In a music landscape crowded with algorithm-chasing singles, Gypsy Birds take a defiantly different path. The guitar duo of Nick Ugrin and Yoko Ono (no, not that Yoko) debut their First Flight EP as four tracks steeped in late-’60s psychedelic rock—but sharpened for modern battles. Their mission is disarmingly simple: to push back against the chaos of nuclear threats, AI anxiety, and global unrest armed with nothing more than guitars, conviction, and melody.
From the opening chords, First Flight feels like it’s stepped out of another era. The duo’s influences are unmistakable—Hendrix’s fire, Santana’s sensuality, Dylan’s poetic grit—but the music never leans on nostalgia alone. Instead, these are protest songs disguised as love anthems, where bright, swirling guitars carry messages meant to outlast news cycles. Listening feels less like time travel and more like discovering a hidden 1968 session that somehow knew the headlines of 2024.
What sets Gypsy Birds apart is their refusal to hide behind irony. In an industry where detachment is the default, they deliver radical sincerity. The EP was recorded entirely by the two of them—“Just us! Nick and Yoko,” they laugh—capturing the intimacy of midnight jam sessions where half-formed riffs turn into anthems. Every note carries the warmth of music made without a safety net, the kind you can hear in the pauses between breaths.
Tracks like the titular First Flight and the bluesy slow-burn “Power of Love” push and pull between dreamy melodies and urgent calls to action. You can feel the activist heartbeat beneath the psych-rock haze: this is music meant to stir you, not just wash over you. The pair’s harmonies echo with unvarnished conviction, their solos spiraling into the kind of catharsis that can only come from total belief in the message.
With tours in the US and Japan now in discussion, Gypsy Birds are preparing to take their sound—and their cause—global. They’re not chasing stadium spectacle for its own sake; they want rooms full of strangers to leave humming refrains about peace and possibility. In their eyes, a song can still be a rally, and a riff can still be a revolution.
Play it loud, and let it linger. If Gypsy Birds have their way, First Flight won’t just soundtrack the moment—it will help change its direction.