Electronic powerhouse Feels finish their year on a massive high with the release of their debut, full-length album, 'Water Level'.
We could tell you all about the record: how it came together, who collaborated on what tracks, all that sort of stuff. But why listen to us when you can hear it straight from Feels themselves?Here, Elise Reitze-Swensen and Rosie Taylor interview one another to give us an insight into the making of 'Water Level'. Take it away, ladies.
Rosie, what track from the album was the most exciting to make?
The track I found the most exciting to make was definitely 'Piha'. We set up this makeshift studio at this beautiful Airbnb on the cliffs of Piha, New Zealand, overlooking the beach and mountains.
The surroundings set this vibe and there was a creative/ exciting energy when we began to write the track. We spent the day on this track firing ideas back and forth, and the writing seemed to happen really naturally. It’s probably one of my favourite feelings as a producer, as the energy in the room is always so high.
Elise, what were some of the adventures you had when collecting the water samples used in the album?
Before we started working on the album, I had been collecting samples of water from all around Western Australia. Sampling on road trips gave my travel even more purpose and a fun project to consistently participate in.
Mid 2018, my husband and I travelled from Perth to Broome stopping at many coastal towns along the way. I was able to collect samples from Geraldton, Kalbarri, Shark Bay, Coral Bay, Exmouth, Broome and Karijini.
My favourite sampling adventure was climbing down the Kermit’s Pool gorge trail in Karijini National Park. Some of the gorges in the park are more than 100m down and the natural reverb you get sampling the pools of water is like no other. I was able to collect some water and rock samples, and swim in the natural pool, before making the exhausting climb back up.
Rosie, tell everyone about our time at the Red Bull Studios in New Zealand earlier this year. What were the highlights?
We were lucky enough to write and record four tracks from the album at the Red Bull Studios in Auckland, in January this year. The studio was beautiful and stocked to the brim with Red Bull drinks, which we certainly took advantage of.
It was really exciting to get out of our home studio in Perth and step in to a high quality, commercial space. On our first day, we met artist MISSY for a writing session; we were hoping to write and record one song together. We had never met her before and definitely were not prepared for how brilliant she was.
MISSY was an absolute powerhouse and I felt so lucky to work with her. We made two songs that both ended up on the album. There is always an anxious feeling working with someone for the first time on something so personal like songwriting. It was such a great feeling to have clicked and worked so well together; it really reminds you to always be open to making music with new people and getting out of your comfort zone.
Elise, how has writing an album changed you as a producer?
Writing music for a body of work has a different feel and approach to writing one single at a time. Writing and producing an album has changed me as a producer in two ways. The first being, I feel I have developed more patience; meaning that I let ideas unfold and have many different versions.
The album outlook for me was to take my time and only say a track was finished when it was as good as it could be. The second way the album has changed me as a producer is my increase in confidence. Working on music for over a year and focussing on honing my mixing skills has made me a more confident and versatile producer.
I learnt so much mixing multiple instrumental tracks – I feel like I now have confidence in my mixes and that they are the true representation of the Feels sound.
Rosie, was there a track from the album that came from an unexpected place or experience?
Our tracks are inspired by all kinds of things; usually it’s something rather unexciting or theoretical, like a rhythmic-process experiment or a piano improvisation that leads to a solid bassline.
The track that stands out on the album as coming from the most unexpected place is definitely 'Fine China'. We had just landed in Brisbane to play a festival show and had received and email telling us the show was cancelled due to extreme weather. We ended up in the studio with LALKA (also on the fest line-up).
We started the melody of this track in her apartment overlooking the streets of Fortitude valley and we kept hearing this odd siren noise in the background. We were all so intensely working on the music we didn’t notice that the melodies we had written were all influenced by this 'siren' sound.
It turns out this mystery sound was actually a massive 3D printer running behind us, giving off this little tune as it worked. Being inspired accidentally by a 3D printer is pretty great; maybe it should get production credits?
Elise, on a personal level what did you get out of making 'Water Level' (more than just the music of course!)?
The personal experiences we had during the creation of this work are unforgettable.
Rosie and I have written alternate lyrics to almost every album track with a feature artist. One of our favourites being ‘Super Powers’ – when Zain was recording, we changed the lyrics of the chorus: 'if you want a pig to fight, then you’ve got to train it right, put it in the pen tonight, you’ll be alright'.
Making this album, I got to travel to New Zealand, America, Brisbane and of course around Western Australia for sampling. I have made friends with new collaborators and grown closer with friends I was able to work with on the album.
The music itself is the product of an incredible year spent travelling with friends and then putting that energy into studio sessions.
