in

Feemarx on The One Source and Brazil’s expansive scene

We catch up with Brazilian artist and Not Another label boss Feemarx as he celebrates the release of his debut album.

1. Hello Fernando, thanks so much for joining us today, how are you?

It’s a pleasure being here for this interview, thanks for the time you’re giving me, all good!

2. Tell us a bit about yourself, where are you living now and how long have you been producing and Djing?

Well, I’m living in Recife, northeast Brazil, I’ve been djing since 2006 and producing since 2015.

3. How did you get into electronic music and where did some of your earliest inspirations come from?

Around 2003 we used to have more festivals in northeast Brazil, where I could see John Digweed, Paul Van Dyk, and some locals…they are probably my earliest inspirations

4. How is the scene in Brazil at the moment? Tell us about the nightlife there and do you get a chance to DJ in your home country very often?

Brazil is so big, I can say that in the south and southeast we have more scene, Im living kinda far from the scene at the moment. I can say that the nightlife in northeast Brazil is having some grows but we need more media, more parties and probably a club to make this happen in a short time.

From Maceio city to Fortaleza around northeast I get a chance to Dj very often, and here in Recife around 4 times a month. I got a chance to play at D-Edge (Sao Paulo) in July and I’m coming back to play there on November 26th.

5. Your debut album has just been released on Keep Thinking. Tell us about it, how much time was spent on it and what was the vision you had in the beginning? It’s very much a club album, was that always the direction?

About THE ONE SOURCE album I can say that I spent a year leading with those sounds. In the beginning I was learning a lot, and many guys around me was producing looking at some labels to make a release happen and for me never was like this, I was just sitting there putting some ideas out without thinking that this was a progressive house tunes. At the time I was showing this to my closed friends, but they never realize that this could be something for the club, and I and Steve from Keep Thinking was listening to this kinda old, dirty, music and we made a selection that turns into this very first album of my career. My direction was to deliver thru me another idea of what could be the sound of the Juno 106, my one and only source.

6. Is there any talk of doing remixes from the album and if so who would you like to see remix your work?

Well, now that we have an album It would be a pleasure for me to see how amazing guys like Henry Saiz, Cid Inc., Danny Oliveira, Quivver, Khen, could make thru theirs ideas on those tracks…Me and Steve didn’t get the chance to go further on this at the moment, but I must say that I already thought about the idea of making THE ONE SOURCE remixes of each artists at the ones they like the most.

7. What was it about Keep Thinking that made it an attractive outlet for such a big project?

Was May of this year when Steve first hear from me after NOT ANOTHER Label released Balance. We were speaking about making an EP for him and Kris at Keep Thinking. I was kinda ashamed to make him listen to my old material. At that time I never realise I had so many tracks that was just one of the very first time I was really finishing tracks. As I was in a very beginning process of learning how to produce when those tracks were done, I decided to take those tracks and re-build them, make some little changes that somehow wasn’t making this sound different, but better. I asked Danny Oliveira to give me a hand on the masters and after all I came with the idea that this must have an intro and a vocal song: -Wake with Rina Hadson on vocals and Intro was the last 2 we putted in to make a 10 tracks album.

8. How important do you think artist albums are in this age of rapidly consumed music?

I must say that I’m a person that used to burn the albums I love with the many times I could play them from the beginning till the end on loop. When I was young my dad gave me 90125 – YES album, and till today is one of my progressive rock inspirations that I could translate it into electronic music. Mr. Paul Van Dyk had a chance to deliver OUT THERE AND BACK that is a mixed album that blew my mind away with so many hits and world music. I’m just a new producer that with the help of Steve could put this out and if just a single person make with this album of what I did with artists and albums that I love, my mission is accomplished. And if this one person realize that thru this album she or he can make some difference someway, we are winners on releasing this. Rapidly consumed music is for rapidly consumer.

9. Tell us a bit about your Not Another imprint, how did that begin, who is involved and what’s the focus stylistically?

Not Another came from the idea of five friends, now we are four, Be Morais, Rodrigo Ilino, George Gomes (GRG) and myself make this team. It begins when we were thinking about make some new and good artists arise. It didn’t want to make the same idea of what we were used to see on the electronic scene, so we decided to make not just another label, that’s how we got its name. The support that was gave to us at the beginning was so true as the artists that released their EP’s with us. Now we are preparing like a second chapter with a new album cover artist, and we are heading back to make a release monthly.

10. What advice would have for artists hoping to get signed to the label?

Do what originally came from you. Don’t try to make a sound that sounds like someone or some label. Sometimes is for the best you don’t listen to anything before start producing. Try your best to produce in the morning when nothing has reached you during the day. Make your space or your studio as comfortable and quiet as you can. Try to finish your ideas from the beginning till the end, as you go for it you will ask less and do more. Never stop trying cause there’s no reward without an effort.

11. What were the main challenges for you when learning to produce music? What tips would you offer to new producers just starting out?

I think the distance to the big centers of classes into electronic music was the hardest challenge. I never tried an online class but I think the achievement of learning how to produce is different from one to other. I’m blessed I have such great producers as friends as Be Morais and Danny Oliveira, and they helped me telling what was pretty normal, or pretty excessive. So if you are starting producing now, after you do something try to show to somebody that knows more them you. Try to get a nice pair of speakers to really understand of what you are doing. Try to be in a nice room, or studio that makes the speakers do their jobs properly. If you don’t have speakers, try a nice headphone. Tutorials are good, but make you own ways after you learn something. Don’t stop if your smartphone is full of notifications, try to be away as you develop your way on producing. The greatest ideas come when you are fully focus so don’t expect that on the first minute of sitting there is gonna be the greatest, take your time, breath and make it happen.

12. What’s coming next? What can we expect to hear from you later this year?

This year we are gonna be hearing a EPs releasing in Argentina at Rezongar Music, at this EP there’s the remix of a great friend Andy Arias that Mr. Hernan Cattaneo recorded on his 330 episode of Resistance podcast that there was more them 10 million downloads of it.

At Dear Deer Black, it might be coming out by the end of this year as well an EP.

And probably a De-Noize EP on NY, releasing some new Brooklyn warehouse stuff.

13. Let’s end with your current top five, what are you loving at the moment?

BOg – Scorpi (Original Mix)
HearThug – Apathy (Original mix)
Kamilo Sanclemente – The white City (Original mix)
Quivver – Wait for you (Smash TV Remix)
Red Axes – Eyes of the Cat (original Mix)

‘The One Source’ is out now on Keep Thinking, you can purchase the release: here

Report

What do you think?

junior sanchez madtech

#cupremiere | Junior Sanchez – Beat Like Dis (Undr The Radr)

Ziger

Ziger: What’s In Your Box