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Coming out of the highly esteemed Bristol music scene, FELIX, real name Felix Ross, released his debut single ‘Leaving’ last week on all streaming platforms. A heart wrenching disco rock song about the sense of relief you feel when you escape a toxic relationship, ‘Leaving’ is the leading single from his upcoming EP of the same name, that is ready to be your heartbreak anthem of the summer. This week at MoveOnUp we sat down with FELIX to figure out what the man behind the discoball is all about and what we can expect from a summer of upcoming music releases.
Hailing from Oxford and raised near the centre of the Oxford indie scene the Jericho Tavern on Walton Street, Felix grew up falling asleep to the likes of Radiohead from the famous pub down the road. This upbringing alongside his brothers, one of which, Oscar, is now his lead guitarist, meant that music has been focal to Felix’s life from an early age. To the point that music is like his therapy and even if no one was listening, he would still be making music anyways.
"music is my therapy"
This is a pointer to the authenticity of the music as he is well and truly entrenched in the Bristol music scene. Whilst studying songwriting at BIMM, a school that has produced acts such as Fontaines D.C, Mimi Webb and George Ezra; Felix has been touring around every venue in Bristol from the Louisiana to Thekla to the Trinity Centre two weeks ago. Similar to the music scene in Cardiff with venues such as Clwb Ifor Bach, The Moon and Tramshed; the Bristol music scene is a perfect spot for young acts to hone their craft and that’s exactly what Felix has been doing for a while now.
Although the glitz and glamour of the London lights are tempting, for now Felix said how the Bristol scene was perfect for him with how forgiving and supportive it is with the right blend of eyes on you and lack of pressure to make it ‘big’ immediately. One example of this comes from the Golden Lion’s open mic night, one which Felix has frequented, and has allowed his band to practice their sets before their big shows supporting the likes of Slaves (now branded Softplay) and Felina in the Louisiana.
Right now, Felix’s day to day life may not be full of the glitz and glam that his future may hold, planning to work post uni as a barista by day, and being an aspiring (Felix made me add the aspiring part but I don't think it'll be necessary for long!) rockstar by night. However, what particularly enticed me about his music was how in depth it was for a debut single. The production and the lyricism in the single ‘Leaving’ is the standard of someone who already has albums underneath their belt rather than just releasing for the first time, which you can hear a live performance of below:
Furthermore, another aspect of Felix’s music that blew me away was the sheer amount of influences you can see shape his music and his style as a whole. Similar to the ever expanding but hyper focused sponge that is junodream’s style (as covered here), from the cover of ‘Leaving’ itself you can already see influences from cinema icons such as Stanley Kubrick & Wes Anderson but also from artists such as René Magritte, who was the inspiration behind the red curtains on the cover. (as you can see above, credit: Artsy.net)
However, the thing that is most impressive is how well these are all put together to create a product ahead of its time career wise.
This summer you can catch Felix here, there and everywhere in the Bristol area; most notably at the 2000 trees festival at the start of July, performing alongside acts such as Soft Play, American Football and Kid Kapichi. Furthermore, expect more music to come your way with tracks such as Hallelujah, Blind and Lost all on the upcoming EP set to be released in July. If you were wondering what to expect from them then I asked Felix the all important question to describe his music in just three words and here they were:
Impactful, emotive, relatable (hopefully)
'Leaving' is available on all platforms now and keep up to date by following Felix on Instagram here.
Finally, if any artists/bands wish to get in touch then feel free to send us a message on instagram @moveonupmusic or send us an email moveonupmuzic@gmail.com
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