“Flatland Forever: A Texas Tech Story” premiered Tuesday at the Student Union Building Allen Theatre. The film followed Flatland Cavalry through pivotal moments in 2024 while shedding light on how the band came about in the first place.
The film will become available on Thursday through Texas Tech’s YouTube page.
Tech went all out in regards to the event surrounding the film, and the same can be said for the film itself. The interviews with the band and supporting members on their journey — a mix of home film and professional film alongside emotional beats — made for an informative and entertaining look into the West Texas band.
The band members credited much of their success to the music industry in Lubbock. The film highlights these members and the businesses they run.
One such business was Amusement Park Studios and its owner, Scott Farris. The film was able to mix in the scenery of the studio, the musical talent of its owner and the person instrumental in the band’s success.
Along with that, the band talked about how Lubbock has a lighthouse effect on those wishing to pursue music through the many bars and venues that host upcoming artists, such as the Blue Light.
Cleto Cordero, the band’s vocalist, credited the bar’s songwriters night with helping him improve his lyrics.
Other members in the documentary talked about the impact Lubbock, Tech and the people around them had on the success of the band. There were a number of times where audience members could relate to the band, in some cases, even feel as if they’re on that same track for success.
They shared stories about attending games, how they’ve struggled through some classes, and one story about how one of them was unable to pay an $11 tab at one of the bars on Broadway. Moments like these helped to ground these figures and allowed audiences to see themselves in these larger than life icons.
These impactful moments make up just a small amount of screen time in the film. This leads to one flaw in the movie in that since it’s focused on the band as a whole, not much time is left to focus on the members themselves. Director Thomas Boyd mentioned such at the meet and greet.
“There’s so much of, I would say, of their individual, personal lives, that we got that ultimately didn’t make the cut,” Boyd said. “We wanted to try to keep this as band-focused as we could.”
This directing decision was the right one — there’s so much that other directors wish they can include in their works that get left out due to a mix of time constraints and the flow of the film as a whole.
Overall, the film did an amazing job at not only highlighting the members of the band, but the support system around them that helped to create the music we hear today.
Paired alongside these interviews that were a mix of comedy and emotional beats with the band members helped to ground these icons into relatable figures. This film is one that Tech students, alumni and general audiences can experience the impact Lubbock and Tech has made on the music industry through the success of Flatland Cavalry.