Felix Da Housecat

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Felix Da Housecat

Last week in Miami we had the great opportunity to chat with Felix Da Housecat. This Chicago house legend has done it all, and has the tales to prove it. As an early innovator of the genre, Felix is one of the few producers who’s tracks hold through the times. Truly an innovator his tunes are the perfect blend of classic vibes and new age dance floor groove.

After years on the road, Felix has been flying under the radar for awhile now. Booking by name alone for years, he has recently stepped back out of the studio with his Sinner Winner EP. Just in time for America’s coming of age in dance music, Felix’s new tunes are right where we want to be. Take some lessons from him on humility and classic dance music production. Though there have been a few bumps in the road, Felix is one of the most respected guys out there.

Over lunch poolside Miami, we heard about what he thinks of the electronic industry and its influx, what motivated him to jump headfirst back into the spotlight, and how everything has changed in the blink of an eye. Take a look.

So Back is action, everyone is stoked about your new tunes. How does it feel to be back behind the decks and on top again?

That a tough question haha. The tough ones are always the good ones… You know it weird man, when Silverscreen came out it feels like yesterday. That was 10 years ago and people still play it, people still play it to this day. There ares till remixes to this day that are keeping it fresh. I don’t know if people still get it or not. Do you get it?

Yea, the Body High crew played it earlier at this party and it rocked.

Oh dope. Music is so unpredictable. Even one of the freshest labels today can relate to that track from years back. One thing is you have to take risks, that’s one thing about me. If people diss my tracks.. so what, I have the balls to do it, I have no though process. I just do it.

True artist. You see the American dance scence. You have lived it for years. What do you think about these kids going crazy? It’s almost rediculous the levels these parties have gotten to.

I love the fact after 25 years America finally embraces it and gets it. You got the underground, you got the commercial, you got the house, the techno, the EDM which is that bridge. It’s great that dance has been embraced. The difference between America and Europe, is that in Europe it’s more so a culture and a lifestyle. It’s blown up so fast that fans don’t have time to figure out the culture and just dive in. It’s like jump out a plane with no parachute right now. Is this ‘chute going to open or will you just land on your face? Lets see what happens. Right now it’s cool though, when everything gets so big it has a backlash. For electronic music to be embraced it’s cool. With commercial brands over saturating the industry it’s interesting. You see what it is?

Yea of course, and it’s really great that a lot of the old and new artists are coming together at events and in the studio. Everyone is learning from each other.

It’s great having a perfect group of producers right in the middle. There are a lot of new kids that really don’t get it, but both sides (older and younger producers) are definitely growing through each other. I’ve been off the grid for awhile, so there are a lot of people I don’t even know. My tour manager Devin keeps me in the loop. He was tipping me off on Baauer over a year ago. But it’s all electronic, its all beautiful. It’s only gonna grow and get crazier. How it goes, we don’t know. The interesting thing about America is once something gets hot the critics embrace it. After they embrace it, they shit on it and it goes back underground. So it will be really interesting to see where things go in the next few years, but I don’t see it going away… What should I get for lunch? Cuban sandwich, turkey panini, or a salad?

Cuban for sure. We are in Miami, it’s the go to.

Yea but sometime you gotta roll a bit health.

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So the new release… what sparked it, what did you put into it? What got the new tracks going?

I think my brother, my 14 year old daughter, and my supporting wife. My wife really goes with the flow and is always behind me. People used to ask why I brought my wife along, saying it’s like bringing sand to the beach. She makes that sand look bad though. She had a lot to do with me coming back. She is from England and really gets it. She told me we needed to go back to the UK and that’s where it really clicked for me. She even did some vocals for me on the new tunes. When I got to England with her I really got my confidence back. I was losing my confidence after hearing a lot of the commercial tracks. I’m not saying that as a diss, but just saying I don’t make that kind of ‘pop house’ tunes. I was getting really influenced by a lot that stuff. Between that and drinking I was really losing my mind. When I got to England I was around the type of music that I started out with. I was able to go in the studio and take all the music I’ve made from the last 4 years and start over. Most of the stuff on the new release is 6 to 12 months old. I rolled with Sinner Winner just because I was road testing it and people were going crazy on it. I didn’t think people would get it, but once I got to Avalon, LA people went off and I knew it had to go out.

So many people cite influences from you. How does it feel to have kids out there really built on your tunes?

It’s funny because they call me a legend and an OG, but I don’t feel old. I take it as a compliment. It’s strange because I’m not really good with compliments. I don’t really see what I’m doing now as a comeback or that I’ve been gone. It’s weird because the 10 years seems like yesterday. I really got to thank my management and new team. They really saw that I got kind of comfortable. Now I’m back into it.

There is so much competition out there now.

Yea, I was sitting there listening to some of the latest tracks thinking what? People are going crazy for this? Come on. I was thinking, I’m gonna take this shit back to the old school, but I’m going to put this shit in high definition.

It’s the mix between the new and the old. The so-called ‘House Revival’

House is back hardcore. Especially it’s like Ibiza is seven years ahead of us it was hitting ages ago. But no it’s a different form of house. Everything is 120 to 125. Booty shaking baby.

 

Now that yove have heard from the man himself, go grab the new Sinner Winner EP and the Green Velvet Remix

 

 

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