Catching up with the Flying Black Hats - Part 2

This is the second and final part of the interview with Dan of the Flying Black Hats (the first part is here, the original feature is here).

Q. What do you think of the music industry? How does the indie artist relate to it?

A. "I don’t really think of the music industry to be honest with you. I played enough shows and knew enough people in bands to realize it wasn’t for me in any conventional sense. I would love to be a “recording band”, but I don’t particularly enjoy being on stage.

One of my best friends is Pat Noel, the keyboardist from Beulah. And when I moved to San Francisco I lived in a punk house with Luke Jenner and Vito Roccoforte who went on to form The Rapture. And Owen from Casiotone for the Painfully Alone. Great guys and great musicians, but I learned firsthand how hard it is to make it as a musician, let alone an ‘indie’ musician. I have a ton of respect for anyone who feels that calling and goes for it. The reason I stopped playing in bands is that I wanted to focus on writing fiction and I have trouble doing both at the same time. And, like I said, it was always the writing and creating that appealed to me, not performing. But I will always write music. I can’t avoid it".

Q. What stands behind the band's name?

A. "The Flying Black Hats? We had a poster on our wall of the famous picture of ‘The Flying Black Hats’ pretending to play tennis on an airplane (the picture appears in the first part of the interview - Oded). We decided to burn some CD’s of our music as Christmas presents for our friends because we were poor as shit. We weren’t a ‘band’ per se. We just liked making music. But we decided we should have a band name. Inspiration via poster.

By the way, if any record company folks read this, I was just kidding about the not wanting to be in a band; email me and I’ll tell you where to send the check".

That's the interview. If anyone from the music industry is actually reading this, consider the Flying Black Hats an example for the young and passionate indie musician who can sometimes use a helping hand (and a record deal) but also the room and freedom to create and evolve on his own. Consider the readers (and writer) of this blog as your average music lovers and consumers, do not pester us needlessly with your legal minded copy right issues when all we want is to buy the music and help the artists we love (iTunes and Amazon MP3 - why do you forbid potential customers from countries outside the US to buy songs? Last.fm - why do treat most countries with a bias? Why are so many content sites barred to those outside of America? Where is the much coveted net neutrality?). But I digress; this is about the Flying Black Hats, so check them out.

The Flying Black Hats - Love Rescinded {MP3}
The Flying Black Hats - Last Show at the Fillmore {MP3}
The Flying Black Hats - Juke Joint {MP3}