The Fisher Building has always been beautiful, but it might be turning into one of the more interesting multipurpose places for fun in the city.
Sure, it’s always had the Fisher Theatre, but the lobby of the Fisher Building recently hosted a halfpipe for skateboarders, and in the past fashion shows. Now, Daily Detroit gets word that none other than Flint Eastwood will be having their record release party there.
Hot off a successful South by Southwest (SXSW) in Austin this year, the record release party for Broke Royalty will be April 14 at 8:00 p.m. Tickets here.
This Detroit-based sound has made big waves as of late. Her latest single “Push” premiered on BBC Radio 1 and Flint Eastwood will be at Lollapalooza, Bonnaroo, Electric Forest and other major U.S. festivals.
We sat down with Flint Eastwood’s Jax Anderson at ASSEMBLE Sound in Corktown to learn more about the new music, how Detroit has helped shape her and what to expect on April 14.
Daily Detroit: Let’s start out with a little bit about the journey to get here. How long has Flint Eastwood been your main thing?
Jax Anderson: It’s been a really cool journey. I think being an artist in Detroit is a really inspiring thing. I think the community here is very passionate, and very honest, which I really appreciate. For me, I’ve just always done music since I was a little kid. I grew up in a house that never had cable or internet, and so out of boredom my parent would just leave instruments out, so out of boredom I would just learn how to play guitar, and learn how to play instruments, and eventually learned how to song write.
I’ve just been playing music all my life, and I’ve been doing Flint Eastwood full-time for about two years now, and it’s been really cool.
Daily Detroit: What does Detroit bring to the table? What has Detroit given you?
Jax Anderson: Being an artist out of Detroit is just a beautiful thing. Again, it’s a very passionate city, it’s a very honest city. It’s something where the community hold you very accountable if you’re not being genuine, and I really appreciate that.
Detroit doesn’t really care much about trends, and it doesn’t care much about following what’s cool. Every artist that has popped up has kind of created their own genre, and I think that’s a very beautiful thing. For me, I think integrity, and honesty, and being genuine is more important than trying to skyrocket to the number one spot of whatever genre you’re in.
I think I was fortunate enough to come from a family that was always very supportive, so any idea that I’ve ever had has always been a very off-kilter idea of how basically I would make money or support myself, or what path I would follow in life.
I just think that everything is just so accessible these days, and it’s always just felt very accessible to me. It’s just a matter of timing, and it’s a matter of being persistent. I knew it would always click, and now it finally has.
Jax Anderson: I’ve been there two times before, this was my third time. This time through was great. We had seven showcases, six of them were at capacity, and so it was really interesting. Detroit can sometimes feel like a bubble at times, and so to be able to go to a different place, and people actually know who you are, is like this really surreal weird feeling, it was a great feeling, but, yeah, it was very interesting.
SXSW is definitely, for anybody’s who gone, it can very much be a catalyst into new things, and it definitely has opened a lot of doors for us since then, so I’m very excited to see what happens in the next year for us.
Jax Anderson: The EP that I’m releasing is called ‘Broke Royalty,’ and so the whole idea is based around the concept of not letting lack of means hold you back from what your dream is.
For me, I never had money to make music. I never had a big support system or anything. I purchased thrift store gear whenever I was in high school, and learned off of that. This album, specifically, is just about creating your own kingdom and creating your own space, and royalty can often times be something that’s seen as pristine and perfect, and that’s typically not how it is. On the outside it might look that way, but on the inside it really never is.
With this record you can expect a lot of collaboration because that’s just what I’m all about. I work out of ASSEMBLE Sound, and a lot of the ASSEMBLE artists are featured on ‘Broke Royalty’.
You can expect a lot of honesty in my songwriting because that’s basically all I know how to do. I just hope to make people dance and hopefully think a little bit.
Daily Detroit: Let’s talk about where we’re sitting. One of the things that was really interesting coming to ASSEMBLE Sound is there’s so much happening here. What role has ASSEMBLE played in some of the things that you’ve been doing?
Jax Anderson: ASSEMBLE has played a huge role in what I’m doing. I record all of my music here. We made all of ‘Broke Royalty’, wrote and recorded the whole thing in this space. It’s just a great thing to be able to be in a studio and have other artists walk through and give opinions, and feel like you’re more a part of something bigger than just yourself.
I feel like a lot of the times artists can hermit themselves away, and it works for some people, but for me I thrive the most whenever I can get other opinions, and other ideas. It was great. It was like we made a record with our friends.
I mean, how much more fun can that be, you know? Life is weird. Life is good.
Daily Detroit: So, for this release party, why and how the Fisher Building?
Jax Anderson: The release party for ‘Broke Royalty’ is happening April 14th, and it’s at the Fisher Building.
A lot of people, when they hear that, they’re like the Fisher? That’s usually where plays and stuff are happening, but we’re actually doing it in the lobby of the Fisher, which if you’ve been to that space it is gorgeous. It’s so beautiful. It had gold everywhere, and giant ceilings, and beautiful hand-painted everything.
We basically just wanted to have a space that exemplified ‘Broke Royalty,’ which is the idea of trying to reach outside of what you stereotypically should be able to do, and so we wanted to have a very regal space.
When I approached Fusion Shows and The Crofoot, and we were bouncing around ideas, and when they mentioned the Fisher I was like yes, 100%; that’s so beautiful.
I remember walking through the Fisher when I was a kid, and going and seeing different shows, and my parents would have to save up for so long to be able to go there, so to be able to go back in as an adult, and as an artist and play there, I think it’s a very magical thing.
If you want to be in attendance for the show in Fisher Building, you’re going to need tickets. You can get them here.