→ ARTIST INTERVIEW
→ FFEEL
We caught up with the Chicago based DAWless psychedelic mastermind ffeel after the release of his latest full-length album, Liquid Silver, to discuss everything from their origin story to their beloved pet rabbits. The sound of ffeel is instantly recognizable - synths absolutely bursting from their mold, fluid yet chaotic drum programming, and the delicious counterpoint of rave riffs with experimental techno.
Liquid Silver opens with ffeels signature chaotic energy, eventually reaching a sense of equilibrium towards the end of the project, resulting in a slightly more chilled outcome. The journey of the album is truly fascinating, essentially playing out as a wild night on the dancefloor in the midst of an intense psychedelic experience - the DJ guiding the listener through bangers, twisting through experimentation, and finally settling into deeper atmospheres and energies.
*w*
How did you come up with the moniker "ffeel"?
During a high-dose LSD trip, I started to hear a disembodied voice speaking an unknown language. The two words I remember seeing spelled out for me were "corluscopping" and "ffeel." I somehow remembered to write them down.
The experience weighed heavily on me as I tried to research the two words. I eventually drew a basic shitty logo that day, and have saved the name for the right project. It was almost 15 years ago!
*w*
How long have you been making music; what has your journey looked like?
At 10, my grandmother discovered a 1 string, plywood Kay acoustic
guitar in her attic. I played that one string for 3 years until she
surprised me with one of those early Squier Strat packs with a 10w combo
amp. I ended up going to school for guitar
performance, but it nearly killed my love of music. The mechanical and
robotic nature of the lessons caused me to drop out my 2nd year.
After
that, I played with lots of local Chicago bands and band members.
Mostly metalcore/post-hardcore music. But, every band had a fatal flaw
which caused its early demise. Mostly lazy people who wanted to live the
dream but to do none of the work.
Then, in
2015 I moved to Arizona. Refocused on my career, then would come home,
practice guitar every day to the point I could play almost anything. But
became a burnt-out workaholic chasing corporate success. In
2018, a high speed car crash made my pinky and ring finger on my left
hand almost unmovable, even after surgery. I was severely injured to the
point I spent more than 2 years rehabbing. I became very depressed. I was crushed. I could no longer play everything I invented or wanted to cover on guitar. I tried learning lefty, but I failed.
In
2022, I moved back home to Chicago, and began trialing different synths
and groove boxes. I fell in love with the idea of a simple device
anyone could use, but my many years of practicing music theory really
expanded their powers. Now, here I am making
crazy unique techno instead of metalcore, and having the musical time of
my life creating positive music for people to feel good to.
*w*
You utilize an unique DAWless approach, can you tell us what led you to this method?
Before shopping for an alternate instrument, I owned Logic for Mac, and I tried building tunes with it. I
tried, and tried, and tried, and not only did I create the most
amateurish shit ever, I hated the workflow. I always tell people that it
felt like being back at my job working spreadsheets.
I
purchased an Arturia Drumbrute in early 2023 and fell in love with
playing synths live, especially truly playing them vs automating a
performance. I became obsessed with reaching a level of skill where I
could perform my songs live. DAWless chose me
because I have always used an instrument to make my own music and I knew
I wanted to sound completely far and away from what the mainstream
artists of electronica were releasing. Sound design is my addiction.
*w*
Your songs tend to be both dense and hectic - what, if anything, inspires this direction?
When it comes to electronica, I'm HEAVILY influenced by Aphex Twin,
Geskia!, Teen Daze, and Shlohmo. I combine many concepts they brought
to the table with the polyrhythms and tension of the metalcore and
post-hardcore bands I listen to when I am not making music. Also, I naturally write towards the psychedelic side of things, since my musical mentor made tape collages.
I
reflect on the chaos and/or beauty he was able to create with such
harsh noise, and try to always bring the same tension, density, and
thematic, storytelling sounds to high levels in every song without
resorting to EDM DJ drops or bass cannons with laser beams and big
screens with robots firing their laser eyes. DAWless is all about the live music and performance aspects of musicianship. The freedom to play almost anywhere was a huge factor in choosing DAWless hardware over anything else.
*w*
Aside from your music career, what are some other things that bring you joy?
I absolutely love life despite my disabilities and the challenges
they create for my daily life, especially with making music. Waking up
every day excites me.
I share my house with 2
bunnies, Lytle and Murdock. Lytle is 11 years old and Murdock is a GIANT
rabbit who was abandoned 3x at the same shelter. It makes me so happy
to see them living their best lives instead of what could have happened
to them. They are absolutely spoiled rotten. I listen to A TON of music. Of all sorts, really. It is a compulsion I can't control.
Sometimes
my friends ask "Is all you do sit around and listen to new music?" and
my answer is yes, I use the inspiration of the daytime listens to
maximize my 11p-4a creative time and infuse my music with new ideas +
concepts. I listen to new music daily and that makes me very happy.
Besides
those things, seeing my family happy, seeing my friends successful,
saving animals, protesting for peace and acceptance on the behalf of
those who don't have the rights to speak for themselves, and watching
endless sound design videos on YouTube so I can keep surprising everyone
with the sounds I make!
*w*
What can listeners expect from you in the future?
I was lucky, and very grateful, to get a lot of feedback from
professional musicians and producers that my sound and songs were good,
but under/lack of production made the music shitty. I didn't produce
anything because I wanted live shows to sound identical to my
recordings.
I loved my experiments, and I hope
if you're reading this that you'll indulge in them. They're very cool.
But I have developed so much I've decided to cater to an audience
instead of screaming into the void. They'll
always feel special to me, because this music was always positive and
reflected uplifting emotions I hadn't been able to express when I was
writing angry or angsty core-adjacent metal music.
I
was taught how to mix, engineer, and produce. It's been a game changer
acquiring the right tools for the job and cramming years worth of
knowledge into my brain all in a 6 month span of time. Electronic musicians looking for a producer or mix/master engineer hit me up @ffeelband on Instagram or Threads, or email me at stayrabby@gmail.com
On
4/20, I will be releasing 17 studio quality remasters spanning the
course of the last year and a half of ffeel releases. Simply titled
"ffeel Remasters", I've recreated the most listened to ffeel songs, some
unreleased tracks, and some special requests in this new high quality
production style. The songs are the same, but now they sound out loud
the way they sounded in my head to begin with. I'm really hoping this record will be a big "ohhhhh!" moment for listeners and doubters alike. Each
track is majorly improved/worth releasing as an "I told you so" to the
haters who chose to tell me I sucked and wanted to see me fall.
Finally,
on Thursday, 7/17, I will finally drop "acid eater." This album will
blow your mind. I have been working on it for nearly a year. I
have completely remixed and remastered the record 5 times in order to
deliver the hardest hitting techno possible, while retaining my
signature sound and complex percussion, but aiming the effort at an
audience I'm part of instead of any more screaming into the void with
musical experiments until I'm hoarse.
That
won't be the final ffeel release this year. I'm looking for
collaborators, especially rappers and singers who would like to make
something real different and special together.
Follow
me @ffeelband on Instagram and Threads to keep current with musical
happenings, to see cool Pokémon cards, and pics of the bunnies.
Keep your eyes on this project, I promise you will not predict how it develops, in the best of ways.
Liquid Silver is out now both physically and digitally! Be sure to pick up a CD while supplies last. You can complete your ffeel collection with his 2024 EP “Echoes” as well, use code ffeelgood at checkout to get 50% off Echoes!