Beats Per Minute premieres Flagship's "Break the Sky" music video

BEATS PER MINUTE PREMIERES FLAGSHIP’S
“BREAK THE SKY” MUSIC VIDEO

SELF-TITLED DEBUT ALBUM OUT TODAY ON 
BRIGHT ANTENNA RECORDS

FALL TOUR DATES INCLUDE
CMJ SHOWCASE IN NEW YORK  

PRODUCED BY BEN ALLEN
 (ANIMAL COLLECTIVE, WASHED OUT, YOUTH LAGOON)

“Both immediately captivating and unique, largely due to the impressive vocals by singer/songwriter Drake Margolnick.”—Filter Magazine

Beats Per Minute is premiering the new music video for Flagship’s “Break the Sky” at http://bit.ly/1bFfRMZ. The song, which was recently hailed by American Songwriter as “a moody anthem reminiscent of the best of The National and old school U2,” is from the band’s self-titled debut, out today on Bright Antenna Records. To celebrate the release the band will be performing at New York’s CMJ Music Marathon on October 17, 18 and19. MTV Buzzworthy described Flagship as “a powerhouse of gloomy guitars and anthemic melodies” andConsequence of Sound raved that the band “sifts through the pastoral folk rock graces of bands like Fleet Foxes and Grizzly Bear, with occasional detours into wide-eyed pop catharsis.” The new album was recorded with critically acclaimed producer Ben Allen, best known for his work with Animal Collective, Washed Out and Youth Lagoon. Please see below for complete tour dates.

In 2011 solo singer, songwriter and guitarist Drake Margolnick joined local musicians Matthew Padgett (guitar, backing vocals), Michael Finster (drums, programming) and Grant Harding (keys) forming Flagship. In 2012, Christopher Comfort joined on bass. The band has become a staple of their hometown club scene and was voted Best Local Band for Charlotte Magazine’s 2013 Bob Awards. They toured the U.S. with The Wombats performing in front of sold out crowds in New York, Washington, D.C., Boston, Chicago and Salt Lake City. This year Flagship played SXSW for the second time along with a performance at the inaugural Bottle Rock Festival in Napa Valley.

With Margolnick as the main songwriter, the band worked on the tracks in unison at an Atlanta studio. He notes, “normally we just start playing together, no talking, just playing. No planning. It just falls together and we organize it. Once we have the song, I’ll start mumbling and making noises and I’ll find my melody during that process and then go and write the lyrics.” The band experimented with the recording process on tracks like “Waste Them All,” which Harding explained was recorded in one live take. Of working with Allen, Finster points out, “Whenever we recorded with Ben I remember we’d do batches of songs, like three at a time. He’d set everyone up in different ways depending on the song and record those people together—drums,bass, guitar—whatever was going to happen.” Allen said of the sessions “It’s really satisfying as a producer to hear the song sound complete and epic right when it’s being recorded live, as opposed to having to edit, tweak and mix until it feels that way.”

Flagship’s self-titled full-length album comes on the heels of 2012’s Blackbush EP, which Baeble Music praised for “the deep-throated baritone delivery of lead singer Drake Margolnick a la Ian Curtis from Joy Division.”

FLAGSHIP TOUR DATES

October 17            New York, NY             CMJ Showcase

October 18            New York, NY            CMJ Baeble Showcase

October 19            New York, NY            CMJ Paradigm Showcase