Music

Hunkering Down

Published on 11 December 2024 by felixandthecatsLeave a comment

With so much going on, both personally and musically on side projects, the Cats have been sadly neglected…

But no longer! We are back in the studio, aka the ManCave, aka my place, to revisit a number of songs. They are being re-tracked as they were never had more than a homespun demos, with programmed drums and bad bass by me.

Having learned a lot more about mixing also pushed towards that outcome.

The opportunity to review, and in some cases, rearrange the songs is very exciting. New ideas and approaches, key changes, and a desire to capture better performances rather than just get the thing down should make these new recordings much better than the old demos. That’s the hope anyway.

So below is a brief video of one of our sessions. Thanks to Chris and NeMo for their talent, energy and Sunday afternoon.

More to come and hopefully a release soon.

Reacquaintance

Published on 21 November 202421 November 2024 by felixandthecatsLeave a comment

I don’t know if it’s laziness or lack of practice, but I have not been doing due diligence to this blog.

Sorry!

Let’s try it again, shall we?

There have been side gigs, even doing sound, to keep me distracted, and some recording has been happening as well. Not like I’ve given up on music. In fact, I hope to have a few singles out shortly as soon as I can the guys into the ManCave to cut their tracks. I should have something to announce on most social media; Facebook, Instagram, Threads, BlueSky too now, but definitely not X. Those who know me get why.

Gigs are intermittent, a tribute to the challenge of performing all-original material, but thankfully, a tight network of mutually supportive musicians helps when possible. One such occasion is this Saturday, November 23 at the Black Swan Tavern on Danforth. The Cats have played there many times and it’s always a great venue. We’re opening for Sal Indigo aka Salabama aka Fishman with special guest Bruce Moore subbing on bass as NeMo is out of town with Reggadiction. I would not be surprised if others grace the stage as well. You’ll just have to come down to find out!

We’ll also be backing up so a full gig! Please note this is a late afternoon gig starting at 4, which could be great benefit for bar both hoppers AND early-to-bedders. Hope

What Now?

Published on 3 January 2024 by felixandthecatsLeave a comment

2023 has been a very strange year.

Plenty of highs and far too many lows on a personal level. Here’s hoping the latter are passed.

It was also quite a year for variety, as I expanded the opportunities to play with other performers and unquestionably grew and learned from that.

Perhaps it was a bit distracting though.

So 2024 is resolved (so far, ha!) to be a back-in-the-saddle year for Félix & the Cats. The last month or so have been dedicated to gear upgrades and rationalizations. The voice lessons with the awesome Jaclyn Serre are starting to pay off too. A bit more commitment to getting the word out (yes we have stickers – thanks to Simon Quayle) and hustling gigs are also on the radar, as is a recommitment to this blog.

Oh, and I grew a beard.

Limited Edition

Published on 25 August 202025 August 2020 by felixandthecatsLeave a comment

This is a teaser, which I hope will end up meeting expectations.

When I was teaching, I noticed that often the most creative ideas occurred when there were limits imposed. This is not anything innovative on my part; perhaps I should have read more professional literature. This article from Fast Company goes into the subject in greater detail.

Still, that experience stuck with me, so I recently decided to test myself by imposing clear parameters to the writing of the next song: a common root note for all the chords and constrained writing for the lyrics (inspired by It’s still in development so no previews yet, but so far, it’s producing interesting results.

Live music is making a comeback, and I’m very glad that is happening for a lot of reasons. I hope musicians and audiences alike will continue to be safe. It’s tempting after months of being cooped up to want to celebrate, and adding alcohol into the mix could make some people forget themselves and the sanitary habits that have kept the pandemic relatively contained. Perhaps more than ever, it’s important to be cautious.

Until next time, be well!

Autoneurotic Channelization

Published on 16 August 2020 by felixandthecatsLeave a comment

I don’t have very good pitch control when it comes to singing. That’s all on me as I should spend more time exercising it. I did pay for the lessons after all, and might still be attending had my coach not moved out of town—good for her too as she has started her own studio and is engaged as well.

To make up for the most flagrant warbles, I have gone over to the dark side and started using what my Digital Audio Workstation (DAW) calls Flex Pitch. When applied in moderation, pitch correction helps correct slight (ha!) variations from true pitch, but when applied more thickly, an exaggerated correction results in an effect made initially famous by Cher in her smash hit Believe, and heard ad nauseam in modern tunes ever since, the infamous auto-tune.

I’ve also had a hankering to haul out my underused Danelectro 12-string electric (shown at right) and write something old school riffy.

Why not put both together? Yeah, that’s the ticket!

Add to that the ever-present phenomenon of someone ignoring a conversation when “lost in a good phone”—or how some audience less-than-attentive audience members behave—and you have the foundation of this latest original. This version for now is limited by me on all instruments, except drums, which are programmed on Logic. I’m hoping to update once the boys in the band can apply their magic. Hope you like it.

Until next time, be safe and well!

More Goodness

Published on 9 August 20209 August 2020 by felixandthecats1 Comment

Just a short one this week, as I spent most of the day dealing with an appliance malfunction.

