First Time Flyers

Country collective First Time Flyers are back with their second studio album ‘Coming Home’ and biggest headline tour to date, both scheduled for April 2027. With this news comes the release of the heartfelt title track, out now.

 

Who is in First Time Flyers, how did you meet and what do you play?

Vicki, Tim, Poppy and Jake. We all met as solo artists through music, writing together, supporting each other’s shows and ventures. We were all intertwined in various ways and decided to come together to start something no-one else was doing. We always say we were a band before we were a band. Friends first and friends always. 2 – What is your earliest musical memory?

V: My house was always a very musical one. My dad would play guitar, my papa the banjo and my uncle the mandolin, so every family event we had our own country band! I loved going to sleep as a kid listening to the music downstairs.

 

T: I grew up listening to Kenny Rogers and Don Williams around the dining room table, and then my parents inspired me to start playing the piano at a very early age before I taught myself guitars and drums in the hope it would make me vaguely cooler!

 

J: My Dad has always been in bands ever since I can remember. His first one was called Close Call, I can still see the album cover.. very Dire Straights inspired stuff. But we’ve always been a musical family, our summers were spent in festival fields rather than by the seaside.

P: I’m the youngest of 5 with 2 musical parents. The house was full of instruments and the kitchen table was a place for sharing songs and stories. I remember going to festivals that my dad was playing and singing Dolly, The Chicks and James Taylor in the car… I remember taking a very young vow. That no matter how long it takes, I wanna do that.

 

When did you begin songwriting?

P: I have so many memories of walking home from school writing songs in my head. I started putting pen to paper and learning guitar and the first full song I wrote was at 13… I still remember every word.. And no.. no-one should ever hear it.

J: I wrote my first song at 16 … I knew 3 chords on the guitar and it was terrible.

 

T: I think I was around 14 and I later found out I’d ripped off Octopus’s Garden by The Beatles without knowing! Oops!

V: 2018 when I was in a show in the West End called Bat Out of Hell. I’d just finished up in Beautiful the Carole King musical so I was VERY inspired by her story and work! One of the best songwriters ever!

 

You will release your new album ‘Coming Home’ scheduled for release in April 2027. How did you want to approach the making of the album?

After writing and releasing our debut album ‘Bound To Break’, which was a real whirlwind of stitching stories into songs, throwing everything we have into melodies & taking life’s moments, learning from how they broke us down to break us through… to now standing on the other side of that album, with new experiences, lessons and perspectives on this crazy thing called life.

 

 

As we were heading back home after finishing the Bound To Break UK tour, we suddenly realised that there is no finish line, only a journey.. And with every ending brings a brand new beginning. So, we decided to pick up the pieces from the last few years and began slowly putting them back together to create a whole new picture.

 

Coming Home has been inspired by our individual and intertwined paths and the journeys we’ve all been on; The undoing and becoming of who we are. The little bridges you cross in life into new chapters and how they somehow always lead you back home.

 

Coming Home is about how Home isn’t always a place or one specific thing.. Sometimes you can find it in a person, in a song, or even on a stage.

 

We approached it with a real care but casual energy, knowing that we wanted to write a second album that we are proud of. We think we have done that.

 

Where did you record the album and who produced it?

The album was written and recorded in our North London Studio where we all get together to dream up these songs. Everything we do is a joint effort, and our Tim Prottey Jones produced all the tracks on Coming Home

 

Do you have any interesting, funny or memorable stories from the recording sessions?

 

T: We finished recording and producing the title track of the album, released it & then later discovered the most humongous sneeze on our gang vocal track! £10 for whoever spots it!

V: It was definitely a girls sneeze … still unsure if it was me or Poppy! My vote is me!

 

Did you use any particular instruments, microphones, recording equipment to help you get a particular sound/tone for the record?

 

T: I’m such a creature of habit when it comes to recording gear. I’ve used the same vocal mics for many years and trust them so much. I’ve been known to add the most random percussive elements to songs including sugar sachets from McDonalds, a hand-held hoover handle as a guiro and dropping my car keys on a table!

 

Which of your new album tracks hear you at your a) happiest, b) angriest and c) most reflective?

 

P: That would be telling…

 

T: Whereas we can’t say too much about the track listing, we have a fan favourite called “Deadweight” which is definitely us at our angriest! “Coming Home” is likely us at our happiest and you’ll just have to watch this space for the most reflective track…

 

Was it a difficult album to write?

 

Yes and no.. It’s easy to write a personal experience, it’s hard to be vulnerable. Living these experiences is the hard part, but hardships and great times are gifts when it comes to songwriting.

 

Naturally we always want to be writing better.. But it’s impossible to measure. Writing together is the easiest pastime and probably one of our favourite parts of the job.

 

Who designed the album artwork?

 

Chris Porter is our fantastic designer – There are a lot of opinions and ideas floating around and Chris is great at pinpointing exactly what we need.

