INTERVIEW – Fly By Midnight Chats About New Single ‘Lost Without You (feat. Clara Mae)’

Fly By Midnight have just dropped the music video for their single “Lost Without You” – which features the stunning Swedish songstress Clara Mae. “Lost Without You” is now available to stream on all major streaming platforms, and you can watch the video below:

We loved this song so much that we wanted to know more about it! We got in touch with Fly By Midnight and here is what they had to say about their incredible new single:

Hello! Let’s start by talking about your new single “Lost Without You.” We’re loving it! What can you tell us about it? What is it about?

Justin: Means a lot that you love it.

Slavo: Agreed. “Lost Without You” is a track we’ve been excited about for a while. We wrote it over a year ago on a late night in an LA studio with our co-writer Sophie Simmons.

Justin: We vented a bit about relationships that may end, but don’t exactly separate as easily. The song wrote itself quite quickly after. That doesn’t always happen. 

Slavo: It’s a cool note that a lot of the production elements that I worked on that night are still in the final version. We were definitely all in the right mindset of the song that night.

You are also dropping a music video alongside the release. It looks like it was filmed in the middle of nowhere! What can you tell us about that? What’s the concept behind it?

S: We drove about 3 hours northeast to film it. From a desert tornado picking up our entire set, to cars breaking down on the way.. it was a challenging shoot that was really rewarding at the end of the day.

J: Slavo and I wanted the video to have us physically disconnected from Clara but also oddly alongside one another. The first place that came to mind to represent that desolateness was the desert. 

S: It took 2 days for J and I to build the green screen set. We’re always hands-on when it comes to our videos, but this one took that to a whole new meaning.

J: We invited our co-director, Russell, over to see it before we filmed and the first thing he said was “I hope you recorded you guys building this because no one’s going to believe it.”

The new single features the very talented Clara Mae. How did this collaboration come about? What was it like working with her?

J: We’ve been fans of Clara’s for a while so earlier this year we had reached out to her and her co-writer Cassandra about writing on the track to make it feel a bit more personal to her. Before we knew it we had her vocal sent over from Sweden. She sounds so tight on it. 

S: We actually re-recorded our vocal parts to feel a bit more in tune emotionally after hearing how strong hers came out. Outside of being a killer vocalist and writer, her energy has really been inspiring. 

J: There’s just a mutual level of respect for each others’ artistry that shows even while creating remotely from two different countries.

Whilst we’re on the topic of collaborations, who would your dream collaboration be and why?

J: It would be awesome to collaborate with HAIM or MUNA. Both forces to be reckoned with in the indie-pop space.

S: I think an artist as iconic as John Mayer would be high on the dream collab list. It’s really cool that he supports/works with a lot of the up and coming artists these days too.

You guys seem to make such an ideal pair. Your skills blend together so perfectly. What is your process when writing a song? Can you describe it for us?

J: It’s funny when we started the duo all we knew was that we got along really well and it felt natural writing together. As we’ve continued to work with each other, practically every day for almost 5 years, it still feels exciting and fresh. I do think a lot of that stems from how we approach songwriting and creating content together.

S: It usually starts with a concept or a line that one of us brings in the room. Sometimes it’s a real story and other times it’s just an emotion that we want to convey. From there I’ll usually lay down chords and get a production going while Justin continues to brainstorm lyrics/melodies. Then it’s just a back and forth collaboration of throwing ideas into the room and seeing what sticks. 

J: We’re always exploring ways to evolve our sound and narrative too which keeps everything feeling new not only for our fans but also for us.

So a bit of a tricky question now. What is one question you wish someone would ask in an interview but nobody ever does? And, by all means, answer the question you come up with!

J: Hmm .. I feel like surprisingly we’ve never been asked what the best part about being an artist/creative is. My answer would be the moments when I’m stressed about something music-related and then remind myself that I get to do this for a living. That sort of gratefulness comes in waves, but when it does it turns around my entire day.

S: Creating something from scratch for the world to appreciate has always blown my mind. So many things to absorb in the world, just happy to be a part of the creative.

Final one then, can you tell us what else you’ve been working on? What are your future plans?

S: This week has been really cool for us. Not only do we have “Lost Without You” out to the world, but we’ve also been discussing releasing a project that is different from anything we’ve done before. 

J: Also when the world opens up safely again we’re dying to get back on the road. Playing new music. Meeting new and old fans. It’s really why we do what we do at the end of the day.

Massive thanks to Fly By Midnight for taking the time out their day to have a chat! Be sure to give them some love by following their Facebook, Twitter and Instagram for more updates.

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Book lover. Concert Freak. Band nerd...that's basically all you need to know!

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