HOUSE - DISCO - FUNK

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Serving up euphoric disco hooks, to classic house choruses and forays into Latin funk, balearic and psychedelia - New Zealand collective Flamingo Pier have swiftly become a household name in Aotearoa's booming dance scene.

Born and raised in New Zealand but schooled in London, Flamingo Pier may well be the southern hemisphere’s best kept secret. But with one album and some serious live playing under their tightly-worn belts, that may about to end, as they plot a course back towards Europe and beyond for summer 2024.

Flamingo Pier are Luke Walker (the DJ), Dom Jones and Brad Craig (the musical chops), a rather perfect combo that you can hear in their music, with its electronic heft weighted lightly with tropical sounds atop, influences pouring in from all directions: Masters At Work, Khruangbin, Prince, Ron Trent.

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Shot through with sunshine and festival-friendly joy, their roots are in the somewhat more gritty environs of Hackney Wick, formerly a somewhat desolate spot in the East End of London that has been revived by a new generation of creatives (with a soupçon of aid from the London Olympics in 2012), among them Luke, Brad and Dom. “We were all living in this warehouse in Hackney Wick and started DJing with each other at home and playing music together,” says Luke. “Originally, Brad was over as part of another band who’d been brought over by a record label. But we had Counter Café as this incredible little spot on the canal there.”

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Musically, the combination of DJ plus two worldly musicians also worked well. Luke, who’d originally moved to London on the back of a release on Darren Emerson’s Underwater label, was developing some serious engineering skills, while his oppo’s had the other side on lock. “I brought the dance music into it,” explains Luke, “while Dom and Brad were from a more rock’n’roll background, but were into LCD Soundsystem and Soulwax, so they were certainly interested in it.” This confluence of musical ideas is really evident on what you hear on their recordings, anchored by a propulsive kick-drum but with a deft musicality you don’t always encounter in a world of bedroom producers.

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The boys are currently holed up in the southern hemisphere plotting a course for 2024,that includes new studio offerings, backed up yet another worldwide live adventure.“We’re trying to get to the point where we’re releasing consistently incredible music.” Amen to that.
‍Words by Bill Brewster