Program

With their unique mix of experimental rock, drony post-folk and deep, dark blues, Flying Horseman is an ongoing, growing sensation. The rich interaction of deep souled vocals, insicive lyrics, hypnotic bass, obscure guitars, floaty synths and tribal drums creates a melancholic atmosphere that will grab the listener by the throat.

Their debut ‘Wild Eyes’ was released at the end of 2010 on Conspiracy Records/Konkurrent and introduced them to huge critical acclaim both in Belgium and abroad. The follow up album ‘Twist’, produced by Koen Gisen, was released on Unday Records in April 2012. It became a dark romantic album, sultry and ghost-ridden, the ultimate soundtrack of the night. It builds on the atmospheric roots rock of their debut, but its patterning is lush and its orchestration subtle by comparison.

By the end of November of the same year they released the breathtaking four track EP “Navigate”: three stripped down solo songs of Bert Dockx and one older unreleased track which receives the full band treatment. Influences such as Joy Division, Blind Lemon Jefferson, Bill Callahan, Talk Talk and The Velvet Underground come to mind and illustrate the cloth this band is cut from. Their third album sears the soul to the rhythm of a torrid summer's day. While the previous album, Twist, evoked the atmosphere of the deep, dark woods, City Same City is a breath of desert air. Still, each track is imbued with an ominous light, a sense of the gathering storm.

With their fourth album, 'Night Is Long', Flying Horseman have created their most varied and colourful album to date. Flying Horseman's fourth release abounds with contrast and offers everything from highly compact, recognisable songs to the most epic and experimental tracks the band has yet unleashed. And more than ever, we are witness to a sextet with its own unique sound. As urgent and uncompromising as ever, Flying Horseman has composed a new chapter in their unique story in the annals of music. 'Night Is Long' was released on Unday Records in october 2015.

Early 2017 Flying Horseman were artist in residence at deSingel where they've worked for seven weeks straight on a brand new project called 'Rooms / Ruins'. Their residence ended with a live performance at deSingel which was followed by 7 more concerts all over Belgium & The Netherlands. In the summer of 2017, they took 'Rooms / Ruins' to the studio and recorded all of the material into the band's fifth full-album. The first single, and first new Flying Horseman music in over 2 years, 'Reverie' was released by Unday Records in November 2017 on a limited 7” vinyl and digital, with a beautiful remix by Milan W. as a B-side.

Rooms / Ruins, released in January 2019, is a capricious, vibrant and strange affair that will send you inwards before catapulting you in to space. It houses many colours and flavours, many contrasting faces. It is focused and purposeful, as much as it is dreamy and ambivalent. It might be a sonic comment on a hard to grasp reality or an increasingly out of control society, or it might be another break up album (though one with decidedly philosophical tendencies). It might not be perfectly suited for your next dinner party, even though it is rather tasty. When trying to approach it, it might seem evasive. But later on, it might call you back, asking you to sit down and listen closely, once again.

In the Summer of 2018 Flying Horseman started quietly tinkering on new material in the top-secret lab of their Antwerp rehearsal space. Spontaneously, a sound emerged that was subtly playful and at times surprisingly funky. In the process they realised that - after four consecutive collaborations with Koen Gisen - they wanted to explore new horizons for the production. Enter the widely acclaimed studio wizard and multi-instrumentalist Jasper Maekelberg (Faces On TV, Balthazar, Warhaus). A single tentative but inspiring exchange at a café was all it took for Jasper and Horseman-frontman Bert Dockx to decide that, despite very different musical personalities, they would work together.

In the summer of 2020 (exactly ten years after the release of their debut Wild Eyes) Flying Horseman released its sixth offspring: Mothership. It is a concise, pared down album consisting of eight adventurous, colourful songs with a deep heart and a wide-open mind. The sound manages to be transparent, direct and punchy, without sacrificing this unique band’s signature layering and mesmerising atmosphere. More than ever, all of the band members share the spotlight: the powerful and inventive rhythm section of Mattias Cré and Alfredo Bravo; the enchanting vocal harmonies, synth and guitar sounds of Loesje and Martha Maieu; the intense voice, labyrinthine lyrics and spellbinding guitar of Bert Dockx.

Members:
Bert Dockx: Vocals, Guitar
Alfredo Bravo: Drums, Percussion
Loesje Maieu: Vocals, Synths, Percussion
Martha Maieu: Vocals, Synths, Percussion
Mattias Cré: Bass

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