Locals Only: Flaxxies perform 'Snapped Up (By The Boss) made with funding from NZ On Air. Video / Locals Only
For many Kiwi musicians, working with a music legend like Tiki Taane is a dream that rarely becomes a reality - but upcoming band Flaxxies has already done it.
The band - made up of drummer Neo Lee, lead guitarist Eric Goodger, rhythm guitarist Nick Tait, bass/trumpet player Chris Manningand lead singer Benji Humphries – started jamming together like many successful bands do, as teenagers in high school.
“I made a little music account and gave singing a go,” Humphries says. “And then that’s when these guys found me. Even though we were at the same school, through that account, they kind of got me in the band.”
Since their establishment five years ago, the band have gone from strength to strength, becoming easily recognisable in the Kiwi music scene and topping multiple student radio charts. In fact, their success so far even landed them a meeting with Taane, who was quick to sign on to producing their latest EP, Sunstruck.
Flaxxies caught the attention of a Kiwi music great, Tiki Taane.
“Working with Tiki was awesome,” the band’s lead singer says. “That was like a dream come true for all of us.” And when he says it, he really means it, as he explains he once tried to go to one of the Always on My Mind singer’s shows years ago, but since he was only 16, he wasn’t allowed into the R18 event.
“I sat outside the bar and just listened to him, and then now I’m 21, and to be able to say I’ve worked with him was, like, crazy,” Humphries chuckles. “Just to be here in itself is a privilege, but then being able to like have him cook some tunes with us was crazy.”
It’s easy to see why the student band were appealing to one of New Zealand’s top musicians. As well as their catchy tunes, they are big on creating relatable songs for their fans – even if it includes tapping into those really vulnerable and emotional places.
One of the band’s first songs to come from such a place was Lot 61, which was released in April 2022 and focused largely on Humphries’ experience with mental health.
It immediately resonated with fans, and the singer recalls one night after performing, a member of the crowd came up to him and shared that it got him through a tough time. “That’s a real reward in itself, when you get someone [coming] up to you and being like, ‘You’ve got me through something’, because at the end of the day, that’s what you’re there for.”
The band are all set to play multiple shows this summer.
After seeing the impact songs that touch on those hard-to-discuss topics had on their fans, the band are keen to create more, and Tait definitively says, “That’s the whole point”, with Humphies expanding upon that: “We want to be able to talk about all those tough topics in a fun way and bring them into music.”
They explain that the thought process behind incorporating these topics into their music is creating an environment where people feel comfortable, but it’s also a healing journey for themselves. As Tait explains, “A lot of lyricism comes from places of difficulty. The process of writing that song is kind of internalising that difficulty and coming to terms with it yourself.”
The majority of the time when they go to perform these tougher songs, they have already processed the emotions they felt when writing them, but Humphries says that there was a performance recently in Wellington where he couldn’t help but choke up.
“We were playing one of our new songs, Blister -that is coming out hopefully later this year - but that’s a really sentimental one for me, and I had a moment up there [on stage] where I was like, ‘Holy s**t, this is hard to kind of sing’, and then you crack, and then you’re buggered.”
Thankfully for the band, performing on stage often provokes more positive emotions than it does negative, and they admit playing live shows is “definitely a real strong point” in their careers.
“We want people to come to shows and walk away just being like, ‘Whoa, I had a really fun time’. And yeah, we may not be the most perfect band out there, [and we] can’t play every chord correctly when we’re up there, but we want people to come and feel a really good energy when they’re there.”
Adding to his bandmate’s confession, Tait chuckles as he says, “We want to make sure people get something they can’t from going on Spotify.”
It’s something they will have ample opportunity to do this summer, as they’re heading all around the country to play at some iconic Kiwi festivals, including Beach Break, where they will share a stage with Ocean Alley, Shapeshifter, Masaya and My Baby.
Lillie Rohan is an Auckland-based reporter covering lifestyle and entertainment stories who joined the Herald in 2020. She specialises in all things relationships and dating, great Taylor Swift ticket wars and TV shows you simply cannot miss out on.
