What do you get when you blend rock, electronic and dance music? How about a little pop-ish magic called Future Relative?! This unsigned group has been described as having music that is “just too irresistibly catchy to not spread the word to others.” Future Relative started as the brainchild of Armand Aviram who soon realized his personal vision of creating a top notch live show required more hands on deck. Adding two members to the group – Lex Sadler and Nic Coolidge – has this Brooklyn-based trio ready to rock and grab your attention with their super hype live show.
The group’s eclectic sound comes from a variety of inspirations, largely based on other bands that similarly give performances full of high energy and visuals. Bands as diverse as Bjork to Dragonette to Deadmau5 and Seal are in the mix with Linkin Park and Jamiroquai as individual favorites for these three artists who all grew up listening to classical.
Future Relative has already released one EP called “Fantasies” and is hard at work on new material for another. We have two of their tracks in the jukebox ready for you to rate including the new single “X-Ray Vision” and “Monday Morning.” So keep reading all about this high energy group to learn more about their vision (and upcoming show Nov. 5 at Bowery Electric in NYC!) and then have a listen and let us know what you think of their sound. Do you think Future Relative deserves a record contract?
Future Relative Interview
How would you define your music?
In broad terms I would say it’s pop music, but within that genre it’s a blend of Rock with Electronica and Dance.
How did you come to form Future Relative?
I started the project on my own, maybe in the way Trent Reznor started Nine Inch Nails on his own, but when it came to start playing shows I soon realized I wanted to create a more collaborative effort with other musicians. Lex Sadler plays Bass/Synth and Nic Coolidge is Future Relative’s glue – a DJ, guitar player, and whatever the music needs him to be in a live setting.
Where is home base for Future Relative? Are you originally from the area? What’s the music scene like there – supportive of your type of music, or do you travel a lot to play shows?
We’re based in Brooklyn. We’re still trying to find other artists or bands that are similar to us. When you’re first starting out you get booked on shows that don’t necessarily make sense for what you’re doing. Ideally we’d love to perform in more dance-oriented clubs, rather than your standard rock venue. We’re really trying to emphasize the visual aspect of our show and we want to fill our stage with lights and stimulate the audience with ear and eye candy simultaneously. It’s difficult at the moment because we haven’t played enough shows to headline our own shows, but when we get there the crowd will know it’s going to be a spectacle.
Who or what would you say your artistic influences and/or inspirations are as a band?
It’s pretty diverse, we all have backgrounds in different styles and we’re very open-minded. Right now I’m inspired by bands that really know how to put on a show and entertain the crowd with great songs, great energy, and great visuals. There’s some incredible electronic artists like Deadmau5, bands like Dragonette and Chromeo that are just killin’ it out there. Watching them inspires us to continue stepping up our game on a smaller scale. My taste is across the board, I’ve been listening to the new Linkin Park album non-stop and I think it’s the record of the year. In the studio we listen to everything from Bjork, to Jamiroquai. I think the 3 of us grew up on all the classic stuff, but there is just so much incredible music out there that I can find inspiration in any genre.
Do you write your own lyrics and music? If so, what influences you in the writing process?
For the EP “Fantasies” I wrote all the lyrics and music, but we’re currently working on new material together as a trio. It’s hard to pinpoint what exactly the process is like, and I’ve actually been feeling like maybe I need to switch it up a bit. I usually wait until some kind of spark hits me, either a lyric, song title, musical phrase, or it might be something that I’m going through and I just need to let it out. I’ll try to flesh out a demo, show it to the guys, show it to a friend, figure out if it’s any good and go from there. But it’s an interesting question to answer at the moment because I’ve been feeling like I need to experiment, get out of my comfort zone and try writing in different ways.
Tell us about your new single “X-Ray Vision” – what was the inspiration?
X-Ray Vision was really the first song I’ve written that was a sign to me that I was capable of creating poppier, more mainstream music. I just wanted a song that was going to make people dance, jump, and rock all at the same time. Lyrically the song is about seeing someone naked for the first time, physically and spiritually. Simple, right? When we do the song live it’s a bit of an explosion and it’s always fun.
Do you have any other projects in the works?
Right now the main focus is our live show. We really want to build a strong following in New York so we can grab some attention. There’s a huge sea of bands and artists, but I think our live show is what’s going to help set us apart. There are only 5 songs on the EP, so we’ve been trying out new material at all our new shows, gauging the crowd’s reaction so when it’s time to record again we’ll know which songs are best. But our No. 1 priority is to create a buzz with our live presence.
Where can people catch a live performance?
The next show is Friday, November 5th at Bowery Electric in NYC, 8:30PM. More shows in the winter, people can join the mailing list on our MySpace page (http://www.myspace.com/futurerelative), follow on Twitter (http://twitter.com/#!/futurerelative) or become a fan on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/futurerelative)
