Finpop.net

When and how was your band created?
FlyLow Organization was officially formed in april of 2001. That was the first time when the band played a concert with a current lineup and with a current “fun loving” attitude. The singers Luke and Wilson met a year before in a jazz-pop choir and they came up with an idea of rock band with two lead vocalists.

Where the name of the band is coming from?
The prototype of FlyLow Organization was a called FLO. When it occurred to us that there were at least one thousand similarily named bands we decided to “longen” the name instead of shortening it. The highspeed lifestyles of FlyLow Organization boys resulted of choosing this particular longening out of many as in Finnish language the term Matalalento (FlyLow) refers to a lifestyle full of action.

What musicians or artists did have a major influence in your life / work?
All the band members have their own influences. While the bassist Mikey and the singer/guitarist Wilson have been heavily influenced by the grunge bands like Pearl Jam, the singer/guitarist Luke trendily names Kiss and Mötley Crüe as his nostalgic all time favourites. The drummer Jayrock is a product of mixed liking of aggressive hardcore metal and electronical music. Currently the songwriting of the two singers has been influenced by Bon Jovi style AOR hit music, Coldplay and modern rock music.

What are the positive and negative aspects of being a musician / singer (in Finland)?
It is pretty easy to get your voice heard in a small country like Finland, altough there are pretty many people trying to make it in music business. Unfortunately the trends in Finnish music scene have been following the U.S. trends and pretty seldomly something really original comes through. Sometimes it feels that in order to certain bands to make a breakthrough in Finland they have to find some ground outside Finland first. This is especially the case with the bands that sing in english, for example Hanoi Rocks had to move to Sweden in order to have a chance with their music.

Have you ever considered the possibilty to change totally your style of music? If so, what style of music would you choose?
Naturally when a band makes new music it constantly goes through style changes. These changes can be really clear and total to the members of the band, but to a outside listener they may just seem to be small adjustments. FlyLow Organization will most probably stay as a rock band as long as it lasts, but Luke and Wilson have their “therapy electronic music project” DonkiKonki to let out their creative overpressure.

What are stories/topics you tell/treat in your songs?
Everyday stories are the most common subject of FlyLow Organization songs. Probably the most common topic is different mental states from love to fear and to joy. We always try to put a bit of our soul in the lyrics, so they don’t come out hollow.

What is your favorite song in your repertoire and why?
The answer to this probably changes from member to member and from day to day. There are days when the more energetic songs are nicer and days when smooth and mellow tunes caress your ear better. Most of the time the more recent material is more interesting, but this is not a definite rule.

Do you tour regularly? Do you actually prefer performing your music live or in a studio?
Studiosessions are nice because they always make the songs even more ready than before and they are needed to get our music to the ears of faraway listeners. Still the live performances are where FlyLow Organization excels and being up on stage in a spotlight is one of the biggest reasons for us to keep on playing. We’ve been touring regularily with another Finnish band Defuse on SuperGrunge-tour and wish to extend our tour also to foreign countries.

During the process of making an album, what is the moment that you prefer?
Luke: The first studioday, when everything is possible and the expectations are high. There is just so much positive energy in the air that it is amazing.
Wilson: Those magical moments when things don´t go as planned, for example a wrong note or a mistake in the right place that takes the song to a whole new level.

A stupid question but… what is among all the songs you’ve been listening in your life the BEST song? Why?
Beating of the mothers heart just after birth, soft whisper of a beloved one in your ear and a roaring of a crowd after a successfull concert. It´s more about the feeling that the song can create in your soul, than one particular piece of music.

Internet is something interesting for musicians because it gives them the opportunity to touch a larger audience but it is also a threat for them (regarding the copyrights). What is your opinion regarding this medium?
As the question itself stated internet is a two bladed knife. It is amazingly effective way to get your voice heard in the larger sense but also poses as a threat for the commercial music as we know it. The problem is that in order to make a living from music the artist requires a certain amount of compensation (mainly money) from his work and if people feel that they are allowed to use the music without this compensation the musicians need to find other means to support themselves. This will definitely have an effect on the way how the music is done in the future. This said internet has made our way to the fans much easier, we have put a lot of effort to our FlyLow weblounge at www.flyloworganization.com

What are your actual and future projects?
We are currently recording our five song ep, writing new material, shooting a video and starting our spring tour simultaneously. Also there has been negotiations of a debut album with a few interested labels. The future seems bright ahead and the sunshine smiles.

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