The California-based rocking four-piece First in Flight challenges the overnight success most strive for with their latest steaming hot single, "Simulation."
Comprised of two metal musicians looking for a change and two jazz geeks striving to rock out, the four-piece First in Flight swoons listeners with their 80s-inspired dance-rock that's bound to leave anyone feeling empowered. Having toured with the likes of Finish Ticket, Vinyl Theater, MILKK, and AllDay, it's evident that First in Flight are on their way to becoming a household name sooner than later.
Challenging the norms of success with their latest single, "Simulation," First in Flight offers a steady and upbeat groove for listeners to lose themselves in. As the band's lyricism expands on anti-overnight success and creating music without being dictated by likes and viral views, they leave us feeling a sense of togetherness and authenticity that's highly sought-after in our independent music industry.
Taking a ride through the "Simulation," the track kicks off with a bright piano melody and a pulsating synth. As the rollicking electric guitar blazes through our speakers alongside a punchy kick drum, lead vocalist Pat makes his melodic and dynamic vocal appearance while depicting the stimulation society has seemed to lock themselves in with their viral-focused approach and fame-driven mentality.
We're totally enthralled with First in Flight's ability to merge 80s synthpop tones with their dense and fiery rock instrumentals, as it offers this unique flair that sends chills down our spines. Not to mention their overall cohesive and whole-sounding instrumentals, First in Flight truly sets themselves apart from other indie rock bands by way of scorching hot and meaningful releases like this.
Get yourself out of the "Simulation" with help from First in Flight's latest single, now available on all digital streaming platforms.
Welcome to BuzzMusic First in Flight. We always appreciate a powerful and meaningful listening experience like "Simulation". Was there a specific moment that inspired your group to create this anti-overnight success single?
Three things happened simultaneously that inspired “Simulation”. First, I watched the “College Admissions Scandal” documentary on Netflix (where rich parents try to buy their way into their children getting accepted to USC and other accredited affluent colleges). Second, our band met with a record label that said we were “getting old” & we must have a certain amount of TikTok followers if we want to make it in music (TikTok didn’t even exist for 12 months prior). Third, at my consulting gig, I was working with a big record label who wanted to pump $300,000 and more of their budget into buying fake YouTube views for one of their artists in order to create artificial “buzz”. That is when it hit me that those with money and power work tirelessly to create a “false perfection” that most people believe to be real. It torments our mental health, it hurts true artistry, and it’s become a new form of propaganda that we are accepting as normal without even realizing it. So much of what we consume today is purchased, romanticized, or just downright fake. We as humans are becoming more and more the product of the algorithms that provide us endless content. When big money and corporations control these algorithms, they continuously build false representations for us to consume and admire, it becomes a problem. We want more honesty, more humility, and we want to break the “Simulation”.
Could you introduce us to your band members and how you navigated/divided your creative process for "Simulation?" How did you achieve such an anthemic and exciting sonic atmosphere?
Pat is the singer, Richard is the guitarist, David is the bassist, and Max is the drummer.
Most of our songs are written by Pat and David, however “Simulation” started with Richard. We had a writing session one day and Richard came up with the awesome riff you hear in the post-chorus. We built the song around it, kind of using Demi Lovato’s “Cool for the Summer” as a template. David wrote the verses originally as a slap bass part but it quickly became apparent that it sounded better as a guitar part. Pat then wrote the chords and melody that are the basis of the chorus. The outro was written rather quickly when we realized the song was too short. David told Max to play a halftime beat and he syncopated the verse chords into a breakdown. David then went to work on the production. He always knew he wanted this to be a big power anthem so everything he designed was larger than life— naturally looking to the 80s for inspiration. The verses have real drums mixed with 80s drum samples, sequenced synth bass, 80s bells, and powerful guitars. It continues throughout the song with huge bass hits that accent the guitar, epic strings, and a synth solo. Then it all comes to a head by the end with the epic outro. It’s metal but it's also 80s. It’s just us. When we were ready to pass the song to our producer Marc McCluskey to finish it off he said it was great as is. He just doubled the last chorus, mixed it, and called it a day.
Who wrote your meaningful lyrics for "Simulation?" Was this a shared process between your members? Or does one sole member handle your group's songwriting?
Where David and Pat handle most of the songwriting, Pat handles the lyrics by himself. He wrote this one at a coffee shop in San Francisco with an Americano he overpaid for. 99% of our group’s lyrical content comes from Pat, with other band members having final approval over the direction, story, and how it relates to our band.
How do such lyrically dense and meaningful singles like "Simulation" represent your group and what you stand for? How can we get to know your band's motives through songs like this?
First in Flight aims to push our audience out of their comfort zone. To help you take a leap of faith, face your fears, and break the chains. We’re the anthem for you to make a life-changing decision… quit that bad job, break up with that toxic person, move across the country, etc. “Simulation” tackles this in a new way. “Simulation,” tells the story of our protagonist waking up, blindly running, and following the crowd in a strange dystopian world guided by an algorithm. He is constantly trying to “chase a dragon” and reach the point where he is “enough”. Only to be left feeling empty after every mountain he traverses… because little does he know, that’s how this world operates. This is until he takes a step back and notices the cracks in the foundation, then attempts to get out. We want our audience to break the simulation. Fact check. Research. Is it too good to be true? Understand that power and connections are behind a lot of “overnight success” stories in any industry. The media loves to create these narratives because they are “sexy” and inspire you to follow (and buy from) that person, influencer, model, artist. 99% of the time it’s false. Social media is a beautiful tool, but only with due diligence and context can we allow ourselves to flourish and not feel inferior at every turn. Break the simulation.
With an incredibly loyal following and fanbase like yours, why do you think your music has been so successful thus far? What does your group bring to the table that others lack?
We’re a band from a tiny town called Milpitas. We have no musical connections, no industry contacts, and no parents funding us. We’ve been around for 4 years and achieved moderate success through hard work and taking advantage of limited opportunities. Because of our situation, we’ve been forced to break tradition a bit and find new ways to connect with fans, and it’s worked wonders. Weekly live streams to check in with our fans and their mood, blowing up on TikTok using just a bathroom and one camera, meeting fans outside of other concerts to talk with them, creating secret fan clubs, playing every local show we could, and eventually networking our way onto some tours, meeting with fans and taking 1000 photos after every show. We’ve funded everything our band does with the money from our day jobs, so we keep a close eye on every decision we make. Our work ethic is the one thing every manager, label rep, and agent has complimented us on. We want people to tell an honest story of how they got from point A to point B. We’ve played many empty shows. We’ve been ripped off by many music industry reps claiming to make us famous. We’ve lost money on tour. We’ve been stuck during COVID with no record label. We’ve been ghosted by every booking agent in the US. We’ve had money stolen from us. We’ve been dropped from shows at the last minute… sadly, the list goes on. A lot of bands have broken up in the time we’ve been together, but we’ve pushed through. We plan on continuing to hustle until we get to where we want to be. I think the fans see this and appreciate this, and they want to be here for that journey.