Know Your LA Bands: The Flying Tourbillon Orchestra Interview

BeatCrave brings you band, The Flying Tourbillon Orchestra, as part of our Know Your LA Bands series. The term, “orchestra,” may appropriately describe the grand size of the band (six members), but their sound is surprisingly quite charming and demure. With that many members plus their instruments on stage, it’s downright impressive to hear the Orchestra produce such delicateness.

Although their melodies are capable of surrealism, don’t you go wandering off into the lonely singer-songwriter world. The Orchestra’s greatest strength may be the fact that all band members also provide the momentum on top of all those wistful arrangements. That, my friends, is the skill a great indie pop band should posses. The Flying Tourbillon Orchestra isn’t stuck playing gigs at The Hotel Cafe, but they’re rocking venues like The Echo in their own style instead.

Be sure to catch Hunter Costeau, Kelli Noftle, Adam Schary, Daniel de Hermon, Aaron La Fontaine, and Ethan Skoczylas all playing an intricate show this Friday, November 7th, at USC’s Fisher Museum of Art Courtyard along with Castledoor and Xu Xu Fang. What better place to hear such an intimate sound from such a majestic band? The show starts at 7:00pm but until then, check out BeatCrave’s exclusive interview with the band below! You can also read a review of their EP, Escapements, here.

So, a “tourbillon” is a mechanism in a watch which effects its “escapement.” How does all this relate to you as a band?

Hunter: So with the exception of only a couple early tracks, FTO songs are based around a group of people on the run from a storm, or rather a curse that sometimes manifests itself in the form of a storm. “Tourbillon” and “Escapements” house some dual meanings for the interested to look into, and the casual listener to ignore. The latter would probably be safer.

How did you all meet?

Hunter: There was some finagling through the magic of the internet – but basically I met Adam and Daniel at the Roost in Atwater Village, Aaron at my old apartment, Kelli through her other band at the time, MiniLove, and I met Ethan drunk late one night after a Radars/Airbourne show at Spaceland in Silverlake… then I had to re-meet him sober for it to stick.

How long have you been together as a band?

Daniel: Most of us have been playing together for about a year and a half, but the line up wasn’t really solidified until Kelli and Ethan joined us about seven months ago.

Were the vocals of the band always a male/female harmony?

Hunter: Definitely! It’s an integral part of the FTO sound. It started out being a bit more about simple strait octave doubling, but recently we are breaking into more interesting areas. Kelli has an amazing ear for harmony, and sings incredibly. I do my best not to fuck it all up.

What are the advantages of being in band with six members?

Aaron: Beyond the obvious difficulty of squeezing 6 of us and an ever-growing pile of gear onto relatively small stages, it’s worth it when you start to tap the possibilities of having so many creative personalities with individual talents all working together. Put simply, we each bring something different to the table. Whether it’s natural songwriting ability (Hunter), knowledge of musical theory and practices (Ethan), stage presence and a really strong voice (Kelli), and so on… By the time the songs are completed, we end up with multi-faceted songs that, on the surface, work as relatively simple pop songs, but upon closer inspection, have a surprising amount of depth.

Your MySpace says you sound like a “moving memory.” What is your definition of a moving memory?

Hunter: You mean… other than the fact that it sounds cool? Well.. really, it loosely exists to support the FTO concept by hinting at a vague origin.. and being vague in general, haha. But it’s a reminiscent feel we strive for – a memory that you might not immediately place.

The music is so intricate and the lyrics are just as detailed with storytelling. How has most of your songwriting gone in the past? How is it now?

Hunter: Thanks! We take a lot of influence from classic pop/rock, and then move it to a new place as a result of the combined influences of the band. In the past, it has been me bringing in a demo, or a basic fleshed out song and we work out the structure and arrangement from there. Recently, Ethan offered up an instrumental demo that I added lyrics and a new rhythm idea to; it became our new song, “As a volunteer.” Currently, while hashing out the last few songs for a planned ‘09 full album, the process has become increasingly more collaborative. I hope we continue in that vein.

What was the most challenging part during the making of your EP, Escapements?

Hunter: Other than the mastering, Escapements was entirely self produced by us, which in itself was a chore and a half. But the hardest part for me was how long the process was delayed. We initially tracked in November of ‘07, threw stuff out, reformed the band in February ‘08, re-tracked in March, mixed forever then had a July release. I know… 5 songs right? But we love it.

How did the artwork for the EP come about?

Hunter: The cover art was undertaken by Ram Bhat. He has terrific eye for design in general, and an amazing skill for aging images. The inside panels were sketched for us by Nic Radkowsky- also cropped and aged by Ram. I studied with these fellows in art school. They are both amazing geniuses and we owe them a million dollars in favors. It came out wonderful and we feel it captures the FTO aesthetic very well. (www.rambhat.com and www.nic-rad.com)

Quick-Fire Round:
Who are your favorite local bands?

Adam: All the usual suspects: Henry Clay People, Le Switch, Avi Buffalo, Radars to the Sky, Miniature Soap, the Monolators, and Divisidero.

What is the most surreal movie you’ve ever seen?

Hunter: Fellini’s Satyricon. What the fuck was that all about?

What was the last physical CD you bought?

Hunter: Nightfur – She Lives (2007); a local band. I’m not sure if they are active… but really cool songs and production.

What’s the best snack to have during a recording session?

Hunter: Beer…? It’s not really a snack. Whatever keeps muck off your console / instrument. Maybe trail mix?

Tell us one thing about yourself we probably don’t already know.

Kelli: Hunter and I live together, but not romantically. It offers great convenience for acoustic in-home practices and all of my vocal recordings on Escapements were done in his closet wearing my pajamas. His biggest pet peeve is when I walk around the house brushing my teeth because I tend to drool toothpaste on the floor. Also, when we get bored, we make silly videos of ourselves or record versions of FTO songs and post them under secret myspace profiles. One other thing about the band that you probably don’t already know is our current obsession with carne asada fries.

Photography courtesy of The Flying Tourbillon Orchestra, Adam Murray, and Jessica DeWinter