Q&A: Fly By Midnight
Dec. 4th 2019
POP ANTHEMS GALORE AND MORE - Fly By Midnight brings a cool and collected feel to the table. Consisting of Justin Bryte and Slavo, Fly By Midnight has found their foundation in the independent music scene. Though going under the broad Indie Pop label, the duo is able to bring in a variety of sounds and vibes into the music, allowing them to always play around with their sound. Their latest album, Happy About Everything Else..., taps in both ends of the musical and emotional spectrum and serves as a terrific display of their range as an artist. Read on to hear more about the album, who they're listening to lately and more.
LUNA: How have you seen your sound evolve, in particular with the latest album?
JUSTIN: I think evolving our sound has been what's made working on Fly By Midnight continuously enjoyable.
SLAVO: Agreed. The new album definitely has this new sense of maturity for us from the sound to the overall concepts we explore.
JUSTIN: It's really eclectic which made the process of writing/recording it constantly fresh. From a track like "Waking Up" that's this tropical feel good summer song to the self pity alternative vibes of "...Sad About You", the record constantly gives something new.
LUNA: Can you share a favorite moment you had during the process for Happy About Everything Else…?
SLAVO: My favorite moment has to be when I was producing & cutting our vocals on the track "Love Me Like a Friend". We built a studio room in the house we were renting in Los Angeles. Unfortunately the room was right next to some sort of birds' nest so every time we went to record a vocal take we'd have to pause until the birds calmed down. I remember us laughing while slightly losing our minds.
JUSTIN: Going back and forth to LA for six months to write & record most of the album is probably my favorite memory as a whole. Heading out to bars after sessions & hanging in our alleyway taking in the beautiful weather. It all felt cinematic, which constantly kept us inspired.
LUNA: What track holds the most value to you and why?
JUSTIN: It's tough to choose one, but I think the process of creating "Drove You Away" felt different than the rest. It was written by just the both of us back in New York. Our close friend had just been broken up with & it made us reflect on relationships we've had in the past.
SLAVO: There's something special I can say about each track, but bringing Betty Who on board for the song "Lovely" was such a full circle moment for us. When Justin & I first met we listened to the "Take Me When You Go" album constantly. To have her join the song was one thing, but to be able to really connect with her when tracking her vocals made the whole process that much more rewarding.
JUSTIN: Agreed. A really surreal session for us.
LUNA: How embedded in your creative process is thinking of the visual aspect to pair with the music?
SLAVO: It's interesting, we've worked with a handful of artists who say that they picture the music video when writing the song. For us, despite how hands on we are with the visual creative process, we tend to treat both as pretty separate entities. Sometimes our videos are made to make you feel differently than how the audio would by itself. Both are rewarding yet completely different in their own right.
LUNA: Who are some musical artist you’ve had on repeat lately?
JUSTIN: We had the pleasure this past week to be working with a Norwegian artist named Julie Bergan. We wrote & Slavo produced her track "Bored" that came out in October. While hanging in New York she played us some of her favorite Scandinavian artists. One in particular named Nea has a single called "Some Say" that has been on a constant loop.
LUNA: If you weren’t making music under the pop umbrella, what style would you want to experiment with?
SLAVO: In many ways we've been inspired by the narrative writing that goes into country music so it would be a unique turn to bring a production that way as well.
JUSTIN: Agreed.. even bringing in some folk & poetic vibes. Who knows... next record anything is possible.
LUNA: What do you want 2020 to bring you?
SLAVO: The continued freedom to make the kind of music we enjoy making not only for ourselves, but for the other artists we've been lucky enough to write for.
JUSTIN: 2019 was a whirlwind of opportunities that in all honesty were a learning curve to balance. I think we're better prepared as creatives & brothers for the craziness that 2020 will bring.
