Flamingo Pier: Keeping the Musical Flame a Burning...

I met Flamingo Pier's Luke Walker (the band's DJ) to chat about their musical journey, as their new Tour is starting in just a few days!

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1) I am so thrilled to welcome you onto the Balearic Breakfast blog, Flamingo Pier! Thank you so much! How are you guys doing?! We saw you at Colleens' Balearic Breakfast launch Party (she played Cosmic Sunset from your LP)! How was the party?!

Kia ora! Pleasure to be here! Some of our crew are still based in London so were able to make it along to Colleen’s party. All the Flamingo Pier collective met and lived in London but the band are now based in our hometown Auckland, New Zealand. 

It was so lovely to hear Colleen playing Cosmic Sunset! We passed on the vinyl when she played our Waiheke festival earlier this year. The album came out on Soundway Records in 2021.

2) Speaking about it, your album was created during the pandemic. To make such a happy musical place in such dark times must have been quite an 'out of mind' experience. Was it a cathartic experience? How did things happen back then?

Just before the pandemic, we had moved back to New Zealand. Because NZ is an island, it managed to stay covid free for 18 months whilst the world was battling, so we were still able to throw parties and get together to make music. We couldn’t host any internationals, so it was a great time for local artists to shine. We try to stay positive and hopeful no matter the situation, and our music reflects that. 

3) Balearic Breakfast is a show where we dig deep into music from the past and the present! It's so refreshing to hear that musicianship is still going strong in these "consumerist" days and that real musicians take time to meet together to craft sounds that empower those who listen to them. You played with so many great musicians on that album! Your approach to music really emphasises your intellectual approach; you're all about "amplifying joy." How did the collaborative aspect of the album take place?

All the artists we collaborated with are from our hometown, Auckland, and incredibly talented! Julien Dyne, on drums, also releases music on Soundway Records solo and with his band Circling Sun. Nathan Haines, a friend of Colleen’s and our most well-known jazz artist. Jess Penson, aka Kédu, is a super talented young singer and music maker with a voice like honey. Jack Thirtle is a jazz-trained young trumpet player who is now a key member of the live band.

They’re all friends of ours and have played their own shows at our Waiheke festival and club nights so it was a natural progression to collaborators!

4) You will tour the US and Europe in July 2024 (a world tour launch party took place in Auckland on July 13th)! Congratulations! Can you tell us more about the show you prepared and what we can expect to see and hear?

We’ve got our new Supro EP coming out on Soundway Records to coincide with the tour so we’ll be playing tracks from that plus the best of the rest of our catalogue.

The first single Mazunte is out on July 19 and full EP August 9. We’re a five-piece band with live vocals, synths, bass, guitar, trumpet and percussion and like to keep it high energy and dancefloor focused. We’re super excited to jump in a van and traverse the U.S together for our first proper tour of the country! Then we head to Europe for some key shows in Berlin (returning to Heidegluehen, one of the best clubs in the world), London and Greece.

5) When one take the time to discover your musical influences, your approach to music and the way you interact with your audience, there's a strong feeling of happiness of course but also, I would say "unity". Everything you do flows in one joyous and cohesive musical and human moment. Wouldn't that be a nice vision of what it is to "be Balearic" and something that 'Flamingo Pier' stands for?

Absolutely. We’ve always been about bringing people together to connect joyfully on the dancefloor, whether through our music or the parties we throw. The eclectic side of the Balearic sound and aesthetic is a big influence for us – from mellow sounds to full-blown 2 a.m. dancefloor energy. We celebrate 10 years doing our thing in 2024 and hope we’re still getting together in 2034! Thanks for having us!

It was a pleasure, Flamingo Pier!