Fly Janet are a Surf Rock band from Colorado/Texas. They play a unique blend of instrumental surf rock with a western twang reminiscent of swimming through the desert at midnight. Keep an ear out for these guys – they are going places!
Who are the band members and what do you play?
The band consists of Drew Haught and Chris Badger. Drew plays guitars, drums, and keyboards. Badger plays bass guitar, keyboards, and horns. We have 2 other members that play drums, guitar, and keyboard live.
When and where did the band form?
The band formed in May of 2023 when Drew came up to vist me (Badger) in Denver. We grew up playing music together even before college, so you know, old habits die hard.
Have you played in bands prior to Fly Janet?
Yes, Drew has played and toured in many different bands in Texas most his life. I also grew up playing in different bands in Texas and Colorado. Drew and I played in a stoner rock band called “We Were Wolves” back in early / mid 2000s.
Tell us a little bit about the origins and/or meaning of the band name?
The name is based off the fake airline company that flies employees to Area 51 from the Las Vegas airport. We started this band more as a project, not knowing if we would ever do this live. The first EP took off on spotify. Out of nowhere we were getting thousands of streams, so we decided to take it live.
Nice. Congratulations! You guys just finished a west coast tour. How did that go? Any memorable stories you would like to share?
The tour went great. We sold out of most of our merch, Long Beach crowd was amazing, in Vegas we ran into Fat Mike (NOFX) at his Punk Rock Museum. We also met Riki Rachtman, who was there doing tours. I got a Decedents tattoo there as well. Everyone we met on the road was so rad and hospitable.
Very cool! For readers that haven’t heard your music yet, which EP would you recommend as a starting point and where can they find you?
We have 4 EPs. They are available on all streaming platforms. I would recommend our first EP “Rachel” or our 3rd EP “Easy Money”.
Do you record in a studio or at home? If at home, please describe your home studio.
We have a home studio. We have an 8 channel interface with Logic. Basically used professional studio for our first EP then decided to learn from that experience and do it ourselves.
I love the surf and western combination that you create. What are some of your favorite musical influences?
Los Straightjackets, Man or Astroman?, Rancid, Los Pakines, NOFX, Thin Lizzy.
What are your future plans for the band? Upcoming recording, shows, touring?
As of right now, we have a couple of regional shows in Colorado for April. We are planning a Texas tour for early June, and in regards to recording… we never stop. I would say at least 2-5 times a week we are recording and sending ideas to each other.
Anything else you would like to say to our readers?
We just pressed our first physical release. A cassette tape under our own imprint label. It contains all 4 of our EPs with some bonus material. Grab them at shows and all over Colorado in various record stores. We are working on a more national distribution to get them out soon, but you can always DM and request them. I’m literally sending 1 out today after I finish this interview. Stay rad yall.
Awesome. Thank you!
– Justin Jackley
Explore more from Fly Janet on Spotify, Bandcamp, Youtube, & Instagram.
Dave Bixby 