We delighted to have Icelandic dj and producer Felix Leifur on decks for our Prima Lux series this week! He has been causing quite the stir around fellow lovers of drunken drums and soulful melodies over the last twelve months or so. In addition to supplying a fresh tape, the Dirt Crew label resident has just dropped a 6-tracker on the imprint and he had the generosity to sit down with us and chat about the record, his love for the wax, his hometown and lots more! Enjoy 🙂
WWD: Thanks for taking the time to chat with us Felix! How are you doing today?
Thanks, I’m great today, the days around releases are always great! how are you?
WWD: You just delivered for Dirt Crew a stellar 6-tracker, can you tell us about this release?
It’s just another EP really, except I allowed myself to experiment a little more on this one, and focus more on details. It took a while to make it but it was a nice challenge to put together six tracks instead of four. It’s still in a similar style to my first one, but a little more experimental.
WWD: The release is also available on wax. In your eyes, what value does a vinyl release bring to your music?
It just makes it more valuable in a way, and opens up a whole other market also, tons and tons of people go to record stores just to dig after records and it’s nice to be able to contribute to that culture. It’s also more worth the while you know, and the music feels more established if it’s on a physical format. My favorite part of making music is when I go to the post office to pick up my own record that I’ve made after months of working on it, gaddem beautiful moment.
WWD: Are you an avid collector of vinyl? Can you share with us some of your most precious records?
I am now, but I haven’t been collecting for a long time though. I got all my dads old records which gave me a head start, but I’ve only been collecting myself for a year or two. Can’t choose any records more than other, I love them all.
WWD: In this modern world of rapid music consumption, why is it important to see people embracing this format?
It’s a weird world we live in now, tons and tons of music is released every day, it’s impossible to follow up with what’s going on. I’m finding it hard to just follow the artists I really like because it’s still too much music! It’s nice to buy vinyl because of this. Although vinyl releases are getting more and more popular today, you can still kind of trust vinyl releases more because there is more effort put into it, so the music itself must be more focused.
And it’s also just much more respectful to the artists and the business in general. Music is precious, it deserves to be released as a physical product that you can discover and buy and take home with you and experience.
WWD: Releasing with Dirt Crew is a prestigious milestone. They continue to welcome you back to the imprint. What can you tell us about your relationship with the label?
It’s been great from the beginning, they really know what they are doing and it’s nice to work with such professional people. I got to know them through Tom (Hidden Spheres) , he sent them few tracks of mine and the rest is history really. My music seems to fit their label perfectly so I love it so far. They’ve also taught me a lot and I’m quite lucky to have them to guide me so early on.
WWD: How has being from Reykjavik affected your sound?
I’m not sure. But it sure helped with creativity and helped staying ambitious because there are so few people doing it here, which gives me a head start.
WWD: Reykjavik isn’t the first city you’d think about when you discuss music. How’s the underground music scene there?
The underground scene has always been quite big here. But house music-wise, it’s mainly Lagaffe Tales, Borg, Intr0beats and and ILO,(there are probably many more I’m not remembering at the moment!) and a lot of great dj’s. Thule records is of course a brilliant techno label that I’m sure you know of already. But we do have tons of great music here anyhow. It’s actually weird how many people do music here compared to capital. I guess it has to do with how small it is and activities get so infectious here. Like everybody is vegan now in Iceland, that just happened in a week or so.
WWD: You seem to avoid publishing pictures on the internet. What is your view on this?
Haha! Well I don’t know. I just didn’t feel like posting pictures of myself, I feel silly doing that, just don’t see why anybody needs that. Maybe it’s just something I need to work on. But I’m very handsome though….
WWD: Before we close out, can you give us an insight into the mix you’ve provided for us today?
It’s just some tunes I love, some new ones, forthcoming ones, Icelandic ones and just some amazing ones!
Felix Leifur – In General EP is out now on Dirt Crew Recordings. Purchase here.
Follow: Felix Leifur