Still Flyin'
Encyclopedia
Still Flyin’ is an American Indie Pop
band based in San Francisco, founded in 2004 by Sean Rawls.
. After moving to San Francisco, Rawls recorded the song, which took on a life of its own resulting in the creation of Still Flyin’. The chorus of the song, “Still Flyin’, never gonna touch the ground” was the source of the band’s name as well as its debut album and title track.
and Je Suis France
moved from Athens, GA to San Francisco, CA. Upon arriving in San Francisco Rawls asked just about everybody he knew to join his new project. Most of the friends he had in San Francisco were fellow musicians he had met through his prior bands, and many of them joined Rawls to form Still Flyin’.
The band played its first live show at the Hemlock Tavern in San Francisco in November, 2004. Shortly thereafter they embarked on a tour of the US West Coast opening for Architecture in Helsinki
. In August, 2006 they went on their first tour of Scandinavia, playing at the Emmaboda Festival in Sweden
. During this tour they were joined onstage by Jens Lekman
. Still Flyin’ returned to Scandinavia in 2007. In 2008 they performed in Australia
’s St Jerome's Laneway Festival
, where they met Spiral Stairs
. He curated the 2008 Sled Island
Festival in Calgary
, Canada, and invited Still Flyin’. In early 2009 Still Flyin’ toured Europe
and returned to Australia to play St. Jerome’s Laneway Festival once again. They played at the South by Southwest
(SXSW) festival in Austin
, Texas in early spring and summer saw them touring Europe once again, where they performed at the Secret Garden Party
festival in the UK.
Still Flyin’ signed with Antenna Farm in 2006 and released 2 EP’s. In 2008, the band signed with Ernest Jenning
(US), London-based Moshi Moshi and Australian label Lost and Lonesome
for the release of their first full-length record.
or rocksteady
. However, the band has coined its own term to classify its sound and outlook: hammjamm, which is loosely defined as "when a good time gets better" and with lifestyle ramifications involving "friends, beers, high fives, parties and enjoying life to the fullest".
The current core lineup is made up of:
Sean Rawls - lead vocals, guitar (Masters of the Hemisphere
, Je Suis France)
Yoshi Nakamoto - drums (The Aislers Set
, Scenic Vermont, Poastal, Eux Autres)
Bren Mead - percussion, backup vocals (Masters of the Hemisphere
, Veteran)
Zach Moran - guitar
Mark Monnone - bass (The Lucksmiths
)
Gabe Saucedo - vibraphone, trombone, backup vocals (Red Pony Clock)
Frank Jordan - saxophone (Bright Lights)
Gary Olson - trumpet (The Ladybug Transistor
)
Isobel Knowles - trumpet (Architecture in Helsinki
, The Icypoles)
Phil Horan - dancing (Maserati
)
Alicia Vanden Heuvel - backup vocals, keys (The Aislers Set
, Poundsign)
Mindy Schweitzer-Rawls - backup vocals
Marjan Esfandiari - backup vocals
Jaime Knight - backup vocals (Poundsign, Dear Nora
)
Maria Niubo - keys, backup vocals
, All Night Long
, Walk of Life
, Turn to Stone
and What a Fool Believes
. In addition, Rawls is a fan of the music of Talking Heads
, Konono N°1
, Kraftwerk
, Christopher Cross
and many others.
When asked in interviews about influences, Rawls has consistently mentioned Matthew McConaughey
, whom the band regards as a lifestyle role model.
• Time Wrinkle EJ – 6-song CD (Antenna Farm, 2006)
• Time Wrinkle EJ – 6-song + 5 dub versions LP (Antenna Farm, 2006)
• Za Cloud EJ – 5-song CD (Antenna Farm, 2007)
• Good Thing It’s A Ghost Town Around Here single – CD (Lost and Lonesome, 2008); 7” (Moshi Moshi, 2008)
• The Hott Chord is Struck – 7” (Moshi Moshi, 2009)
• A Party In Motion – 12” (Ernest Jenning, 2010)
Indie pop
Indie pop is a genre of alternative rock music that originated in the United Kingdom in the mid 1980s, with its roots in the Scottish post-punk bands on the Postcard Records label in the early '80s, such as Orange Juice, Josef K and Aztec Camera, and the dominant UK independent band of the mid...
band based in San Francisco, founded in 2004 by Sean Rawls.
