Montreal’s Oliver Forest & Flara K collaborate on “Moments”
Montreal indie-pop bands Oliver Forest (Megan Griffin & Joshua Cunningham) and Flara K (Collin Steinz & Sam Martel) collaborated on their latest single, “Moments.”
Captured during a gin-soaked late-night hangout at Flara K’s home studio, the long-time friends passed around every instrument in the room and set their sights on creating a song on the spot, with no restrictions or rules.
“All of us were passing instruments along to each other – synthesizers, guitars, bass, and as we started to near the end of the bottle of gin, we got bolder and passed around the banjo, and cello, and started to play the electric guitar like a slide guitar, using an empty beer bottle;” shares Collin.
The only unofficial rule in the room during the creative process was no samples. The four musicians wanted to keep the recording raw, only using sounds they could create in the room. Near the end of production, samples were seldom used other than to add layers of modern production to complement the track.
The song was produced and written simultaneously. Joshua engineered the session while Collin walked around the room shouting ideas and saying things like “No samples! We can only record the sounds we can make” and “Don’t overthink it- just play what you know, play what you feel.”
Sam and Megan focused on the lyrics, melodies, and harmonies, producing and honing in on the direction of the song and building it into a powerful and emotional operatic section at the end.
“Having a ‘no sample’ mentality in the room during the writing process had a huge effect on the sound and atmosphere of the track and allowed us to build up the vocals in a way none of us had ever really done before;” says Megan.
The video for “Moments” is directed by Sam Martel, and is a colourful, fun (who doesn’t love a little line dancing), and a glorious compliment to the song.
Sam shares;
“The original concept for the video came about jokingly while we were recording the song. Megan and I were singing the operatic section while attempting to tap dance when I got the idea that a choreographed line dance could be really cool, especially in sync with the bounce of the bass line, banjos, and slide guitar.”
The sparkling cowboy hat has been a part of Flara K’s aesthetic since their debut 2020 EP Anxious, Irrational, Fashionable, and Sam had been thinking of ways to build on it.
“Given the rootsy vibe of “Moments”, I thought this was the perfect time to explore it, so I created three more original cowboy hats for each one of us in the project. I felt it helped to really tie in the western undertone of the track.”
The matching suits were important for her because she wanted the two projects, Flara K & Oliver Forest, to feel like a unit, with each person showcasing their own edge.
Sam adds,
“It also aligned with what I had envisioned visually for the video – strong colours, vintage filters, and just enough sparkle to pop.“
Sam not only directed, but she did all the Styling and Costume Design. The DOP was none other than Flara K’s photographer Philippe Thibault, and the suits were from Simons.
Watch the video for “Moments” below and learn more about Oliver Forest & Flara K via our Five Questions With segment.
Care to introduce yourself to our readers?
Hi, we are Flara K and Oliver Forest. We’re artists from Montreal. We became best friends over the pandemic while getting drunk, writing music, and having sleepovers.
Tell us a bit about your most recent release.
Oliver Forest came over to write music at Flara K’s home studio one night. We always tend to open the night by catching up with one another and being vulnerable, which allows us to approach creativity with fewer boundaries.
The song was produced and written simultaneously. Josh (OF) engineered the session while Collin (FK) walked around the room shouting ideas and saying things like “No samples! We can only record the sounds we can make.” And would pass around instruments to everyone in the room, saying, “Don’t overthink it- just play what you know, play what you feel.”
Sam (FK) and Megan (OF) focused on the lyrics, melodies, and harmonies, producing and honing in on the direction of the song and building it to crescendo into a powerful and emotional operatic section.
Where do you tend to pull inspiration from when writing?
I think it depends. Most recently, we’ve been trying to trust a flow state and limit the amount of thinking between ideas. I think this can only happen when you’re creatively in a good environment. So I guess the inspiration just happens in the room, honing in on ideas and exploring them vulnerably.
Do you have any upcoming shows you’d like to tell us about?
We’re just wrapping up our last shows of the year with dates in Toronto and showcases at M for Montreal, but have studio sessions booked for the end of 2022 and early 2023. Definitely excited to focus on writing and recording over the winter.
What’s your goal for the remainder of 2022 and into 2023?
We’re excited to take the time and reflect on the last year. We were all in a Montreal lockdown to start the year, and none of us thought much of where music would take us in 2022, so it’ll be a good time to reflect on that- something I don’t think we’ve all made enough time for in the past. We’ve also got a video for Moments coming out at the end of November, which we’re all excited about.
As for 2023 – We all want to continue with this vibe we have. It’s a collaborative space where we focus more on our original and unique ideas that we can bring to a session without any fear of self-doubt. It’s about loving the process fully and seeing how that allows us to grow with each new release.
Yeah, that’s it. Our goal in 2023 is to hang out on good vibes.
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