The Stir It Up Someday compilation is getting good reactions. Gary17 who puts out the Toronto Moon guide to live music included a nice writeup in today’s edition.

I’ve gone back and listened to the album again and continue to be impressed with the quality of this project, especially considering the challenges of working remotely in many cases.

And speaking of remote projects, here is one covering acoustically U2‘s With Or Without You. The bassist worked with me as a music teacher at a school for a year. She impressed everyone with her creativity and organization, and the kids loved her!

Until next time, be safe and be well!

Stir It Up Someday

Published on 3 August 2020 by felixandthecatsLeave a comment

At some point during the pandemic, the idea came about to compile a bunch of COVIDish songs by the Relish Sunday night open mike, well known in Toronto musical circles as Stir It Up Sunday, hosted by David Macmichael and Paul Brennan.

No photo description available. — Stir It Up Someday is available on Bandcamp
Producer – David Macmichael
Artwork and Production- Shorty Brybry
Mastering and Production – Ben Wood
Executive Director – Dan Boggs

Here is the story as told in the liner notes:

This album is dedicated in loving memory of Steven David Morrison.
Stirred. Not Shaken.
Their single mingled voice emphatically proclaimed “Please join us next week when we will do something similar…yet somehow…completely… different!”
Cohosts Macmichael and Brennan’s signature sign-off capped February’s final Stir It Up Sunday same as all five hundred and something antecedent Sundays. Then came COVID.
Beauty blooms from the gloomy darkening of East Toronto’s premiere long running weekly open stage. For ten years Stir It Up Sunday at Relish Bar and Grill is where some of the city’s most creative songwriters and musicians gather weekly to sing, play, dine and drink.
Listen as this eclectic collective of artists comes together to create the wonderful Stir It Up Someday. The show that will not be shaken.

The playlist is impressive! I am humbled to be in such amazing company: (the late) Steven David Morrison, Dan Boggs, Jace Traz, Julian Taylor Band, Super Not OK, Mauve Grove, Arch Rockefeller, Mudlust and the Short Walk, Timothy Sheldon, Felix and the Cats, brilliantfish, Paul Brennan, Tom Rich, Sandra Bouza, Die Geschichten von Bargrave Willianhurst, Sal Indigo, Tyler Ellis and Mark Thackway, Ben Wood, Mr Kyle, Michael Cuddy, Liniaro & JP, Dean McKinnon, GardenOf, David Macmichael, Fraz Milne, Chris Scian, Bryan van Dusen and Johnny Ness.

I want to thank everyone involved in this project. For me, it’s especially momentous as it’s my first real song release. Particularly special thanks go out to Dan Boggs and Sal Indigo for having the Cats, Neil, Chris and I, “bigify” your songs. I learned a lot, and still have long way to go to make my recordings sound really pro, but I’m trying! Finally, a huge thanks to Joanne Clayton of Relish for the crucible!

Be safe and be well!

Hidden Gems

Published on 28 July 2020 by felixandthecats1 Comment

I have in the past mentioned my occasional visits to Rivière-du-Loup, Québec, and the thriving music community there. The person who initially made this happen is Keven Lemieux, whom I have met almost every time I visited the town. What I haven’t talked enough sufficiently is that Keven is a remarkable and super versatile musician. Please take a moment to check out some samples here.

I particularly like this one done in hommage to Les Paul. Wow!

A few posts back, I posted a video of a local group remotely performing Under Pressure. Not to be outdone, Toronto’s own Tristan Avakian, a very sought-after guitarist—Ultimate Queen Celebration, Trans-Siberian Orchestra, Cirque du Soleil (Quidam), and many broadway shows, plus as a songwriter/performer under the name As Waters—knocks it out of the park with UQC’s version of the same. Just listen with your eyes closed for a minute…

That’s it for this week, be well!

Baritone Loan

Published on 22 July 202022 July 2020 by felixandthecatsLeave a comment

Huge thanks to Salabama for the loan of this!

Not everything with six strings is a standard guitar. One of the lesser-heard variations is the baritone guitar. Although the strings are tuned the same relative to each other, the overall pitch is a fourth lower, making the lowest string a B instead of an E. The neck is also longer.

Why would anyone want this?

Well it’s the tone in the baritone. There is a particularly unique resonance with this guitar that lends itself particularly well to single twangy notes, often heard in surf music and spaghetti westerns. Some of the best examples are Diane Eddy’s Peter Gunn and the B52s‘ Rock Lobster. Other examples can be found here.

I’m hoping to incorporate this guitar into at least one of my songs, but we’ll see how that goes. Thanks to Sal for the loan!

Be safe and be well!

Compromise – Slight Return

Published on 15 July 202015 July 2020 by felixandthecatsLeave a comment

Back in 2016, those alcyon days, I posted about a song written even earlier, and the only original done with a cover band at the time.

Although I have performed it a few times with the Cats, I never felt it lived up to its potential, and have tried to alter it to see if that would give it the spark I was looking for.

Still working on that, but just for fun, here is the iteration I posted in 2016, plus two others: one redone as a blues shuffle, and the other most recently mostly to accommodate a key change, a hook, and more interesting chord changes.