Felix M-B

Image: Lucy Varney
 

Packed into the only venue in town that’s more welcoming than yer mam’s front room were, in majority, a host of Felix’s friends and family. Nonetheless, they were devout fans, hell bent on hearing the newest tracks from Felix’s debut EP, Will I Sleep. Taking to the stage to rapturous with a new band whose age averaged around nineteen, Felix was unassuming and grateful for the turnout. Never before have I seen such a slick, professional performance from one so young and so ‘new’ to the scene. With crowd reactions varying from all-out moshing to the up-tempo beats of Ophelia, to utter silence as Felix commanded the room with his pained vocals on Shed A Year, emotions were running high as the set concluded with favourite track, Wasted One. I had a little chat with the man himself ahead of his first headline gig…

You’ve recorded your debut EP, you’re studying for your A-Levels, and you’re a student at the Television Workshop. How do you fit it all in?
I don’t. I tend to take it all as it comes but I don’t know what I’m doing most of the time. I recorded down in Suffolk with Lucy Ward’s (folk singer from Derby) drummer, Steve McGloughlin, who has his own studio. She co-produced it with Steve, so I spent two weekends down there and did it all day every day.

What’s the first thing to suffer if you’re too busy?
School work. And my social life. I spend all my time either gigging, on my way to a gig or recording.

If you had to choose between acting and singing, what would win?
That’s so cruel! At the moment, I feel like I have to rely on less people to do my music. I don’t have to rely on people thinking I’m any good, I just have to be incredibly self-indulgent and do whatever I want. I’m really enjoying it. I still love acting and I love being at Workshop. I wouldn’t be doing what I’m doing if I wasn’t at Workshop. All the people I’ve met - the connections are so good. All my support comes from Workshop, pretty much everyone coming tonight will be from there.

This is your first headline gig…
Yeah, I’ve never been supported before. It’s weird, it feels like a completion of the work I’ve been doing over the last few months. It feels good to know people are coming specifically to watch the gig that I’m playing rather than play to a crowd that have never heard me before.

The songs on the EP are familiar, but they’ve gone through quite a makeover…
We changed some of the structuring to make them more concise and fit together better as a whole. Obviously the instrumentation has changed a lot because normally it’s just me and my guitar. We tried to keep a through-line of that so that it was a realistic expectation of what it would be like live, but I wanted to go a bit bigger. I think the last track shows off exactly what we could do if I had a full band with me all the time.

You can see any band in the world tomorrow, dead or alive. Who would it be?
Blake Mills, he doesn’t gig in the UK a lot but I’m a huge fan. Laura Marling as well, I really wanna see her new stuff but I’ve not had the chance yet.

Will I Sleep EP out now

Describe your sound in five words.
I’m not very good at counting… New–folk, alternative, original, singer songwriter.

Wasted One is written about the poor souls who commit suicide on the San Francisco Bridge. What made you write about such a thing?
I was watching a documentary called The Bridge, and it’s an amazing documentary but really hard to watch at the same time. They don’t hold back with the footage they’ve got. The whole idea of the song is that such a horrific thing can happen in such a beautiful place. Without highlighting what happened, those people wouldn’t be remembered by so many people. It’s an awful situation for those people to be in. It was probably the first song I wrote that was about someone or something other than myself.

Do you find it easier to write about yourself or other people?
I wouldn’t say I find either way easier, writing about myself is just the thing I write about the most. I feel like I wanna write stuff that applies to me, but also relates to other people.

What’s your favourite track on the EP?
My favourite track to play live is Older Now. I wrote the song as an apology, it’s really personal. It feels like a release every time I play it. It’s got quite a big build up. It’s quite unusual and it’s different to the others, so I like that.

You playing at any festivals this year?
I’m playing Dot to Dot. I’m so excited, last year I was going to buy a ticket and I had no idea I would be able to play it. I don’t have much else planned this summer. I’m gonna finish school, do my exams and enjoy being free. Then I’ll play more festivals next year.

Favourite local musician?
Josh has helped me out so much, and his new EP sounds brilliant. He’s been great to know. I like Jamie Moon as well. And George Holroyd who I met for the first time last night.

Where and how can we get our hands on the EP?
It should be on iTunes today if everything works out - I don’t know if I can trust the website! I’ve got hard copies as well that people can grab at any of my gigs, or message me on my Facebook or Soundcloud and I’ll get one over to you.

Anything else you wanna say?
Just that I’m really thankful. To Ben and Tommy at Farmyard, they’ve really helped me out. All the people at Workshop - especially them. And to Lucy and Steve who have given me so many opportunities and really allowed me to do the stuff I want.

Felix will be supporting Hymnn at Nottingham Contemporary on Saturday 11  April. His EP, Will I Sleep is available on iTunes now

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