Felice Brothers co-founder James Felice and Brett Newski discuss getting rid of stuff to boost freedom, odd jobs, deepening relationships, weird tour stories, extroversion, muskie fishing, and why it's uncomfortable to pay compliments.
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SNIPPET:
Brett: I’ve been following your band for a few years, and I’m curious—as technology has become so advanced, and as home recording has become so hi-fi, it’s become easy for anyone to make really polished, perfect sounding recordings.
What got you guys onto carrying the torch for that low-fi vintage sound, making these records that sound throwback while also sounding modern at the same time? Did you buy a bunch of analogue recording gear? What was the spark?
James: No, there’s no analogue recording gear. I think one of the things that sets us apart is that we’re not gearheads at all. Not even a little bit. We have the bare minimum of what we need to make music. And that’s it.
So in a way, the low-fi can be seen as a lack of things. I don’t own any physical things. I have an Apollo, one of those universal audio things, and a computer, and a few mics. And that’s how we made our last record.
Searcher (Jeremy Backofen) who has done a lot of our albums, he’s a real engineer, so he has a love for analogue tape. And we’ve recorded a couple records on tape, and I have respect for that stuff. But for our last record, we just went into a room and just recorded it. Specifically I recorded it, and I’m not a professional at all. So I think that’s where the low-fi comes from. Maybe a lack of skill?
Brett: Wow that’s actually really interesting. Because low-fi, recording in that way, can be such a gamble. It can go the other way, where you get a really crusty, battle of the bands-sounding grunge recording. Though I think, your brother, Ian, is the singer, right?
James: Yeah.
Brett: I think his voice just fits with that kind of low-fi aesthetic. He sounds classic. He sounds like he teleported in from the 1910s, like he could have been drinking beers with Abe Lincoln, but he’s here now playing rock music, and that’s good for all of us.
James: I think if you put his vocals in a pop production, it would sound really wrong. So I think the music has to be built around his voice, and his aesthetic, really, our aesthetic. Yeah, it is low-fi, and grungy in a way. But he doesn’t care how things sound at all, so long as it sounds like he thinks it should.
Brett: That’s beautiful. “Less is more” is just a good motto to live by in general, even outside of music in general.
