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Felix Leiter is an international DJ and house music producer who has developed his DJ craft throughout a 14 year residency at Digital, Newcastle. Felix has supported the world’s best DJs at the influential club week in week out, and has Felix released music on renowned labels such as Strictly Rhythm, Solotoko, Ministry Of Sound and many more.
A tireless work ethic, peerless local reputation and no small amount of talent has led to DJ bookings around the globe, from The Arches to Pacha, Ministry of Sound to BCM in countries including Japan, Germany, Thailand, Dubai and many more.
With Felix’s productions being championed on BBC Radio 1 and by taste-makers including Mark Knight, Roger Sanchez and Idris Elba, his latest Stand Up For Love featuring the vocal talents of Rion S lands on Ki Creighton’s Under No Illusion imprint this September: a slick, sultry, deeply evocative house cut ripe for dark basements and proper ‘lose yourself’ dancefloor moments.
Hi Felix, welcome to VENTS! How have you been?
Hi VENTS! I’ve been fantastic, thanks for asking… It’s been great playing records to people dancing again!
Can you talk to us more about your latest single “Stand Up For Love”?
Of course! I wrote a piano track around 2 years ago, it needed a killer vocal so I started sending it to some writers I knew and respected… Rion S sent me back a vocal that I instantly loved! It was however, totally wrong for the piano idea… But I could hear a different backing track beneath it! We got to work and came up with the record you have now heard. It’s got some deep house vibes but with a slamming sub! I’d recently interviewed NightFunk for my podcast, he’s such a great guy and super talented producer! So it’s great that he accepted my offer to remix the track.
Did any event in particular inspire you to write this song?
It’s very much a groove inspired by the sunset sets I heard on the Balearic coast line in years gone by…
Any plans to release any sort of video for the track?
We have a great lyric video on my YouTube channel… Hopefully the track gains some traction and we can look to produce a video in the future… It’s funny how sometime tracks take a while to gain momentum.
How was the recording and writing process?
Rion wrote the vocal to a different track, so when I decided to start a new project with the vocal, I worked with Mark at Studio Eleven to get the exact sound I was after. We had to go back to Rion to get some new bit of vocals to suit the new idea, thankfully he really liked the new direction so was happy to get the track cooking with us.
What role does the UK play in your music?
The main role! I’ve been a resident DJ at Digital, Newcastle for 14 years… Most of my tour shows have been around the UK & I’m incredibly interested in the history of UK club culture. I started off running a club night with my best mate, Matt in Carlisle when we were 18. We booked acts like Yousef, Danny Rampling and Sandy Rivera.
With your music getting so much momentum – does that put any pressure on you as you work on new material or rather the opposite?
Momentum is the hardest thing to get going in the music industry! I’ve found that I have more tracks lined up for release now than at any other point in my career… It’s easier to get labels to listen to your music as you gain momentum and easier, in my opinion, to keep the tracks going as you’ve found that ‘sound’ that fits your vision.
Does the new single mean we can expect a new material – how’s that coming along?
My release schedule is the strongest it’s ever been! I’ve got releases lined up on Solotoko, Sola, Wlydcard & Let There Be House… Plus a killer remix of a club anthem coming on a really strong package dropping on Altra Moda too!
Any tentative release date or title in mind?
I have a release every month running deep into 2022… Keep those eyes peeled and ears open! Go and follow me on Insta, Soundcloud and Spotify to keep updated.
http://soundcloud.com/Djfelixleiter
https://instagram.com/djfelixleiter
What else is happening next in Felix Leiter’s world?
I’ve been busy launching a new YouTube channel called, Show Me The Sample, which tracks down the samples used in & the stories behind some of our favourite dance floor hits! From Eric Prydz to Robin S, Armand Van Helden to Daft Punk and many, many more! Check it out – https://bit.ly/ShowMeSamples
