Bangor four-piece The Florentinas have released their debut single, Sandcastles. We asked them the BIG questions . . .
The track was recorded by Rocky O'Reilly at Start Together Studios, Belfast. Talking about the single, the band say, "I guess the song is about relationships we experience as people, not in a romantic sense but rather a much broader sense. Relationships are something that we encounter on a daily basis and that essentially shape us.
"It's natural that as we develop, relationships end as people mature and outgrow each other, and sometimes the easiest thing to do is to reminisce these periods in life rather than forcibly restore a relationship that is no longer there."
The band support Nothing But Thieves in the Ulster Hall and in Dublin's 3Olympia this month.
Tell us three things about yourself?
We all met each other at Bangor Grammar School through the music department.
Jakob and Luke are both brothers but we’re all blood brothers at heart.
We’d absolutely take you in a game of table tennis, no debate. Since moving into our rehearsal space, we’ve set up a table in the garage and it’s taken up the majority of our time!
How would you describe your music?
I think we would describe our music as alternative rock. I know that sounds rather vague, but we’ve never had a preconceived sound. It’s not like we all sat down one day and went, "this is our genre and we have to stick to it". We’ve always just written what has come to mind and try not to limit ourselves. That way we’re able to write to the best of our abilities and create a wide variety of songs. Once it goes through the conveyor belt of each one of our inputs and ideas it always just ends up sounding like 'us’.
Who are your musical inspirations?
Bands like Radiohead and The Red Hot Chilli Peppers have showed us that it’s okay not to stick to one particular sound and be open to new ideas which is cool. Some other artists we love right now and have taken inspiration from are Nothing But Thieves, Catfish and the Bottlemen. We absolutely love the energy that IDLES bring to the stage too. When we look for inspiration, we look for it in every possible way including our stage presence and live side of things. We’re always listening to and discovering new music or going through individual musical phases that allow us to come at our music from a unique angle. Having such a diverse music library has helped shape us.
How did you occupy yourself during lockdown?
Tiger King and Drive to Survive on Netflix went down well with all four of us. In terms of music, we spent a lot of time writing whenever we could. There was a period of time where of course we couldn’t meet up, so we resorted to lyric sessions over zoom. It was strange for sure, but super productive. Since restrictions have eased, we managed to find a property which is now almost a sort of ‘Florentinas HQ’. It’s given us the facilities to be able to write, record, rehearse and everything in between. It’s also given us time to master our ping pong skills!
What’s your favourite song right now?
Paddy - Jacob has been getting me into this guy Sparklehorse. He’s phenomenal. His voice is so gentle, but he knows how to rock it up. The best track of his that I’ve heard so far is King of Nails. He puts his acoustic guitar through a distortion pedal and it gives is this really unique grunge-esque vibe.
Jacob - It’s between Jealous Lies by Soft Hair or I’m the Man That Will Find You by Connan Mockasin. Although I feel like the latter means more to me. I’m going through a real Connan phase at the minute and all the projects he’s a part of.
Luke - Ordinary by Yonaka. It’s the opener to their newest album. Everything from the production of the song to their live performances are amazing. They’ve got me absolutely hooked on this one song.
Jakob - It’s a Biffy classic but Many of Horror is my favourite right now and easily one of my all-time favourites. The way the song grows and explodes at the end is unreal and is something we love to do in our songs. It’ll always be up there for me.
Favourite lyric of all time?
This really stumped all of us! This is by far the hardest question we’ve ever had.
Paddy - "Remember me, love when I’m reborn as the shrike to your sharp and glorious thorn" - Hozier.
Jacob - I think it’s too hard to pick a lyric. By doing so I’m saying that one is better than another when they’re not. I feel like I would be doing so many songs a great injustice if I had to choose!
Jakob - "Who cares if one more light goes out, well I do" - Linkin Park.
Luke - "An old man told me to leave fast or stay forever" - Sam Fender.
If you could only listen to one song for the rest of your life, what would it be?
It’s not necessarily our favourite but we would probably choose I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor by the Arctic Monkeys. This was the first song we ever played together in front of an audience and it will always hold a special place in our hearts. It’s what inspired us to start writing our own material and essentially got us over the fear of what people might say about forming a band.
Where can people find your music/more information?
We’ve just released our debut studio track Sandcastles on all major streaming platforms which we’re super stoked about! You can also find us on YouTube doing some cool live stuff. We’re all very active on our band Instagram account as well as our Facebook and Twitter which we use for posting news and updates. Our social tags are all @theflorentinas so check us out if you get the chance!
