There’s no excuse for not having heard of Flash Republic. Whether you’re into clubbing, live music, or simply listening to the radio on your way to work every day, there are few other bands in the country to have initiated such an allencompassing assault on the airwaves, dancefloors and stages of the land as this quartet comprised of two legendary house DJs, one dope MC and a golden-voiced songstress. When I chat to them on the eve of yet another trip to Sun City for the annual SAMA awards (this year nominated for Best Dance Act), there’s an exuberance about them that one would expect from pop-stars riding a wave of success. After listening to Danger, their second studio recording, it’s clear that their optimism isn’t misplaced; the album is a goldmine of dancefloor tracks with the rare ability to tear up clubs and daytime radio charts alike.
Their success seems to stem from three main avenues, most important of which is their knack for writing songs that stay on repeat in your head for the greater part of the week. Secondly, they all enjoyed prodigious solo careers before aligning as a triple threat. If you’ve never been to a party with either Ryan Dent or Craig Massiv behind the decks in the last fifteen years, you probably don’t go out a whole lot. And finally, since it lacked a precedent in this country, Tamara Dey and the boys capitalised on a niche in the musical market for a live dance act – with instruments and everything. Their stage performances and collaborative songwriting process leaves no question that this is a band in the true sense of the word. While they’ve literally exploded on the local music scene in the last couple of years, Flash Republic have garnered international acclaim by working with some of the world’s best DJs and producers. Several of their tracks have been remixed by house music heavyweights like Fonzerelli, Thomas Gold, Sunfreakz, and StoneBridge, many of these appearing on the supplementary remix disc packaged with the Danger album. Whereas many local bands look towards global recognition as an eventual goal, Flash Republic began their odyssey when one of their first tracks was picked up by Dutch superstar Funkerman, who wanted to find out if they had a band for shows. This galvanised the trio into a functioning entity and soon thereafter they found themselves living in Amsterdam, performing at night and writing tracks for their debut album, Time is Now, by day. Upon their return to Johannesburg, Time is Now went on to spawn no less than three top ten hits. Danger looks set to have an even greater impact on the local scene. As we discuss the sonic architecture of their latest album, the conversation overflows with some of the imminent ideas for record number three, already starting to coalesce in their minds. I’ll have to keep a lid on those for now but, needless to say, there’s no limit to what we can expect from Flash Republic in the future.
www.myspace.com/theflashrepublic
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one small seed