Artist Interview: Flight by Nothing

By McKenzie McGuire
Music Journalist

“We did things this year that we’ve dreamt about the last couple years”
-Pacco Salinas (Lead Guitar)

Bringing a contagious sound and eccentric energy to their shows, Flight by Nothing is definitely a group to keep an eye on. I got the opportunity to sit down with Connor, Sam, Porfii, Braydon, and Pacco earlier this month to find out more about their journey and dynamic as a band.

The five members were all originally from the Dallas area, but have made a new home in San Marcos for almost a year now. They describe that, while they had formed in Dallas, and were comfortable there, this was a move they had to make in order to evolve and seek more opportunities.

Connor: “I had always wanted to move here to do music, and I knew we could thrive here if we did.”

Pacco: “I just didn’t want to be stuck in the same spot and I think everybody kind of felt that way. So yeah, making this big move was definitely the right choice.”

Sacrificing steady jobs, college degrees and family, the group took the big leap with no back-up plan, knowing that it would ultimately put them in the right spot.

Porfii: “The money I was making back home, I was making good money and yeah I left that to try to pursue this. I’d say it was worth it.”

Connor: “The way I see it is like you’re sacrificing something either way. Like, if we move here, yeah you have to quit your job and you have to sacrifice family time, but if you stay in one spot like your hometown you’re not gonna grow. So that was just not an option.”

Sam: “yeah, if we wouldn’t have moved here we wouldn’t have done a tour, I’m sure we would’ve done a tour but not the way we did it this past two months. Where everything was so memorable.”
“The people we’ve met on tour, when we played hangout fest we got to meet artists that we never thought of, or at least I never thought I’d end up meeting this year.”

The group has had a lot of exciting things going on this past year, including an eight stop southern U.S tour, playing at a major three day music festival and Hangout Fest, along with playing shows in the Austin and San Marcos area. Out of all of these experiences, the band all agreed that the tour was by far the most memorable experience.

Braydon: “My favorite show was Athens, it’s a college town where the University of Georgia is and we got there like three days before our show. We ended up finding an open mic the night before Athens and there was a good amount of people there and almost all of them showed up to our show that next night. So it was pretty crazy to go somewhere we had no clue if we were gonna play, we thought the show was gonna get canceled because of the rain, ended up moving venues and people showed up to that one so that one was really good.”

After asking the group why they continue to pursue and create music, they mentioned that it is a form of expression as well as an outlet for all of them. But the key factor that keeps the dream alive is their love of performing and the feeling they get from live shows.

Connor: “It’s the most fun. I’m sure y’all agree, but it’s probably the funnest thing to do ever, every time. We play to a hundred plus, and we play to like three people. and even the times we play for three people, I’m like ‘this is still just so much fun’.”

Pacco: “I feel like when the audience sees us having fun on stage it also gives them freedom to have more fun, get up, and dance. That’s something that excites me when I’m on stage, I like seeing people have fun to our music.”

Braydon: “We make music for a show. There’s not a lot of, well there’s definitely a thought of it, but we think of shows first before recording a song. It’s always about performing in front of the people.”

Live shows are also something that the group believes sets them apart from other bands. Just having a good time and being themselves attracts a special energy on stage. Another point of individuality is their sound itself. They describe their sound as “A mixed bag.”

Braydon: “We all have different styles I think we’re inspired by originally. So we still write the same way when we’re writing by ourselves, and when it comes it sounds unique.”

With all of the expressive ideas each of them brings to the table, it makes their creative process different every time.

Pacco: “Everybody kind of has like one little thing that catches everyone’s attention, like ‘woah, what is that, that sounds cool’, then we like it so much, everyone just starts throwing in their own little ingredients in there.”
“It’s a really fun process sometimes. Sometimes it’s really frustrating, because we might not know where to take something and then out of nowhere we just have an idea and it just works.”

Though their process of each track and record seem to vary, one thing always stays the same. The constant factor being that they can’t do it without every one of them there.

Connor: “ It’s not like one guy, and then everybody else is the set band. We’re a true band, It’s a democracy.”

Pacco: “We all play an important role. If one of us is not there, it feels like something is missing.”

Within the next few weeks we can be expecting some new music, as well as an upcoming show in Austin at Mohawk on Oct. 7th. Make sure to check them out and catch their show.