Floodlights’ Joe Draffen on ‘Can You Feel It’, signing to [PIAS] Recordings and UK/EU tour

Floodlights | Credit: Nick Green (@nickgreenphoto)

Jordan Royal (Sonic Alien 4ZZZ) recently sat down with Joe Draffen from Floodlights to chat about the writing and recording of their new single, ‘Can You Feel It’ and touring Aus.

Interview aired on Sonic Alien 4ZZZ 23 Oct 2024.

Jordan: I'm super excited to have you because I love your music and I love ‘Can You Feel It’, which is your single that was released October 2. And you've sort of noted that you guys have transitioned into a new era with your music through being signed with [PIAS] Recordings as well. I was wondering if you could tell me a little bit about what this new era entails?

Joe: Yeah, we like to think we're transitioning to a new era. I think having Sarah [Hellyer], who recently joined the band full time, that's been a big part of it. With the previous two albums, we didn't have Sarah on board, although Sarah did play trumpet on a few of the tracks from ‘Painting of My Time’.

But yeah, Sarah plays piano and trumpet and sings, and that's just been a really nice touch to the new sound and all the new songs that we've been working on and are going to be putting out. And then I guess just with that, as musicians, we're all just trying to push ourselves more and try and experiment a bit more with like different layers to the songs and different arrangements and progressions, just to try and do things that maybe we haven't done in the past or didn't really feel like exploring in the past or didn't even really think to explore in the past. 

Floodlights | Image credit: Nick Green (@nickgreenphoto)

Jordan: Yeah, that's awesome. I guess having someone on board, like a different band member as well, and being able to explore different revenues and go down different paths and stuff, that's awesome. 

You've also spoken about the lyrics and writing the song and how it's a sort of outburst of emotion. I love the repetition of the lyrics ‘I'm on the edge of nothing’ and I was wondering like what your creative process is and how you guys sort of write lyrics and if this emotional outpour is usually how your lyrics go?

Joe: It sort of changes. Sometimes we start with the lyrics, but most of the time we don't. Most of the time we start with the music and the instrumentation and often it can come from like Louis, our singer and guitarist, bringing an idea to the band or maybe someone else might as well, but often it's Louis [Parsons], will bring a bit of an idea. It could be just a couple of chords or it might be something more fleshed out or riff or whatever it may be. But then in the studio when we're rehearsing we all try and jam whatever it is and then just see where it takes us and then discuss it and everyone chips in their two cents. And sometimes it can happen quite smoothly and quickly, but often it can take ages and just keep going back to something and eventually just see how it turns out.

But yeah with ‘Can You Feel It’, I think that one just started off yeah it was more earlier last year and then we sort of, it might have even came like started in a soundcheck. I feel like it might have happened in a soundcheck, but we're about to play a show and then a few little bits and pieces were getting played and we took it then to the studio and worked on it and yeah the lyrics definitely came later on and that outburst of energy of Louis screaming I'm on the edge. I think that happened yeah once the song was a bit more fleshed out.

Jordan: Oh true! I love when like bands sort of write songs together like creatively and do like a jam type thing and that's awesome like the bones of it I guess formed out of soundtrack for a show. That's so cool.
And you've also sort of discussed like the themes behind the lyrics I guess, the meaning behind the song is sort of like growth and reflecting on challenges and like self-discovery through that as well. Was there anything in particular that inspired this theme? 

Joe: I think, ‘Can You Feel It’, we thought it'd  be a good track to use just to start the new era because for us being in a band -  I'm sure like many other bands could relate or just people in their own lives, own journeys - sometimes it does feel like you are sort of on the edge of you know, breaking through but of something, and we've been working pretty hard with this project and we all care a lot about it. Yeah we've had some great moments along the way and we're hoping there's more to come and yeah I think the song sort of also encapsulates that - how we're feeling as a band and just yeah trying to break through and do what we can to put out music and that we're proud of.

Jordan: Yeah awesome and I guess there's definitely like a really special element and that you guys are all like doing it together and having a fun time together and just making music and being able to be on the road and tour so that's that's a great like take on the song and of your like new era I guess that's awesome. 

Joe: That's I guess that's sort of my take on it as a bass player but, I think Louis when he's singing it he probably has also has other things in mind too like maybe some more personal narratives or personal ongoing like reflections and thoughts about you know things are happening in his life and you know that feeling of being on the cusp of something, it's a pretty it's a pretty good feeling, and it's sometimes it can be scary and daunting but yeah it's a good feeling to have. 

Jordan: Yeah totally totally and I really like the start of the song it's such a fun start and I feel it sort of progresses into more of an emotional journey. Do you have a favorite part of the instrumentation?

Joe: I think in the choruses the trumpet yeah it started off like a lot lower and then I think yeah sometime when we were away last year in London Sarah changed it to the sound a bit higher and sort of peaks through even more than it used to and yeah I do remember when I first when Sarah first played that I was like oh we're onto something now this sounds good I think I like the trumpet in the choruses yeah it's fun to play the bass in the breakdown and just help the whole thing try and like start back up again for the ending. 

Jordan:Yeah I absolutely love the ending of Can You Feel It got such a great ending.

You sort of noted that Can You Feel It began as sort of an idea in Melbourne and then when you guys were on tour overseas in London and it sort of progressed through the live set and formed overseas. How was it being able to explore that song in such a vibrant music scene like London and being overseas and just being able to work on it? 

Joe: It was great. Yeah, we were all pretty lucky last year to have spent so much time touring ‘Painting of My Time’, the old record. We spent three months in the UK and Europe playing a bunch of festivals and shows and supporting other bands and I think quite early on ‘Can You Feel It’ snuck its way into the set and then it pretty much has just stayed there ever since. And it was just a good one to sort of help us all feel something and feel like, yeah, again, like what's to come. Even though a lot of our newer songs aren't going to be heavy or anything like ‘Can You Feel It’, it was always fun to play, especially at a festival. Some of those German crowds were pretty excited and would get around Australian bands and it seemed like it was quite well received. So I think that also just helped us. A few other tracks snuck in there too, but I feel like that one got played quite a lot on the road.

