04 Old Days

Exclusive to Line of Best Fit. Full stream of Treetop Flyers debut EP 'To Bury the Past'

At the end of 2008 and with clearer ideas of where they wanted to be musically, lead singer Reid Morrison and drummer Tomer Danan closed the curtains on their four piece Morrison Steam Fayre to concentrate on realising their ideals for a band - Treetop Flyers.

Reid, born and raised in west London grew up on the classics of the 60's and 70's country, folk, soul and Tamla Motown. In 2006, he started and fronted Morrison Steam Fayre, a local staple of the west London music scene. Having been managed for a brief while by Chris Pearson, the band were regulars at nights such as Blue Flowers and venues Bush Hall and Nottinghill Arts Club. Blue Flowers released their single 'Busker's Day Out.'

On the other side of the Atlantic, Tomer founded New York band Robbers On High Street who were snapped up by the label imprint Scratchie, run by James Iha (Smashing Pumpkins) on New Line Records. Robbers had a brief stint in the UK with their first EP, but 4 years and two records later Tomer had moved on both creatively and by location after moving to London to be with a British girl. Tomer met Reid whilst playing in a range of different bands and finding friendship through their similar musical tastes this partnership crystallised when Tomer joined Morrison Steam Fayre.

Sam Beer, an old friend of Reid's and acquaintance of Tomer, joined the story when the three decided it would be fun to jam together. Sam settled in London at the age of 18 to study for a fine art degree. Poor eyesight made that ambition a little trickier so in looking for an alternative artistic outlet, Sam discovered he had a gift for being quite nimble on the guitar. Now an established solo artist in his own right, Sam is currently recording his solo EP, ‘Great Bar Colony’. Equipped with a smokey, soulful voice and devilishly astute storytelling, his voice rings through in Treetop Flyers’ track ‘Is It All Worth It?’.

Together over a period of just a few weeks the trio had a small handful of songs written together. While hanging out at Sam's house over the winter of 2008, their friend Laurie Sherman, guitar player and songwriter for The Barker Band, joined the guys in their jam sessions originally on bass. Laurie, born and raised in Acton has an unrivalled knowledge and love of blues, bluegrass and folk music. His insatiable desire to make music finds him an integral member of Treetop Flyers whilst being involved in other projects including blues band Scorpion Face.

When they played their first gig, Treetop Flyers was just a tentative name that Reid quietly mumbled into the microphone at Hoxton Bar and Kitchen. After the gig, the guys all decided it would be great to keep Laurie on guitar and find someone to play bass. Matthew Starritt, had shared the bill with Reid and Tomer in their various guises. After deciding to embrace cleaner living, Matthew left south London based band Rum Shebeen (on 1965 Records) and timing was perfect to complete the final Treetop Flyers line up with Reid, Tomer, Sam and Laurie. Matthew takes the lead vocal on ‘Old Days’.

Keen to record their plethora of songs in an analogue studio in a manner befitting their raw, live sound the band were fortunate enough to lay down several tracks with engineer Simon Trought at Soup Studios in the basement of The Duke of Uke, East London. The studio’s websites boasts a magical array of kit including a Joe Meek VC1 studio channel. Simon proved to be an intuitive collaborator in the production of the recordings and introduced Paul Rains his friend and member of London group Hexicon, on lap steel to tracks ‘Mountain Song’ and ‘Old Days’. Paul has since become a sixth member of the band.

All the while, Tomer's brother Tal Danan, a graphic designer living in Florida created an extraordinary body of artwork for the band. Plans are afoot to create a live music performance in a gallery hosting a series of Tal’s original works. By July five tracks were mastered from the Soup sessions for an EP ‘To Bury the Past’, an optimistic collection of meaty, guitar led songs encased in Tal’s evocative artwork which is screaming to be printed on gatefold vinyl.

It’s been hard to not introduce Treetop Flyers without referencing classic artists such as Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young, The Band, Fleetwood Mac and The Rolling Stones. But it seems the West London outfit can stand their ground with these comparisons as they are able to create original and instantly memorable new material like EP tracks ‘It’s About Time’ and ‘Rose Is in the Yard’.

Only together for 6 months and with enough tracks ready for two albums, the band continue to be busy working the London circuit with notable gigs including Barden’s Boudoir, Fleur De Lys at the Lexington, Pangea Project, Notting Hill Arts Club, The Lock Tavern, Tribe Called West at Ginglik, Danny George Wilson’s Bruce Springsteen event ‘Tramps Like Us’ at the Windmill in Brixton and Truck festival as well as being invited to provide direct support to Alberta Cross at the Water Rats in June. A flurry of blog activity recommending the band resulted in them playing a breath taking guerrilla gig with First Aid Kit at Arnold Circus bandstand, Shoreditch for bandstandbusking.com. Footage from the gig goes on-line in September.

WWW.MYSPACE.COM/TREETOPFLYERSBAND

QUOTES:
"Treetop Flyers combine multi-part sun-drenched harmonies and folky Dylanesque melodies, even veering into western hoe-down territory on occasion. With the dawn just breaking on 09, expect them to have made their mark on the year by the time the dusk sets."
The Fly

“Their songs are lovely, lovely!”
Brain Bulletin blog/ Alessi’s Ark

Vocals/guitar: Reid Morrison
Drums/ Vocals: Tomer Danan
Lead guitar/Wurly/Vocals: Sam Beer
Rhythm and lead guitar: Laurie Sherman
Bass/Vocals: Matthew Starritt

GIG:
29th September 09 – Treetop Flyers and friends (EP launch) at the Lexington, London