Photo Credits: © Laurie Bisceglia

What’s your story as an artist? 

FlaKes was born in early 2019 following a long history with a former band. We all met in Toulouse during jam sessions or while crossing paths in music school lessons. The common intention found with the new line up is clear: invite people to let go and dance.

What inspired this single?

The Hermes single is clearly inspired by the esoteric current: Hermetism.

Everything that has to do with Hermeticism speaks to me a lot, it is from an early age that I wonder about the deep meaning that one should (for me) give to his life. This song evokes my desolation to see today’s Western world dominated by materialism, and its lack of openness to things beyond us, to the invisible.

What are some sources of inspiration for your storytelling?

I started singing alone in my room with my guitar and Bob Marley songs, so it was with very committed political and meaningful lyrics that I started to compose. It was a little later that I started to listen and sing the songs of Stevie Wonder which is of course a great source of inspiration too. It’s thanks to these two musical geniuses that I wanted to sing and tell my vision of the world through songs.

Any funny anecdotes from the time you were recording or writing the album?

-True story- The day we arrived in Paris from Toulouse to record the EP, we witnessed the “Notre Dame de Paris” fire live! It was clearly a sign that this EP was just going to set on fire.

Tell us about the music video and the idea behind it ?

We gave the director carte blanche, after having of course evoked the theme and the “spirit” of the song together, I will therefore let her speak through her words: Hermes suffers from Dissociative Identity Disorder, he perceives himself and his relatives differently (in doubles). His visions vary from old traumas, such as his wife’s adultery and the image of David Lynch in a mouse hole. “I wanted to represent the god Hermes through a surrealist metaphor of Platon’s allegory of the cave: a subterranean world that has never seen the sun, only cinematic projectors! With the exceptional presence of David Lynch double and his cheerleaders, Hermes finally finds his good spirits and the energy to taunt his nurse and forget the pain inflicted by old age”. Ruby Cicero

What’s a record that shaped your creativity?

It’s impossible to say a single record, we’re big fans of disco-funk like Earth, Wind & Fire, Chic or even Kool and the Gang. We grew up with Jamiroquai too, so perhaps the album “The return of the space cowboy”.

Who is an artist or band you look up to today?

I think influences as well as modern bands like Parcels, Jungle, Chromeo or Cory Wong for example and also Daft Punk by using the vocoder with guitar fed us to create the musical universe of Flakes.

Any future projects?

After our release of the EP we want to record a live session of a new single and for sure, two other singles for 2022.

Top 3 dream collaborations?

Wow, so if it’s allowed to dream, I’ll say Bruno Mars, Mark Ronson and Britanny Howard. Just that…

What does music mean to you?

It is the most effective vehicle for conveying strong emotions and messages. It is for us, musicians, our reason for living: to share strong and unique moments while making you forget the hard routine of life today, in the 21st century. It’s also the cheapest way to travel, dream and party at the same time ^^

How would you describe your sound to someone who has never heard you?

FlaKes are five young guys from Toulouse looking for a place to unleash their Glitter Music, a subtle mix of Nu-Disco, Pop and Funk. It’s the perfect balance between pleasure and sweating it out on the dance floor.