Sleaze, Trust, and Convertibles

Los Angeles band Flesh For Fantasy shares the video to their latest single, “DTA”. The band’s founding members, Ashley Femat and June Laska, open up about losing trust in others, being fueled by sleaze, and riding in a convertible with their best friends.

Los Angeles, USA

What is the Flesh for Fantasy origin story?

AF: We met through mutual friends and I was originally trying to be a bassist in someone’s band. I was told they just needed a singer so I volunteered. The first practice was just June and I at my house. We had my dad play drums which I thought was pretty funny.

June Laska: The Origin of F4F was post covid 2021 going into 2022. Ashley and I had mutual friends Sammy Arroyo and Sam Flores.

We made a group chat initiating to meet up but Ashley and I were the only ones to meet up that day. Ashley and I jammed together in the shed for a few hours and hit it off. We kept in contact after jamming out, and through that found another person who likes Billy Idol just as much as me.

How have you grown since then?

AF: I feel more confident in myself. At the beginning I was barely able to even sing in front of anyone. I was insecure and felt replaceable. I had a hard time writing and was too shy to share my ideas. I would write songs on garage band and send them to June because he made my ideas feel important and appreciated. I’d let people’s negative comments get to me. Now I feel like I can do whatever I want and feel way more sure of myself.

JL: I feel like we have grown a lot. Ashley and I have been through a lot in the past year, not only in our personal lives but also in our interests and music tastes.

The way we write our songs have evolved since then. We don’t have a formula, but we are pushing ourselves to try different ways of writing songs.

What is your music about?

AF: We like to write about our daily experiences. Whether it’s heartbreak, joy, or about how our day went. We always want to have a message that could mean something to someone.

JL: I think our songs used to be more interpersonal and emotions, but now I feel like our songs are fueled by sleaze, revenge for injustices, and redemption. My goal is to write more music that celebrates life and fun.

You are sharing the video for your latest single, "DTA." What is the song about?

AF: This song in general is about not trusting anyone. We’d had many circumstances of thinking someone is family, then them almost backstabbing you. It’s one thing to be friends with someone, but being in a band or a business is a lot more serious, where people’s egos come out. There’s a lot of people I considered friends but they have shown no support or almost see you as competition for their own band.

JL: DTA is a warning for people to be careful of who they trust. From our own experience we made the mistake of allowing people into our world and those same people wanted to take credit for things they weren’t responsible for. We haven’t had the consistency we’ve wanted since F4F’ inception, but Ashley and I’s mission is to always push through and make what we want on our own terms. I trust Ash with my life.

How does the music video represent the song?

JL: The music video is a pretty meta/camp take of a music video. The music video represents don’t judge a book by its cover. Luis Tinoco suggested the story of our Camera Man Sunny Holmes coming to shoot our music video, and that us the band are not happy that Sunny would be filming our video. In the end, the band accepts Sunny for who is and we make a great video.

That is how the story was initially pitched to us, but I think the DTA music video was just an overall fun experience. We wanted to display to the world that we are a great time, and that we have personalities. I feel like the people that come to our shows don’t get to see the other side of us. Lots of pop culture references in the DTA music video!

What was the pre-production process like?

AF: Our friend Luis took control, and we trust him with his creative mind. We let him have all the creative freedom. We had meetings about different scenes and how we can execute them, and we were happy with everything.

JL: Well initially I wanted to combine the music videos of “Hate to Say I Told You So” by The Hives, “Ball of Confusion” by Love and Rockets, with hints of 007 James Bond.

When we reached out to Luis Tinoco he created a inspiration clip deck that featured “I’m just a Girl” by No Doubt and the Velvet Underground while styling our outfits around Blondie’s aesthetic.

Working with Luis Tinoco, Sunny Holmes, and Evan Estes was a pleasure, and definitely something I’d want to revisit for a future project. Luis is a ball of inspiration and being around him during the making of DTA felt special, and I hope he feels the same way about the experience too.

What were some fun moments and challenges you faced during the filming of the video?

AF: We faced challenges when it came to renting the studio, and making sure there were no foot prints on the ground since they were very strict about it. We were still charged a cleaning fee even after wiping the floor with our hands hahah.

JL: From start to finish, the experience of filming and working on the music video was a pleasure. I hardly call off from work but working half a day and then driving to San Pedro and driving in the convertible with my best friends was special and felt right.

The biggest challenge of filming DTA was when we rented a studio by the Regent Theatre with white Cylc wall. It didn’t matter if you had never worn shoes on, the shoes would leave marks on the white floor. We spent a hour cleaning the floor and putting paper towels on the floor to prevent having to clean up later. I got charged a cleaning fee on my credit card so I was not too happy about that. Everything else was fun and a joy to do.

Looking back, what would you do differently?

AF: I don’t think i’d do anything differently. It was a great experience to work with such great people like Luis and Sunny. I feel like I’m able to be myself. It’s difficult when people take their jobs too seriously to the point that there’s tension. Thankfully it was not like that at all.

JL: I think the only thing I’d do differently would be bring white paint with me or a mop to clean up the white cylc wall and avoid getting a cleaning fee.

How did you celebrate the release of the single and video?

AF: We threw our own show at Crash Haus and it was so fun. There was a lot going on but we pulled a lot more people than I thought. I was scared of it being a little empty but it wasn’t! Everyone had a lot of fun. Someone broke a hole through the wall which sucks

JL: We celebrated the release of the single on July 17th at Crash Haus! It was one of my personal favorite shows. We had a great line up of Spiral, F4F, and after we played we had premiered the music video. After our music video our primos from SPUNK played to end the night. I couldn’t have asked for a better night. The DTA music video world Premiere debuts July 24th on YouTube check it out!

What's next for Flesh for Fantasy?

JL: PosterBoy is what’s next for F4F!

It’s our anthem dedicated to the guys in the music scene who don’t acknowledge female artists/musicians. We want all musicians and artists to be treated equally, so this is our dagger to the throats of misogyny and clout chasers.