Jordan: Yeah, totally. I feel like I was going to say Can You Feel It in a festival setting like live would have been like really fun, really fun to play overseas to a bunch of different audiences as well.

Joe: Yeah, it was fun. Definitely have some good memories of playing that song in some different parts of Europe and the UK, especially one sticks out at a really rainy festival in Germany. I think it was the first time it had been raining there in like 20 or so years. It was bucketing down the whole time and all of our guitars and everything was just drenched, like the rain was just coming in sideways and we were just getting absolutely smashed by it all. Yeah, it sort of worked with the song. 

Jordan: Yeah, I feel like that strangely does, like the image in my head, that strangely does really work with like the song. Like the festival experience. That's so awesome. 

You guys, to produce the song and mix the song, worked with some pretty inspirational names. Dan Luscombe, who's worked with Courtney Barnett and Amyl and the Sniffers, and also John Congleton, who's mixed and done some amazing Grammy Award winning stuff, which is awesome. So were there any elements that they brought to the final product that you really liked or that stuck out to you and how they sort of influenced it as well?

Joe: Yeah, it was great to work with both John Congleton and also Dan Luscombe. Yeah, when working with Luscombe, I think he just, he was amazing to work with.

He was just so friendly and like so articulate and he's a beautiful character. And he also just had some great points and helped us a lot with like the arrangements of songs and just improving them really. And I guess one way he did that was often cutting out unnecessary bars or parts of the track that we had in there and he helped to tighten things up.

And I remember, yeah, with ‘Can You Feel It’, I think it just made it a bit shorter and a bit better. He didn't do that much to that song, but he also was amazing with like guitar pedals and sounds and effects and those sorts of things, which we're constantly learning about. But he knows a lot more than us being the guitarist for The Drones.

He's got this nice studio and a million little bits and pieces of pedals and whatnot. And so, yeah, it was great to have his two cents on those sorts of things. And I think it really helped.

And yeah, with John Congleton, mixing the tracks in LA, I think he just also put a nice touch on it all. And he's also pretty creative when it comes to mixing as well. We sort of go for it a bit. So, yeah, he did some things that we probably didn't see coming, which was cool too. 

Jordan: Oh, that must have been cool getting the final like sort of, I guess, product back and being like, oh, I didn't expect that. It's a bit like cool or strange or different in the mix.

Joe: Yeah, it was good to get it back and have those sorts of things. I think he almost prepared us for it with the whole idea of like, you know, often with the change, people get a bit nervous or, you know, the fear of change takes a while to like, you know, something that you're familiar with or something you've been listening to so much. And then when you hear it again and it sounds a bit different, it can be hard to look at it positively. And you just pretty much remind us not to just jump back on the emails or jump on Zoom and be like, whatever, just trust the process. And yeah, sit with the song for a while when you do hear those new takes on it, those new revisions.

Floodlights | Credit: @osca___r

Jordan: And in your answer before, you also noted sort of like cutting bits out of the song and like tightening it up. And I feel like as a musician, it'd be so easy to like get really emotionally attached to parts of songs when it's in other people's hands. I mean, you can see them like moving it around. It's a bit like, oh my gosh, like, you know, but having that outside perspective, I guess, is good and being able to experiment with different people and have different people's takes on it is really cool. 

Joe: Yeah, I had to trust the process. 

Jordan: And from the time that this airs, you guys will be in Brizzy tomorrow, performing at Valley Loft as well. But you guys have had a pretty extensive tour so far. You've toured across the East Coast, Sydney, Wollongong, Melbourne. So what have been some tour highlights for you guys? 

Joe: It's been a good run so far. Yeah, in September we started off on an amazing tour through the central and western desert of Australia, playing in all these different remote communities. That wasn't part of our ‘Can You Feel It’ single tour, but it was pretty much just happened at that time. And yeah, we were really lucky to go out there with a First Nations band and playing all those sorts of special places. And all the communities that we played in were amazing and they were so welcoming and all the kids and everyone there was just like, just so happy to have us - to put on a bit of a show for the town. Almost felt like, you know, like the circus was coming to town, but instead it was just a band and then everyone woul come out and dance and have a great night. That was really fun. Saw some parts of the world probably wouldn't get to see otherwise. 

And then the East Coast tour has been great. Had some really fun shows in New South Wales already, in Sydney and Wollongong. Yeah, snuck in some surfs along the way. That's always a bonus.

Jordan: Oh yeah, totally. I saw on your socials all of like the sort of rural community shows and I thought that that was so awesome - being able to go towards those remote areas and perform and maybe be in places that you wouldn't usually be able to perform and share your music with before. So that's really cool.

Joe: Yeah, definitely something that we didn't take for granted. And as soon as we got the opportunity, we were all really keen on it and jumped on board. And yeah, we won't forget that one. It was just so different to anything that we've done before. Being in this big bus and just traveling six hours along a dirt road without seeing anything on either side of the road and all of a sudden you're in this small community where everyone knows each other. And they were just so remote. Then you'd be setting up this solar powered sound system on an oval or inside a shed or wherever it may be and everyone would show up and have a great time. And yeah, it was just so nice and so rewarding. 

Jordan: That sounds such a special, rewarding, different experience from where a tour would usually take you. Thank you so much for having a chat. It was so much fun speaking with you.

Joe: Thanks for having me, Jordan. See you at Valley Loft. 

Interview by Jordan Royal / Sonic Alien on 4ZZZ.