distractions, you’re there just to do that so it was great.”
Which song on the new album do you think represents the album as a whole?
“Haunted House is good because I think that shows a quieter harmony, our rocky side so it’s quite a journey of a song so you know you can see all elements of what we do in that one song. And it’s quite a long song so it really does journey through it.”
Which song is your favourite?
“Ooh, it difficult you know, there’s a few songs we wrote when we first started, there’s new ones, there’s also ones I like personally for different reasons… I’m not too sure really. Basically, I think to sum up the whole experience, the song Postcards. We actually wrote that in America, when we flew out there, a few of us got stuck behind due to storms and we wrote a song about that while we were there. So that’s quite a personal thing and it captures the moment from the whole trip so it’s definitely a stand out one.”
What is the song writing process like as a band?
“It changes from song to song really, you know, we all write, we all actually do everything on the songs together. So I could bring something in and then it’s never a song until everyone puts their part on it, and likewise. A lot of the times we actually jam at rehearsal, someone comes in with a chord progression or melody or whatever and we just kinda start playing it and then ten minutes later on you’ve got an idea. We always record our rehearsals on our phones and stuff so we always play them back, you know, in case you forget stuff. It’s a different process but mainly it’s someone will bring something in and then we all just dive at it basically, we tear it apart and put it back together.”
What are your biggest influences when writing your music?
“It depends, a lot of it is just what’s happening in your life at the minute, at that time that inspires you to write something in a certain way or whatever. I think that’s probably the biggest influence really, just what’s happening. And also sometimes you can just spend time on it, you can get off in your own little world and start making stuff up and go off on a little tangent, like when you were a kid and you make stories up. That’s quite good fun as well. It just seems like the craziest things sometimes and it sounds great.”
Are there any bands that influence your music?
“Yeah, there’s loads. A lot of our stuff, we kinda like old style music, but there’s a lot of modern day bands like The Coral, My Morning Jacket, Jonathan Wilson, and I like this guy called Matthew E. White at the minute, he’s pretty good. And obviously stuff like Neil Young, Van Morrison, and The Beatles and the Stones, you know, the standard stuff that people like really. But it’s quite an eclectic taste, everyone in the band likes different things so when you put them together it’s quite interesting.”
You’re beginning your tour at the end of this month, is there anywhere in particular that you’re looking forwards to performing?
“Yeah, we start on April 30th, that’s our London show. We’ve got two weeks in the UK which is always good, we can go back to some places and stuff. We kinda like going up to the North, that’s pretty good, Scotland and stuff, Newcastle. But I think for us, we’re going to Europe for the first time for a couple of weeks, playing in Paris, Copenhagen, so that’s pretty cool to see those places, never been there before. So that’s exciting.”
Do you have a favourite place to play live?
“We like playing really intimate kinda places really, whether that’s in London or whether it’s somewhere else. All these bigger venues now they’re quite soulless, like the Academies and stuff and a lot of the venues are dying that have that natural kind of warmth and soul to them. So I think, you know, it’s like you’re going to a pub, you walk in and it feel’s good. Anywhere where that feeling grabs you, then we’re up for doing that.”
And finally, what advice do you have for anyone wanting to get into the music industry?
“Just stick to it you know, it’s taken us a few years, we’ve all been in different bands doing it for years. Just stick to it. If you really like it, love it and you’ll get to the end, you know, you’ll get some kind of reward for it. The main thing is that it’s fun, if you still enjoy it, you love it, you’ll never give up.”
Treetop Flyers single Things Will Change and debut album The Mountain Moves are both released on 29th April.
By Sophie Atherton @SophAthers