In England it’s early. Lead singer for crash-hot dream pop, indie rock outfit Gengahr, Felix Bushe is still rubbing the sleep out of his eyes when he answers the phone.
Gengahr will release their third full-length album, 'Sanctuary', later this month. “Obviously starting with a brand-new record, it’s a big step for us, something we haven’t done before,” Felix says.“It feels good. I dunno, it feels bigger than anything we’ve done previously.”
Though Gengahr’s previous two studio albums: 2015’s ‘A Dream Outside’ and 2018’s ‘Where Wilderness Grows’, were received with such critical acclaim it comes as something of a surprise to hear Felix doesn’t feel a sense of pressure for ‘Sanctuary’ to reach the same level of success.
“I don’t think you can get too caught up in that stuff,” he says, “like, although the [first two] albums were both received very well, we’re not a massive band or anything. We’re still very much focused on trying to keep making music and keep trying to build on what we started.
“We’re very far from the upper echelons of successful pop, we’re still very much a tight, small group of people working together on music. It’s not as if we’re part of a big thing, it’s just five guys, a bunch of mates making music together.”
For Felix, his personal life has been tumultuous at best this last year or so.
After the sudden death of his mother, Felix’s girlfriend, an Australian native, was forced to leave England when her visa expired. Channelling that anguish into more than 60 new songs while writing ‘Sanctuary’, the singer agrees the album is a reflection of some incredibly personal journeys.
“Whether songs are happy or sad, they connect with people. That kind of feeling is huge to feel as an artist.” - Felix Bushe (Gengahr)
“A lot of it started, the songs, my mum had just passed away,” he says. “Then my now-wife, she lost her visa and had to leave the country so we were apart about a year and half before sorting that out – that was after the album was finished.
“There was a lot going on. I do think separation is kind of a theme throughout the record, the struggle to getting back to where you want to be. A massive core within the album revolves around those same topics.”
But hey, a happy ending! Felix chuckles at the belated congratulations offered. “She’s Australian as well, it was worth mentioning apparently,” he says, pride and the first sense of elation creeping into his tone.
Hard going, obviously, but it’s worked out that that creative channelling has resulted in a new work.
And Jack Steadman (frontman of Bombay Bicycle Club) was brought in for production duties, his talents creating a new perspective with Gengahr realising different elements in textures and song structures that, Felix agrees, the band may not have been able to achieve without Jack’s perspective.
“Jack brings in a kind of layer that we’re either not cut out for or haven’t guessed,” Felix says.
“What we’ve always felt in the band is that everyone brings something to the table – Jack is a very talented person. He’s got more experience, made more records than we have, and I think it’s nice, well, for us at this point; writing albums takes a lot of time, so it’s quite refreshing to have someone else's views in the room, to mediate the ideas and kind of help keep things focused and quick.
“I don’t want to say compromise, that sounds like a negative thing, but there’s a lot of debate [in other bands] about what parts go, trying to keep everyone happy. I think having Jack speed the process up, it made it fluid and a lot thicker than the previous two records we’ve made; a much faster process.”
With ‘Sanctuary’ being such a cohesive, yet tumultuous album, one of both creative and personal intricacies, it’s interesting to wonder what that might mean for the band, and for Felix’s balance between being in a more positive place in life and performing these songs to hundreds and thousands of people, and having to relive some of those more difficult journeys.
“I think that’s one of the most beautiful things about music – the songs after they’re written, they’re no longer just yours, they become everyone’s.
“It’s always one of the most special moments when we’re performing to see people in the crowd singing along. They’ll have their own stories and own experiences with those songs. You can enjoy that to be honest, I don’t think it necessarily has to be all about you. When I come on stage, I just feel whatever the crowd is feeling.”
Where other musicians might learn new things from each new rendition, each new performance of their music, Felix’s unique consideration of what his audience thinks and feels about the music means he’s always learning from them.
“It is the thing to, for most, hear someone’s piano rendition of a song off the last record – for me, I get chills seeing someone else getting a song to sound different. I think whether songs are happy or sad, they connect with people. That kind of feeling is huge to feel as an artist.”