 

One of the tracks is the single title track. What was the inspiration/story behind the track?

 

P: In our session, Jake started talking about the topic of Home, and we all began opening up about our childhood, our roots and what Home means. I remember Jake saying how he never saw himself back in Norfolk and I opened up about the pull I have back to my hometown. We really wanted to capture that feeling of driving Home after a few years away; collecting stories and living your life, and how for some time you might see it as a failure to return back where you started, to go home, but actually realising that home is where your heart has always been.

 

V: Our writing session for this song happened a few weeks before the world cup started and we said ‘damn, wouldn’t it be good if we had a song called Coming Home.’ We obviously had missed the boat massively for the World Cup but we decided to write the song anyway which led us to the stories about us going on our different journeys but always returning to our roots.

 

Do you have any visualisers to accompany the album?

We have plenty of photos from various shoots / moodboards with loads of ideas that will gradually be released along with the album.

 

Where is your hometown and could you please describe it in five words?

 

J – I grew up in Kings Lynn, Norfolk – Historical / Countryside / Coastal / Youth / Home

V – I grew up in Harrow, I’m a London Gal. I don’t think I have 5 words to describe it but it reminds me of school so … ‘I liked my happy home’ haha.

P – Growing up in Exmouth, Devon was like a Seaside, Salt Air, Sandy (my mamas name) and So much SOUL!!

T: I grew up in spa town in the Midlands to a proudly Welsh family. Salty / green / safe / homely / happy

 

How do you look after your voices?

 

We are always singing together / keeping hydrated / exercise .. staying fit and healthy.

 

Do you have any live dates planned in the UK/Europe in 2026/2027?

We certainly do, our biggest tour yet is Coming Home! It will kick off in April so make sure you’re part of our mailing list (Cabin Crew) to be the first to know when tickets are on sale!

 

What two things do you hope to have achieved once you have left the stage?

 

We hope to have fun and leave everyone with a feeling of happiness (and hopefully also to have gained some new fans.

 

Do you have any favoured stage instruments, effects, pedals, microphones etc?

 

J – I use a Quad Cortex pedal on stage, it’s my amp and pedals all in one. I love what it’s capable of, haven’t even scratched the surface to be honest but as the show grows, it keeps up with ease.

T: We use SE vocal mics with bespoke grills, Read Audio IEM’s and I’m an endorsed Martin artist so I don’t go anywhere without my 15000M! The latest discovery for a better live sound has been a TC Electronic doubler pedal!

V: I’m very much enjoying practising some Mandolin at the moment … that might make it to stage one day! 18 – You are given the opportunity to write the score for a film adaptation of a novel that you enjoy. Which novel is it and why? P: THIS. IS. TOO. HARD!!

I’d say The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison, Where The Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens, Women Who Run With The Wolves by Clarissa Pinkola Estes and Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murikami! But… the book that made me fall in love with books was the way my mum read ‘We’re Going On A Bearhunt’ to me and my brother growing up…

 

V: I’m not a big reader … autobiographies are more my thing … but I’d love to have some music on Clarkson’s Farm!

 

Who are some of your musical influences? Do you have any recommendations?

T: Growing up, I was obsessed with Queen & Michael Jackson and that soon morphed into a love of Guns N Roses, Metallica and Nirvana. My recommendations though would be “Soul’s Core” by Shawn Mullins, “Misguided Roses” by Edwin McCain and “American Motor Sports” by Bilmuri.

J: I grew up listening to my Dads records … mostly in the car … James Taylor / Dire Straights / Rolling Stones / Deacon Blue / and David Gray’s White Ladder album was always on.

 

V: I grew up listening to The Chicks and Alison Krauss, they were staples in my house! Especially live albums and DVDs of their tours! My mum also loved Roxette when I was younger and I love 80’s rock. Anything with a bit of grit and some epic guitars and I’m all over it. Like Tim, I also watched a lot of MJ … the history album was on repeat!

 

P: My biggest musical influences would definitely be The Chicks, Dolly Parton and James Taylor. Oh… and my parents? All filled my mind with wonderful stories and still inspire me to this day. RIP to the legend Dolly Parton, there will never be another.

 

What makes First Time Flyers happy and what makes them unhappy?

Coffee definitely makes us happy. Good coffee and good food! A great writing session never goes unnoticed, and we love playing gigs and meeting new people who love music as much as we do! Seeing people sing our lyrics at our shows and festivals never ever gets old. What makes us unhappy … well being cold makes the girls unhappy, and moaning about being cold makes the boys unhappy! Especially when they haven’t packed warm clothes for tour.

Feature Image Photo Credit: Maxim Adejumo

First Time Flyers new album ‘Coming Home’ is released on 2nd April 2027 on Lookout Mountain Records. 

Pre-Save Here: https://first-time-flyers.plus.musicglue.store/

The title track single is out now.