Composed of early flyers from English country group Tim Protea-Jones, former founding member of Wandering Hearts, Poppy Fardell, the ‘Back on My Feet’ album is packed with rocking pop/country tunes such as ‘Double Denim’, Jake Morrell. , a talented songwriter, who has appeared in musicals such as ‘Freewheelin’ and ‘This House’ and Vicky Manser, a West End theater actress and singer, who has appeared in musicals such as ‘Six’, ‘Bat Out Of’ is a case in point. Hell and ‘Rock of Ages’, play Hyde Park on 6th July 2023 BST.
Our writer Neil sat down with them to discuss their progress in 2023, tour plans and more.
You guys have had a busy 2023, how has it been so far?
Tim: It was a whirlwind. We don’t start until 2023, which is fruit.
Jake: It seems like we’ve been doing this for a long time. Well, we have it as an individual as an artist.
Vicki: Before we started, we were doing it for a while, there were many things going on.
Tim: That’s true, yes. The concept of the band was several months. It’s been a busy year, with more to come. The UK tour in September is very interesting. It’s hard to look past the present. Give us until Monday and we’ll be back on tour, but this is definitely the highlight of the year today.
Let’s talk new music. You just released ‘Gold’. Tell me about that song.
Poppy: You know what we love about that song? It’s a really uplifting song. That’s why we did it.
Jake: Until you *watch* the music video.
Poppy: I think it was one of the first to hear all four of us.
Vicky: We’ve been waiting a long time to release that and before that we have ‘Pencil’ which is one of my favourites.
Why is ‘Forget It’ one of your favourites?
Vicky: I love a sassy song. I love a good guitar riff. I love that it comes in four tones. It’s similar to the four part harmony in ‘Gold’ which hits fast from the start.
Poppy: We really enjoyed writing it because..
Jake: Because I wasn’t *whole band laughs*.
Poppy: It was funny because we all realized at the time that it could be taken either way with the phrase. It might sound like another f word to forget.
Tim: *laughs* I don’t want to.
Poppy: We love watching people’s reactions when we play that song. All the adults are listening to their kids, thinking we’re going to drop some profanity bombs.
How was the response to the new music? You have a big following as an individual and I’m guessing a lot of fans have come to the new band?
Tim: I think to some extent. I’m sure we’ve all privately wondered if we’d ever do it again on our own, but this is a real focus and we feel very comfortable as a foursome. We had all worked together before and had been friends for years. I feel it’s hard to get in at some level because we put pressure on ourselves, but we’re enjoying this challenge.
Jake: Our goal is always to hit the ground running, especially since Tim and I have been doing this for a long time. Admit it, we’re old, Tim *laughs*. We wanted to break this down.
They just played Speedway Festival in Kent.
Vicky: It was so much fun! I waved the flag, the checkered flag!
Jake: There’s a picture on our Instagram of Vicki waving that flag and it’s like a kid at Christmas!
Tim: She had a lesson on how to fly the flag.
Vicki: Would you like to have a video of this *She then starts mimicking how to wave the race flag to everyone’s amusement.
You have completed the tour. We are excited about this.
Jake: Yes, I’m very happy. Even before that, we’ve got four other festivals to play, including the Long Road Festival, which will be great.
Vicky: It’s shaping up to be an exciting year. Things always come in.
Poppy: The tour is going to be absolute carnage but I can’t wait.
Are you looking to play more band material or sneak some early solo material into your set list?
Tim: I think we should put a medal on each of our songs.
Poppy: You’re going to put this out and you’re going to be so sad when it doesn’t *laughs*.
Vicky: I think when we were selling out the O2, when everyone needed a break to change or get water, the next people would suggest doing a song and then at the end we were all wearing different clothes.
Poppy: Vicky has sorted out the next four years and we’re headlining the O2! *Laughs*.
Vicky: I saw the chicks in Cardiff the other night and they’ve got their new album ‘Gaslighter’ out, it’s great but as an artist I’d say, if you’ve been around this long, you just want to play yours. It’s new but I’m sure that’s what people are there for when they play stuff like ‘Wide Open Spaces’ and ‘Goodbye Earl’. They had a good balance between the familiar and the new.
You guys are managing yourselves now.
Tim: Yes if you can *laughs*.
Jake: Getting ourselves to places on time, that’s what we call it.
Tim: It just comes from years of experience as a solo artist or being in other bands. By doing this as a four, we feel comfortable and confident. We all have each other’s support and best wishes at heart. Never say never but it’s doing pretty well these days. We still have a good team around us.
Finally, if there was one artist you could root for, dead or alive, who would it be?
Jake: I think Fleetwood Mac for me.
Vicky: I want to do Elvis.
Poppy: I think Fleetwood would be awesome but so much more.
Tim: I wouldn’t say no to a Chris Stapleton collection.
Jake: Serious problems?
Thanks for taking the time today, enjoy your time at BST.
Vicky: Thank you!
A new single from Flyers for the first time is out now. Listen to it below:
