URBAN GROOVE PREVIEW
FLYTRAP
Saturday, November 30
The Night Gallery
Hardly new to the nightlife scene, Fly – a.k.a. Marvin Kee, a former member of ’90s funk show-stoppers The High Rollers – stands as the brains behind Flytrap, a new, funk-infused eight-piece band.
With an independently released CD just out on local label Flood Records, Flytrap takes to the stage for its inaugural gig this week.
"It’s something that’s taken about five years to complete," says Fly about the record, Flytrap: Original Soundtrack. "It’s… like a soundtrack that exists inside my head and I wanted to present that concept to people."
Far from being an overly indulgent episode in the complexities of his mind, Fly has created a very listenable album for himself and, in the process, developed a very distinct sound for others to enjoy as well.
At first it seems Fly’s inner movie is a combination of ’70s blacksploitation and porn. Not surprisingly, he also scored the soundtrack to Calgary’s première porno, Alpha Movie. Modestly, he admits that watching people have sex to his music provides a different sort of charge than what he gets from playing a live gig or recording an album.
For the latter purpose, Fly has had plenty of help getting the goods out onto disc, utilizing the skills of notable locals such as Bob Keelaghan, Dean Clarke and Asia D.
"It’s a concept album and that’s something I didn’t think people would totally understand…. That’s why there’s so many different musicians – it’s all just based on my concept of (the) everyday, like in (the film) I’m Gonna Git You Sucka when (Keenan Ivory Wayans) has his own theme music as he walks down the street – well, this is sort of like mine."
The disc is just one step in the execution of his plans. The gig is the second. Fly hopes to again play a part in a thriving live music scene. His experience in The High Rollers occurred when Calgary was at its peak for live music – for the most part, the experience was a good one, as he sees that it was key in the development of a music community.
There are certain hurdles he must overcome in order to do this on a regular basis, though. Just to get onstage with an eight-piece band is enough of an undertaking, but to do it with frequency is a monumental task.
"There’s eight different schedules to administer trying to get eight people to rehearse when we all have other jobs and other issues," he says. "It isn’t going to make a lot of money, but we do it because it’s important… and maybe other people will start coming out of the basement again and others will make their own thing.
"It’s all a cycle and it will return – people will want to go hear local bands again… you just gotta try to catch the wave." |
