Tracking Golden Features Sharp Trajectory

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Tracking Golden Features Sharp Trajectory

Tom Stell aka Golden Features has been making serious waves after dropping his mystery EP earlier in the year where a lot of the attention, to Stell’s advantage, was fixed on discovering the identity of the producer.

For a short time Australia, and the World’s dance scene ran it’s own Burial like guessing-game to uncover the artist behind this infectious left of centre, almost throwback to the late 00’s sound. Where the mystery had its hype-fuelling advantages was the young producer always had his heart set on a clear musical statement with a definitive sound and image both on stage and off – the hype was just a bonus.

Taking to the stage this year’s Listen Out Festival alongside Flume, Chet Faker, Zhu and a lot more, it’s humbling to see a producer move quickly in a short period of time!

Taking a quick break from his induced studio lockdown Golden Features sheds some light on the music, the mask and moving forward.

SR – Hey Tom, How’re you doing?

GF –  Hey man, how are you? 

SR – Starting really open, what’s the life of Tom Stell been like the past few weeks?

GF – Really, really busy! I’ve been locked in my studio like until really early in the morning till late at night kind of exhausting myself trying to finish stuff, put together an E.P. and do remixes and shit it’s crazy! it’s good though, I’m doing what I love.

SR – Absolutely, on remixes and a new E.P. is there anything that you can tease at all that’s coming up?

GF – It’s hard man because I’ve only just finished my first remix for someone it took me a while to go forward, it had to be just right. I’ve just finished it and sent it off, it’s a guy that I really really admire as well. So I’m waiting for their ok and hoping. I can’t really say what it is until they approve it.

SR – Aye, that’s all good man. So we’ve got a super, top secret area 51 remix coming…

GF – (laughs) hopefully, if they like it. Otherwise I’ve wasted a week in the studio

SR – Well, talking about lockdown and particularly how busy everything is at the moment. You’ve got a couple of massive dates coming up soon that’ll see you making your Listen out and Splendour in The Grass Debuts.

In the relatively short time since your first run of Golden Features sets do you feel the project really starting to hit its stride, especially on the performance side of things as you’re on the road? Can punters expect anything special for your festival slots coming up?  

GF – Yeah man, it’s a trip to be able to play these shows. The first half of the year when the E.P. dropped we started only doing selective gigs purely because I just wanted to build up a good, y’know bank of music and edits and really unique things to bring to the show because it is just a traditional DJ set – just me pressing play on CDJs. I wanted it to be more than me just pressing play on other people’s tunes and having a bunch of edits and stuff ready to go. So we purposely haven’t done a lot of shows early in the year for that.

It hasn’t really sunk in how everything’s been going and, with all these shows coming up at the moment the Listen Out tour, Splendour in the Grass which, is just a head-fuck (laughs) it’s kind of starting to sink in, where everything’s going, it’s good man. As far a something special for the shows? A bunch of my own edits I’ve been trying to kind of revive club songs that I loved from 2008, 2007 and well a bunch of new music that kind of falls in that house but a little bit harder than some of the other stuff that’s going around, it’ll be interesting.

SR – In other interviews you’ve already touched on, quite extensively on the anonymity side of this project from your end, the man and the myth etc. but kind of moving forward how do you feel the Golden Features persona has evolved since revealing yourself?

GF – I hate the word organic, but everything’s been really organic in the way it’s happened. I’m fucking cringing at saying that. Basically man there wasn’t supposed to be an anonymity thing it kind of just fell in that way where you just roll with the punches and take them as they come. Y’know man it like I say haven’t been playing a lot of shows I’ve just been making music the progression of the whole project has been music and then kind of finding my stride in the past two months.

Since I’ve moved into the studio man out of home been kind of working around the clock, I can work until say, I’m inclined to and not when I have to so it’s, yeah man the project is progressing musically. Y’know there’s plan down the line to improve the mask and stuff just generally because I can’t really see out of it at the moment. Doesn’t make it too easy to play, things are progressing on the physical front but also behind the scenes and the kind of creative output.

SR – From the onset you’ve stated pretty plain that you’ve always had a keen interest in the arts and always saw this project as a driving combination of both music, visual and performance art.

Your Mask, your fresh video for the single ‘Tell Me ‘ featuring Nicole Millar is a very clear visual statement, how did the vibe for that video come together? And what plans, if there are any to take that further as you move forward.

GF – This whole thing man for me,  you nailed it, it has to be 360: It’s not just music, it’s not just artwork it’s everything all together because I want to bring more than just a DJ standing up there type of thing I want a comprehensive project y’know? Something where you can kind of appreciate all the different sides of it.  There are guys that I admire that just nailed it: Die Antwoord are fucking amazing because there’s this kind of world that you listen to that music and you get dragged into that fucking world and you’re just there with them. It’s weird and it’s not exactly you but you still kind of feel like you fit in. It’s always been cool for me to be able to immerse yourself in something that’s not yours y’know?

So for me that was the most important part so when we approached the video for Tell Me the initial ideas were something like I was DJ’ing in a warehouse and there were a bunch of kids dancing and there were lazers and it was like typical DJ video y’know? And it just didn’t really suiting me. The whole idea of the video was not even a particular story line but rather just cuts of dark kind of scenes influenced by the music itself: really weird obscure things instead of the traditional like, girls shaking arse kind in the dance video type of thing.

We have a very clear aesthetic in mind when we’re approaching anything visual…

SR – Finally for props, two quick ones: what are your favorite new track/s to play at the moment, like you’ve been talking about making your signature edits your remixes and really playing into that 07/08 sound and what producer/s should readers stop what they’re doing right now and go check em out?

 GF – Man, favorite track to play at the moment….ooh Fuck that’s a hard one.

SR – New or old, like throwback or fresh you can even split it up 

GF – Man, give me a sec, you know why?  I’ve been through so much music. I’m flicking through my computer right now to see some of the recent shit that’s come through (laughs) oh shit you know what’s amazing? The CRNKN (crankin, crunkin?) his remix of Banks – Bedroom wall. It is just, incredible.

As far as an artist to drop everything and listen: Odesza. It’s more chilled than what I do but man Odesza are the fucking best. I played just after them in Perth at Circo. Sun models! And their remix of Faded is something else.

SR – Thankyou so much for your time dude…. really good luck for these new shows, the material and everything

GF – Thank you man, really appreciate it. catch you around sometime I’m sure!

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