The punk rock music scene remains alive and well here in Richmond Virginia. Multiple local bands can be caught playing gigs at venues such as The Camel or The Canal Club. Though it may be hard to balance school, work, and playing in a band, many college students find a way to make it work. Students by day and rockers by night include Sam Tucker, Charlie Mahoney, Alex Triantafilledes, and Toney Trefsgar who, all together, form the band Flight Club which originated in Richmond Virginia. Two out of the four attend Virginia Commonwealth University while the youngest and newest member, Alex Triantafilledes, attends community college up in Maryland where he resides. Toney and Sam have been friends since high school then Sam met Charlie at VCU. Once Flight Club’s bass player quit for personal reasons, they were on the lookout for another one. Sam suggested that Charlie’s cousin, Alex, join the band and the rest is history. The following interview was conducted with the members to discuss the band’s past, present, and future.

Who came up with the band and how did it start?

Sam: Me and Toney were hiking one day and I was just like dude you should play the drums and he was like yeah that’d be cool and that next Christmas he got a drum set and we started playing and just jamming… we actually wrote some music and then it kinda just went from there.

How was your first show to play at Warped Tour?

Sam: That was unreal honestly.

Charlie: It was bananas. I grew up taking Alex with me to Warped, so to go from watching bands that we adore to playing on stage together was pretty gnarly.

Sam: Alex how did you feel about playing Warped Tour?

Alex: *eats pasta* It was pretty cool. I liked it.

How did it feel to put out your first EP on iTunes?

Sam: Weird. It was awesome, but it was very … it was surreal kinda.

Charlie: The day we released the record we had a show at the National, a fucking kick ass venue, and I remember walking out onto that stage and thinking holy shit we’re playing here tonight, and Sam pulled out his phone and [ the ep ] was on spotify … and we were just like alright this is it! It’s online!

What is it like having Four Year Strong helping you out with your new album?

Charlie: That was just batshit bananas!

Toney: Well it wasn’t [ all of ] Four Year Strong. It was just Alan.

Charlie: To see him walk through the studio doors, we were just like alright this is happening. We’re here.

Sam: It was a sick experience.

When can we expect the record to come out?

Charlie: Real, real, hard to say right now. We have things that we want to do with it that will take a little time and effort before we’re ready. We wanna give it the release that we think it deserves you know? I say worst case…

Toney: December

Charlie: Nah it’s gonna be later than that.

Sam: It’ll definitely be out by Spring. We want to plan out this release very effectively.

Charlie: Shits gonna be hype that’s all you gotta know.

Sam: [ 2017 ] would’ve been such an easier answer to that.

You guys are going on tour next week, so what was the most stressful part about organizing this tour?

Charlie: People don’t like to reply very fast [ laughs ] it’s just like hey what if we did this? And we’re like alright now we just sit and wait. I would say communication is not a good thing.

Sam: We had to rush order shirts.

Alex: The most stressful part for me was the whole van situation. I had to rotate the tires, change the oil, fill up the gas.

Sam: Since we’re doing an actual long distance run and taking a substantial amount of equipment and merch for multiple days. It’s the first time we’ve used an actual van. It’s kinda weird how with Alex only being in the band for a couple of months being like here’s my van. It’s really cool.

What’s your favorite part about touring?

Charlie: The best/worst part is after a show I’m just like damn I wanna do that again. Just playing a show, going to bed, waking up in another place, and doing another show. That’s just incredible to me.

Sam: My favorite thing is definitely just playing. I enjoy the idea of only having to rock out with my friends for a living as crazy as that sounds in the 21st century. I figured why not us?

Last thing, I want each of you to describe each member of the band in one word.

Charlie: Oh god. Alright.

Toney: Is this going to turn into a roast? I gotta prepare if I’m gonna do that.

Charlie: Alright Alex in one word - cancer cause if you had to meet someone who was cancerous to your life it’s him. Fuck you [ laughs ]. Toney - stoned.

Toney: Fair enough.

Charlie: Sam - postman. Done.

Sam: I call Alex slightly taller Charlie with a beard. I know it’s more than one word, but I thought it was necessary. You can make it a compound just add a lot of dashes. Charlie - caffeine. Toney is uhhh… I don’t even know.

Charlie: [ Toneys ] his better half.

Sam: It’s like we’re married.

Alex: For Sam, I have to think about Warped tour cause I think goatee Sam is the best Sam. For Charlie… stupid, short, annoying. There’s a lot of ways to describe Charlie. Now I have to think of a new one for Toney.

Charlie: There isn’t one word to describe Toney cause he is a rollercoaster ride of emotions. Sometimes He’s the most calm human being, couldn’t give a fuck. Other times he’s worse than me in my opinion.

Any last words to people who are going to read this?

Charlie: Come see us at one of our shows. If they’re Richmonders, come see us on November 5th with our boys Kept At Bay. Go on Alex’s page and tell him he looks like my butt.

Sam: Check out the music video if you haven’t. We already love you if you have.

Flight Club recently released a music video for their song The T-Truffle Shuffle, so be sure to check out the YouTube video above! To keep yourself up to date on what Flight Club will be doing in the future, be sure to follow their Facebook and Twitter accounts. These guys have put a lot of work into what they do which only proves how passionate they are about making a living in the music industry. I give them a 10/10 and definitely recommend you check out a show if they’re coming to a city near you!