Name of the Band
The band is based on the song “Never Gonna Touch the Ground”, a song that Rawls wrote and performed in a prior band, Je Suis FranceJe Suis France
Je Suis France is an American indie rock group formed in Athens, GA, in 1997. Their albums have been released by David Lowery's Pitch-A-Tent Records, Elf Power's Orange Twin Records, and Antenna Farm Records. The band has also self-released a number of singles and CD-Rs.-History:Je Suis France...
. After moving to San Francisco, Rawls recorded the song, which took on a life of its own resulting in the creation of Still Flyin’. The chorus of the song, “Still Flyin’, never gonna touch the ground” was the source of the band’s name as well as its debut album and title track.
Formation and History
In 2004, Sean Rawls, a veteran of bands Masters of the HemisphereMasters of the Hemisphere
Masters of the Hemisphere are an American indie pop group, founded by Bren Mead and Sean Rawls. The two moved to Athens, Georgia, to attend college in 1996. There they met Ryan Lewis, co-founder of Kindercore Records, who played drums at the first Masters of the Hemisphere show. Jeff Griggs ...
and Je Suis France
Je Suis France
Je Suis France is an American indie rock group formed in Athens, GA, in 1997. Their albums have been released by David Lowery's Pitch-A-Tent Records, Elf Power's Orange Twin Records, and Antenna Farm Records. The band has also self-released a number of singles and CD-Rs.-History:Je Suis France...
moved from Athens, GA to San Francisco, CA. Upon arriving in San Francisco Rawls asked just about everybody he knew to join his new project. Most of the friends he had in San Francisco were fellow musicians he had met through his prior bands, and many of them joined Rawls to form Still Flyin’.
The band played its first live show at the Hemlock Tavern in San Francisco in November, 2004. Shortly thereafter they embarked on a tour of the US West Coast opening for Architecture in Helsinki
Architecture in Helsinki
Architecture in Helsinki is an Australian indie pop band which consists of Cameron Bird, Gus Franklin, Jamie Mildren, Sam Perry, and Kellie Sutherland...
. In August, 2006 they went on their first tour of Scandinavia, playing at the Emmaboda Festival in Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
. During this tour they were joined onstage by Jens Lekman
Jens Lekman
Jens Martin Lekman is a Swedish musician. His music is guitar-based pop with heavy use of samples and strings, with lyrics that are often witty, romantic, and melancholic. The English lyrics reflect an advanced knowledge of the language and its idioms...
. Still Flyin’ returned to Scandinavia in 2007. In 2008 they performed in Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
’s St Jerome's Laneway Festival
St Jerome's Laneway Festival
Known simply as the Laneway or St. Jerome's Festival, the music festival began in Caledonian Lane in Melbourne in 2004. Emerging as an indie music event, the Laneway Festival has grown rapidly in popularity, receiving favourable reviews in music press....
, where they met Spiral Stairs
Scott Kannberg
Scott "Spiral Stairs" Kannberg is a musician best known for being a founding member of the indie-rock band Pavement.-Career:...
. He curated the 2008 Sled Island
Sled Island
Founded by Zak Pashak in 2007, The Sled Island Music and Arts Festival is an annual independent festival held in over thirty venues in downtown Calgary, Alberta. Sled Island allows many generations of festival goers to gather for four days each year to celebrate the wealth of creative talent that...
Festival in Calgary
Calgary
Calgary is a city in the Province of Alberta, Canada. It is located in the south of the province, in an area of foothills and prairie, approximately east of the front ranges of the Canadian Rockies...
, Canada, and invited Still Flyin’. In early 2009 Still Flyin’ toured Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
and returned to Australia to play St. Jerome’s Laneway Festival once again. They played at the South by Southwest
South by Southwest
South by Southwest is an Austin, Texas based company dedicated to planning conferences, trade shows, festivals and other events. Their current roster of annual events include: SXSW Music, SXSW Film, SXSW Interactive, SXSWedu, and SXSWeco and take place every spring in Austin, Texas, United States...
(SXSW) festival in Austin
Austin
Austin is the capital of the U.S. state of Texas.Austin may also refer to:-In the United States:*Austin, Arkansas*Austin, Colorado*Austin, Chicago, Illinois*Austin, Indiana*Austin, Minnesota*Austin, Nevada*Austin, Oregon...
, Texas in early spring and summer saw them touring Europe once again, where they performed at the Secret Garden Party
Secret Garden Party
The Secret Garden Party is an annual independent arts and music festival which takes place in Abbots Ripton near Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire. Part of the grounds of a Georgian farm house, the location has its own lake, river and landscaped gardens...
festival in the UK.
