THE MUSICIANS behind Ballarat’s unofficial anthem, Flying Home, have hit town to play their first headlining gig in the city.
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Committee for Ballarat released a promotional video in November last year with intentions to to “instill a sense of pride in this city”, using the emotive Pierce Brothers track to do so.
Since then, the roots song has been played at a number of large-scale Ballarat events, from the City of Ballarat’s Summer Sundays to the Cycling Australia Road National Championships.
Pat Pierce said he and twin brother Jack were in London when they got the call from Ballarat.
“We were actually stoked at the outcome. It’s our first foray into having a song on the telly,” he said.
Despite the fact they were on an epic UK tour, travelling some 600km between gigs each night, they dashed into a London recording studio, sans producer, to make a few changes to the track.
WATCH THE VIDEO HERE
While the song speaks of “haven't been here for a while” and “flying on my own way home”, Pat Pierce revealed he wrote the song following a telephone break-up with his girlfriend in Germany.
“It was a long distance break-up essentially. That part of me that was left over there (in Berlin) was coming back home,” he said.
“It’s bittersweet. It was sad, but it was also about coming home and finding a way and figuring things out. After that conversation, I finally came home to new beginnings.”
The song, up-tempo despite its melancholy origins, is typical of the Pierce Brothers approach.
“A lot of our songs are like that, while a lot of songs that are slow are the happy ones.”
Pierce said they were keen to play to Ballarat and didn’t “know what to expect”.
“It’s always good coming to a new town. Even if we go to a gig with 20 people, we’re always still blown away.”
The multi-instrumental duo started off with busking on the streets of Melbourne but have since moved to playing packed festivals in front of thousands at festivals across the UK, Europe, Canada and the USA.
They stopped off briefly at their parent’s house before hitting Ballarat, where they will perform Thursday night at Karova Lounge. Doors open 8.30pm. Tickets $25 via www.karovalounge.com