Part 2

Often, while writing, new ideas and alternative roads will open themselves up, pulling and pushing the creator in a different direction. Does this happen to you, too, and how do you deal with it? What do you do with these ideas?

Dexter: We definitely encounter this. It can be the hardest thing to decide which road is the right one to go down. We tend to try out all the ideas, even if one of us thinks it might not work. Then we’ll step away for a few days and listen to it with fresh ears and typically we agree on which idea is the one we like the most.

There are many descriptions of the creative state. How would you describe it for you personally? Is there an element of spirituality to what you do?

Franz: In a collaborative project like this one, I feel that we spur each other on to reach new creative spaces. Having someone you can connect with on a musical level pushes ideas into new and unexpected directions.

I don’t think of it as spirituality necessarily, but perhaps its there on a subconscious level.

When you're in the studio to record a piece, how important is the actual performance and the moment of performing the song still in an age where so much can be “done and fixed in post?“

Dexter: We strive for the best takes we can get with as little edits as possible. Some of the more ambient songs were done in one live take like “Hidden Valley Rancheros”.



We recorded that super late on our last night in the desert house after going for a long nighttime hike in the Hidden Valley in Joshua Tree National Park. We just hit record on the Otari and let the late night exhaustion guide us.

Franz: In my opinion getting a good performance is always the most important part of the process, which is especially why recording on tape has been helpful.

Working with limitations helps focus on the music and serving the song.

Once a piece is finished, how important is it for you to let it lie and evaluate it later on? How much improvement and refinement do you personally allow until you're satisfied with a piece? What does this process look like in practise?

Dexter: Most of the ambient songs on the album are edits of much longer 15-20 minute jams. So we did lots of listening and evaluation to find the best moments to present.

Our ethos on Flamingo Heights was to not be overly critical, and just present this collections of songs more or less as they were captured in that moment in time. So whatever editing we did, was mostly just selecting the in and out points of the songs.

Franz: Agreed! Learning to let go and not overthinking things is something I’ve been working on and I think we did a good job of it on this record.

Even recording a solo song is usually a collaborative process. Tell me about the importance of trust between the participants, personal relationships between musicians and engineers and the freedom to perform and try things – rather than gear, technique or “chops” - for creating a great song.

Franz: Dexter and I were friends long before we were musical collaborators. Understanding each other's personalities and music taste was definitely helpful when this project started, and aided in the process of shaping the record. It’s often unspoken, but we know when we can depend on each other to take the lead in certain aspects of the process.

For example, Dexter is much more fluid with drum machines and programing, and I feel that my strength is in engineering and lead guitar playing. It’s pretty cool though that we are both comfortable trading off instruments and roles!


Dexter+Franz Interview Image (c) the artists

What's your take on the role and importance of production, including mixing and mastering for you personally? In terms of what they contribute to a song, what is the balance between the composition and the arrangement (performance)?  

Franz: As a recording engineer, my preference is to get the sounds right on the way in. I don’t want to rely on fixing things in post, just sweetening them. To be honest, the recording process is much more fun and exciting for me, so I like to spend as little time tweaking tones in the mix as possible!

Especially with our longer form ambient pieces such as “Reel Breezy”, the mixing process really did help shape the arrangements.



Additionally, we decided to mix the album in a seamless style, so all the songs flow into each other creating a more immersive listening experience. Looking back, I think this is an important part of Flamingo Heights, especially for LP playback.

After finishing a piece or album and releasing something into the world, there can be a sense of emptiness. Can you relate to this – and how do you return to the state of creativity after experiencing it?

Dexter: Keeping the momentum going helps. When we released Flamingo Heights in September, we arranged a short tour up the California coast playing shows in Bolinas, Half Moon Bay and Los Angeles. When we were in the Bay Area, we also spent a couple of days at the Panoramic House in Stinson Beach which is a studio owned by Tape-Op magazine’s editor John Baccigaluppi.

The fact that we were able to create new material while still celebrating and sharing our current release helped make us excited not just for Flamingo Heights but for the future as well.

Music is a language, but like any language, it can lead to misunderstandings. In which way has your own work – or perhaps the work of artists you like or admire - been misunderstood? How do you deal with this?

Dexter: I realized a long time ago that when you release music into the world, it’s really out of your control to create the narrative. Whatever meaning listeners decide to attach to it becomes its identity.

I’ve learned to just enjoy how others perceive the music once it’s out there even if it might be totally different than how I intended it to be.

Franz: I’m still learning to understand our music!

Creativity can reach many different corners of our lives. Do you personally feel as though writing a piece of music is inherently different from something like making a great cup of coffee? What do you express through music that you couldn't or wouldn't in more 'mundane' tasks?

Dexter: I think every aspect of life can be a work of art if you make it. I guess the only difference is that when you release a piece of music into the world, people from now until the end of time will in theory be able to interact with it and hopefully feel something from listening to it.

Franz: I have found music to be a great conduit for expressing emotion.

Growing up in a family where emotional connection was not really emphasized, I have been learning to connect more with this side of myself. But it has always been easiest to get out through music.