Still Flyin’ signed with Antenna Farm in 2006 and released 2 EP’s. In 2008, the band signed with Ernest Jenning
Ernest Jenning
Ernest Jenning / Ernest Jenning Record Co. is an independent record label established in 2002 in Jersey City, NJ. The label is currently based out of the 44 Wall St. office in downtown NYC...
(US), London-based Moshi Moshi and Australian label Lost and Lonesome
Lost & Lonesome Recording Co.
Lost & Lonesome Recording Co. is an independent record label based in Melbourne, Australia. The label specialises in indie pop, and has released both recordings by local artists and local releases by overseas indie bands....
for the release of their first full-length record.
Musical style
Still Flyin's sound is generally classified as reggaeReggae
Reggae is a music genre first developed in Jamaica in the late 1960s. While sometimes used in a broader sense to refer to most types of Jamaican music, the term reggae more properly denotes a particular music style that originated following on the development of ska and rocksteady.Reggae is based...
or rocksteady
Rocksteady
Rocksteady is a music genre that originated in Jamaica around 1966. A successor to ska and a precursor to reggae, rocksteady was performed by Jamaican vocal harmony groups such as The Gaylads, The Maytals and The Paragons. The term rocksteady comes from a dance style that was mentioned in the Alton...
. However, the band has coined its own term to classify its sound and outlook: hammjamm, which is loosely defined as "when a good time gets better" and with lifestyle ramifications involving "friends, beers, high fives, parties and enjoying life to the fullest".
Members
Although the band started and is based in San Francisco, its members now stretch to all corners of the world. The band is made up of a “core” lineup with a long roster of “spiritual members”, who join the band for live performances when geography permits.The current core lineup is made up of:
Sean Rawls - lead vocals, guitar (Masters of the Hemisphere
Masters of the Hemisphere
Masters of the Hemisphere are an American indie pop group, founded by Bren Mead and Sean Rawls. The two moved to Athens, Georgia, to attend college in 1996. There they met Ryan Lewis, co-founder of Kindercore Records, who played drums at the first Masters of the Hemisphere show. Jeff Griggs ...
, Je Suis France)
Yoshi Nakamoto - drums (The Aislers Set
The Aislers Set
The Aislers Set is an indie pop band that formed in San Francisco in 1997 after the breakup of chief songwriter Amy Linton’s former band Henry's Dress...
, Scenic Vermont, Poastal, Eux Autres)
Bren Mead - percussion, backup vocals (Masters of the Hemisphere
Masters of the Hemisphere
Masters of the Hemisphere are an American indie pop group, founded by Bren Mead and Sean Rawls. The two moved to Athens, Georgia, to attend college in 1996. There they met Ryan Lewis, co-founder of Kindercore Records, who played drums at the first Masters of the Hemisphere show. Jeff Griggs ...
, Veteran)
Zach Moran - guitar
Mark Monnone - bass (The Lucksmiths
The Lucksmiths
The Lucksmiths were an indie pop band from Melbourne, Australia known for witty, intelligent lyrics, a strong melodic sense and a jangly pop sound harkening back to early-80's bands such as The Smiths and The Go-Betweens.-History:...
)
Gabe Saucedo - vibraphone, trombone, backup vocals (Red Pony Clock)
Frank Jordan - saxophone (Bright Lights)
Gary Olson - trumpet (The Ladybug Transistor
The Ladybug Transistor
The Ladybug Transistor is a Brooklyn-based indie pop group associated with The Elephant Six Collective.Started in 1995 by Gary Olson, Edward Powers and Javier Villegas, the band quickly released Marlborough Farms on Park N' Ride records, adding and subtracting a couple members and going on an...
)
Isobel Knowles - trumpet (Architecture in Helsinki
Architecture in Helsinki
Architecture in Helsinki is an Australian indie pop band which consists of Cameron Bird, Gus Franklin, Jamie Mildren, Sam Perry, and Kellie Sutherland...
, The Icypoles)
Phil Horan - dancing (Maserati
Maserati (band)
Maserati is a band from Athens, Georgia, United States whose sound is best described as a combination of post-rock and psychedelic influences. Their music is instrumental, relying on the standard rock instrumentation of guitar, bass, and drums...
)
Alicia Vanden Heuvel - backup vocals, keys (The Aislers Set
The Aislers Set
The Aislers Set is an indie pop band that formed in San Francisco in 1997 after the breakup of chief songwriter Amy Linton’s former band Henry's Dress...
