“Voted “Kansas Most Okayest Band” by your mom probably”, Kota Lewis and the Flyers have been setting stages on fire (figuratively speaking) the past couple of years, bursting from the Southwest Kansas scene and taking their mixture of country, rock and alternative show throughout Kansas, Oklahoma, and Texas. It doesn’t get much better than this. Recently dropping their new single “Overthinkin’“, we shine the spotlight on them this week.
It’s like a country lyric, with a rock progression, on a punk groove, with a country vocal😂😂 most people would simplify that as Y’all-ternative but we have hints of country, rock, alternative, and metal in our live shows.
7eight5: Introduce yourselves. Who are you and what instruments do you play?
Kota Lewis and the Flyers: We started out in Pittsburg, Ks at the inception and then moved home base to Girard, Ks which is only about 15 minutes away from Pitt. Kota is on Lead Vocals & Rhythm Guitar, Spencer Gatewood plays Bass & Vocals, Nic Watrous is on Lead Guitar, Joe Redden on Drums, and Tank is the Band Dog.
7eight5: Tell us about Tank!
Kota Lewis and the Flyers: Tank is a Chiweenie. He has traveled with us to almost every single show since the bands inception and is our mascot. Chances are if you have been to one of our shows you’ve gotten to at least pet him if not hold him. He is a fan favorite & show stealer for sure!
7eight5: Where did the name of The Flyers come from?
Kota Lewis and the Flyers: Kota’s dad’s hometown mascot was a Flyer which was the name of a Big Train that was famous for coming through & stopping in that town.
7eight5: How long have you been playing together?
Kota Lewis and the Flyers: The band started just over 3 years ago with Spencer being an OG Flyer, Joe has been with us for about 8 months, and Nic just joined us 3 months ago.
7eight5: And individually, how long have you been playing music?
Kota Lewis and the Flyers: Kota – 13 years, Spencer – 3 years, Nic – 21 years, and Joe – 14 years.
7eight5: Describe what your sound is like.
Kota Lewis and the Flyers: This is probably the most difficult question we always get because it’s a strange live sound. It’s like a country lyric, with a rock progression, on a punk groove, with a country vocal 😂😂 most people would simplify that as Y’all-ternative but we have hints of country, rock, alternative, and metal in our live shows.
7eight5: Who were your influences growing up, and what impact has that made on your music?
Kota: From a writing standpoint most of the country & rap/hip-hop came together in my head and I would create a Melody & cadence, then apply the lyric, and then figure out a progression. Sonically we really wanted to create something that was high energy & fun on stage for us to play & perform which is where more of the rock influences came into play.
The Flyers: Toby Keith, George Strait, Tracy Lawrence, Motley Crue, Guns ‘n Roses, Foo Fighters, Eminem, T-Pain, and Eric Church.
7eight5: Do you remember your first show? What was that like?
Kota: “😂😂😂 AWFUL!!! It was the worst experience because I sold the place out and forgot all the words and didn’t know how to use any of the sound equipment! It was easily the best thing that’s happened for me in my career and I’m really grateful it wasn’t a flawless night.
Leave your ego at the door when creating, the song comes first.
7eight5: How have you guys grown since starting to play together?
Kota Lewis and the Flyers: We don’t take all the little things that go wrong as serious as when we started and we are far better performers. We really just go out there now almost more for us than the crowd because we have so much fun on stage. Once we figured out how not to force it and just flow with everything it got a lot easier for us!
7eight5: Where do you get influences from when writing music?
Kota: I’m not sure that I really have any influence with the writing, I just let it flow and keep it as real to me as possible. But I do keep a lot of advice from a bunch of artist I’ve listened to talk about writing and I use those things they’ve said as guidelines for how to build what I’m creating.
7eight5: What comes first for you, the lyrics or the music? Or is it more 50/50?
Kota: 97% of the time it’s the lyric. I usually write the song and forget about it for about 3 months then find a progression later down the road and find a song in my songbook that fits that progression. The one time I started with music was actually the only love song I’ve written that I like haha and I think it turned out pretty good!
7eight5: What do you do outside of your music? Work, hobbies, etc?
Kota Lewis and the Flyers: Kota sells cars. Spencer fishes and works with mentally handicapped adults in their day to day. Nic is a cybersecurity person half of the month and a guitar teacher the other half. Joe builds really nice custom RV’s & has another rock cover band he plays drums in.
7eight5: Where do you want to be as artists/a band in 5 years? What’s a goal you are hoping to achieve?
Kota Lewis and the Flyers: Working/touring full time. We keep it simple on goals, we would like to be able to keep recording music that people love to party to and we’d like to get on some bills with some bigger artist!
7eight5: How do you go about setting up shows to play?
Kota Lewis and the Flyers: We’ve played the set so many times we have a general idea of where most of the songs belong and are interchangeable. There’s a guy who developed a formula for how to put shows together to have the most impact on a crowd and once we found that we’ve built around that and stayed pretty true to that.
A lot of Private Parties and local festival/event stuff is typically someone reaching out to us. The rest of the shows are us reaching out & inquiring about opening or getting our foot in the door in a new market. All booking, marketing, media, & managing is done in house
7eight5: Who are you listening to (music-wise) right now?
Kota Lewis and the Flyers: Koe Wetzel, Hardy, Bilmuri, Wyatt Flores, and Mike Ryan.
7eight5: What’s the most important lesson you’ve learned since the band started?
Kota Lewis and the Flyers: A good hang is more important than being the best player.
7eight5: What’s the best piece of advice you received regarding music?
Kota Lewis and the Flyers: Spend the time & the money on music on the studio, this is kind of a lesson learned as well. Leave your ego at the door when creating, the song comes first.
7eight5: How can people get a hold of you?
Kota Lewis and the Flyers: Facebook or Instagram is the most accessible & easy to find us. Also the best way to keep up with our schedule.
7eight5: What are your next couple upcoming shows?
Kota Lewis and the Flyers: We have some shows this summer at some fairs & festivals that we’re super excited for!
