Chapter 1: Felix from Ross From Friends
Felix Clary Weatherhall is a young British from Colchester whose musical career has evolved from tiny gigs in the countryside of Great Britain to Coachella’s stage and is considered as one of the most prominent artist of the Lo-Fi subculture.
Felix’ musical journey is deeply root within his infancy as the past musical experiences of his parents have guided his first leaps. Back in the ’90s when Jamie Clary with a bunch of friends was throwing all across Europe parties invested with a sound system he has designed. During this trip he met Jo Weatherhall who offered him to film the trip in exchange for a seat in the bus they were using to tour. Few years later Felix was born and has been raised between the beats curated by his father from 80’s high energy, italo-disco and acid as well as in the background his parents’ story.
Pale Blue Dot’s clip from Family Story Felix’ first LP is made of rushes from Jo Weatherhall retracing this 90’s journey.
Before becoming Ross From Friends Felix have had several experiences with music on solo projects such as Munching Beans, a UK Dubstep thing, or a group where he used to play the guitar as Broken Heads during High School. He chose Ross From Friends because in his studio’s TV there was a Friends DVD stuck inside playing endlessly. Recently Mixmag has done a prank to Felix saying that David Schwimmer from Friends was suing him because the young artist was using his character name.
Chapter 2: Family and Friendships
Felix’ adventure under the alias Ross From Friends has really begun gaining momentum once he has released his first manifesto’s track on Distant Hawaï called Talk To Me You’ll Understand from his You’ll Understand EP back in 2016. The story behind this EP tells us how Felix has shaped his signature under Ross From Friends. Talk To Me You’ll Understand has taken 6 months to be written. Felix’ goal was to be able to wrap into the melody all these new emotions coming from his exciting adventure as his project was gaining momentum. These 6 months have been a lesson for him on how to manage a project by putting deadlines for instance when the track does not need anymore back and forth modifications. This EP has been a hit with more than 7M views on YouTube.
Felix’s music is really tied to what matters most to him - family and friendships. This can be felt in the way he shares his music which is oftenly related to his family as his first EP Family Portrait or Epiphany and the way he manages his relationship with labels. Shortly after this first blow on the Lo-Fi scene he has been contacted by Flying Lotus one of his favorite producer who offers him to publish a LP on his label Brainfeeder, this text has been the starting point of Family Portrait. This album has given to Felix the opportunity to express different facets of his repertoire by taking influences from his father and from himself adding Japanese boogie hues as well as UK House shades to the whole picture.
Since his relationship with Brainfeeder family has been deepened with next releases such as his last EP Epiphany in honour to his sister who has always been an inspiring alter-ego for him.
On the other side, while touring Ross From Friends becomes a live band with Felix’ two best friends - Jed Hampson and John Dunk. The trio has been heading to gigs since the beginning of Ross From Friends from parties to stages like Glastonbury or Coachella with John on sax and keys and Jed on the electric guitar.
Chapter 3: Lo-Fi or not Lo-Fi, who cares ?
Ross From Friends over the last 4 years has clearly evolved from a random option for your YouTube algorithm suggestion to an incontournable when it comes to House, Lo-Fi suggestions.
Lo-Fi subculture is directly fed from a digital trend which has been developed by the YouTube community which promotes the nostalgia of the 90’s. Who has never heard about these tracks with a dirty 4/4 beats displaying VHS rushes of skateboarders or raves ?
Everything has started from a Facebook group called Strictly Lo-Fi where artists with curious aliases (DJ Boring, Ross From Friends, Mall Grab) and tracks references (Winona’s speech) were reposting YouTube videos or tracks sounding rough or old-school in the process of mastering.
Felix always liked this DIY aspect of Lo-Fi tracks where you rip ups a track downloaded from YouTube which is often a rip of a vinyl which is made of samples rippen from a disco tracks. You get it, that is why the sound quality of certain aspects of the track does not sound perfect, which gives a kind of soul to the track. A story of rips. This production process pays tributes to the rough-around-the-edges studio techniques that were used within his core influences: hip hop and experimental electronica.