, Poundsign)
Mindy Schweitzer-Rawls - backup vocals
Marjan Esfandiari - backup vocals
Jaime Knight - backup vocals (Poundsign, Dear Nora
Dear Nora (band)
Dear Nora was an indie pop band formed in Portland, Oregon in 1999 by songwriter, vocalist, and guitarist Katy Davidson, drummer and vocalist Marianna Ritchey, and bassist Ryan Wise. Ritchey and Wise were previously members of Wolf Colonel. They named their new band after Lewis & Clark College...
)
Maria Niubo - keys, backup vocals
Influences
Rawls’s songwriting is influenced by a lot of popular music. Of note are the songs mentioned in the lyrics to H-O-T-T-C-H-O-R-D: Electric Avenue, FunkytownFunkytown
"Funkytown" is a 1980 disco hit song by the disco band Lipps Inc. The song expresses the singer's pining for a metaphorical place that will "keep me movin', keeps me groovin' with some energy". It reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and Dance charts in 1980, also reaching number 1 in Germany,...
, All Night Long
All Night Long (All Night)
"All Night Long " is a hit single for Lionel Richie from 1983. Taken from his second solo album, Can't Slow Down, it combined Richie's soulful Commodores style with Caribbean influences. This new, more dance approach proved popular, as the single reached number one on three Billboard charts...
, Walk of Life
Walk of Life (Dire Straits song)
"Walk of Life" is a 1985 song by the British rock band Dire Straits. It appeared on their best-selling album Brothers in Arms. It subsequently appeared on their live album On the Night. It was released as a single in November 1985 but had first been available as the b-side of "So Far Away" released...
, Turn to Stone
Turn to Stone
"Turn to Stone" is a 1977 song by Electric Light Orchestra.The song is the opening track to the double album Out of the Blue. It was the first song released as a single from the LP. The single reached #18 in the U.K. charts and stayed there for 12 weeks. Out of four singles from the album, "Turn to...
and What a Fool Believes
What a Fool Believes
"What a Fool Believes" is a song written by Michael McDonald and Kenny Loggins. The best-known version was recorded by The Doobie Brothers for their 1978 album Minute by Minute. The single reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 on April 14, 1979, remaining in that position for one week...
. In addition, Rawls is a fan of the music of Talking Heads
Talking Heads
Talking Heads were an American New Wave and avant-garde band formed in 1975 in New York City and active until 1991. The band comprised David Byrne, Chris Frantz, Tina Weymouth and Jerry Harrison...
, Konono N°1
Konono N°1
Konono Nº1 is a Grammy nominated musical group from Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo. They combine three electric likembé with voices, dancers, and percussion instruments that are made out of items salvaged from a junkyard...
, Kraftwerk
Kraftwerk
Kraftwerk is an influential electronic music band from Düsseldorf, Germany. The group was formed by Ralf Hütter and Florian Schneider in 1970, and was fronted by them until Schneider's departure in 2008...
, Christopher Cross
Christopher Cross
Christopher Cross is an American singer-songwriter from San Antonio, Texas. His debut album earned him five Grammys. He is perhaps best known for his Top Ten hit songs, "Sailing", "Ride Like the Wind", and "Arthur's Theme ", the last of which he performed for the film Arthur starring Dudley Moore...
and many others.
When asked in interviews about influences, Rawls has consistently mentioned Matthew McConaughey
Matthew McConaughey
Matthew David McConaughey is an American actor.After a series of minor roles in the early 1990s, McConaughey gained notice for his breakout role in Dazed and Confused . He then appeared in films such as A Time to Kill, Contact, U-571, Tiptoes, Sahara, and We Are Marshall...
, whom the band regards as a lifestyle role model.
Albums
• Never Gonna Touch the Ground, CD (Ernest Jenning USA, 2009); CD (Moshi Moshi UK, 2009); CD (Lost and Lonesome Australia, 2009); LP (Antenna Farm US 2009)EPs and Singles
• We Are Better Now – live CDR (Nokahoma, 2004)• Time Wrinkle EJ – 6-song CD (Antenna Farm, 2006)
• Time Wrinkle EJ – 6-song + 5 dub versions LP (Antenna Farm, 2006)
• Za Cloud EJ – 5-song CD (Antenna Farm, 2007)
• Good Thing It’s A Ghost Town Around Here single – CD (Lost and Lonesome, 2008); 7” (Moshi Moshi, 2008)
• The Hott Chord is Struck – 7” (Moshi Moshi, 2009)
• A Party In Motion – 12” (Ernest Jenning, 2010)