Los Angeles trio Fly Right drop their tenth single, “The Line”, through Bad Self Records — and it comes with their first official music video, shot by Brian G. Addie and Anton Floquet.
The band’s sound lands somewhere around the pop-punk and alt-rock border, sitting comfortably next to acts like Frnd Crcl or Goalkeeper, while brushing up against the emotional punch of Paramore and the dynamics of Red Jumpsuit Apparatus.
Frontman Matty McNamara remembers exactly how “The Line” came together: “It was a cold December night, I was alone in a dimly lit apartment in Cleveland, Ohio. I remember being absolutely star struck about this girl I had just started dating. And at the same time, I felt totally outside of my comfort zone and that I was putting myself in a vulnerable position. We were in a unique and deeply personal circumstance. That night, I wrote ‘The Line.’ The lyrics and riffs poured out of me.” He adds, “By the way, that same girl is now my fiancée.”
The song carries that uneasy mix of excitement and self-doubt — lines like “Put a smile on for the day / Getting crushed I’ll pretend it’s okay” hit with a kind of honesty that doesn’t try to be poetic. Later, he admits defeat and devotion in the same breath: “I will do anything you want me to do / Put myself on the line you can run through.”
McNamara’s been around punk for a while. Before Fly Right, he spent three years touring with another band before quitting in 2019. “Coming out of that I wrote and produced about 30 songs, and before I knew it, I wanted to start a new band. I wanted to start a punk band that’s about doing the right thing and making the right choice. And even if you make a mistake along the way, which we all do, you can always course correct. That’s what Fly Right is about.”
Previously Matty has opened for The Used, Four Year Strong, Sum 41, and Nonpoint, and even hit the Warped 25th anniversary show. Most recently, Fly Right played with Hidden In Plain View at The Echoplex. “Getting to watch and learn from them every day for a period of time are some of my greatest memories,” McNamara says. “Those shows and tours shaped who I am today.”
Even after fourteen years in LA, he still feels like an outsider in its alt scene. “LA’s underground can be exciting and also tricky to navigate. There’s always a show if you want to explore — I’ve been to The Silverlake Lounge, the Monty, and a DIY venue called Non Plus. Those are all staples. But when it comes to punk, I’ve always kind of felt like LA is too ‘cool’ for me. There’s an air of pretentiousness at almost every local show that I don’t care for. I gravitate toward what many folks would call ‘mainstream’ punk — those communities feel more accepting and friendlier.”
He still keeps tabs on what’s happening around town though. “Favorite local bands would be Zzzahara, Rearranged Face, Phantom Code, Sunburnt. Those are my friends’ bands and they’re all crushing it.” This summer he caught My Chemical Romance on their Black Parade tour — “I cried pretty much the entire set,” he says. “I absolutely love them.”
For now, Fly Right are staying busy. “We’re working on a slew of new singles and hopefully a longer format release. We all want to play shows too — just need to keep finding the right opportunities.”
“The Line” feels like a snapshot of that space between falling in love and losing control — the point where punk energy and real emotion start to blur.
