Brazilian born, Ibiza based artist Fell Reis has already made waves with his dynamic DJ performances and high energy productions, with support from industry heavyweights such as Sasha and Joris Voorn. To celebrate the release of a fresh EP on his own imprint HUE, we invited him along for a guest mix and Q&A.
T R A C K L I S T //
- Perpetuum Mobile – Sonnenschein (Original Mix)
- Fell Reis – Deeper Acid (Original Mix)
- Lehar & Kadosh – Again and Again
- James Flower – The Bind / Gone Re-Imagined
- DJ Koze – Candidasa
- Yotam Avni – No Democracy for You
- Bryan Kessler – Forgot To Forget (Original Mix)
- Vince Watson – Carnival (Original Mix)
- Ittara – Peace Of Mind
- James Holden – A Break In The Clouds (Main Mix)
- Gadi Mitrani – Luminous (Original Mix)
- Fell Reis – ID ID
I N T E R V I E W //
Welcome to CC invites 🙂 Firstly, what is your background & how did you get into music?
Hello, many thanks for having me here. So basically I’ve been on music since I was a child. I had my first band when I was 13 and then moved to another side of art, visual arts and since 2010 I’ve been doing both – making music, playing and working as a creative director.
How would you describe your sound – do you think your music falls into a particular genre?
Hmm. If I would say as a genre that it would be progressive. But not house, I think progressive music is much more. I like to go from techno to acid, to minimal, house, anything that is repetitive and has a story behind it i’ll probably play it.
You have just released ‘Deeper Acid’ on your own label HUE. What was the inspiration behind this project?
As we touched on the first question. HUE is the final combination of my two sides. I’ve been working as a visual artist for the last 20 years and these 2 sides of myself always had a clash between where should I focus more. So I decided to focus on both with the same goal in mind. HUE will be more than a music label. It will be an artistic hub where visual artists will be able to collaborate with musicians and create cool stuff together.
What is your production process – is each project or track different? And what are your key pieces of studio kit?
My studio process is random as F…! Haha. I’m constantly jumping on things on the computer. I would like to have a proper routine but my life is too hectic and I have to make music whenever I get a slot. Each track is very different from the other and I quite like that otherwise I feel bored.
Things that I can’t live without in my studio are the Eventide Harmonizer and Prophet Rev2, they are both constantly in my music.
Any advice for people who are thinking of setting up their own label?
Do it right and get ready for stress! Hahaha, it is a lot of small things to do that at the beginning if you’re not organized will be trickier in the future.
1st, which is the easiest, is more focused on self-releasing and having music out there. On this one, you can take a digital distributor such as DIto or Distrokid and in a few clicks your music is out.
2nd Which is the hardest, is opening a proper company that will release other artists and a business plan behind it. You have to look for a proper distributor and publisher that can look carefully at your catalogue and also help you out. I work with Republic of Music and they’re great and know what they’re doing.
After you need to look for good PR to help you out with the promotion. In the beginning, nobody knows about your label so you need to find professionals that can make your music heard. In this case, I use Howarth PR which do it great! After this you also need to make sure you get the content of the DJs playing your music. Which will help a lot with the sales of the record.
Try to make a spreadsheet with a calendar of activities before the release and after. Follow the system because it is a business and consistency is key.
But more important than anything! ONLY RELEASE WHAT YOU REALLY LOVE!
The music industry is like going to a football stadium with each fan singing a different song. Will be very hard to stand out if you don’t do it with your love and a good strategy behind it.
What is the coolest, wildest or worst gig you have ever played and why?
I could write a book here about it but I think recently one that was wildest was Shelter in Phuket, Patong Beach itself is the wildest city I’ve been to. There’s no other place like that. And the crowd follows the ethos of the city. They go mental! Really good vibes and expect the unexpected there.
What do you have coming up in terms of releases and shows?
The season is finally finishing and for the Closings, I’m playing alongside Ben Klock at Chinois on October 16th, then after that straight for ADE and in November I go back to Brasil for my South America tour during the summer there.
Release wise I have a bunch of new stuff coming out on HUE and the next release will be in October so stay tuned.
Buy Deeper Acid HERE.
F O L L O W //
https://soundcloud.com/fellreis
https://www.instagram.com/fellreis
https://www.facebook.com/fellreis
https://www.instagram.com/hue.rec
