Felix Marc - September 2008

Written by Sebastian Huhn Tuesday, 09 September 2008 10:08

Interview with:

Felix Marc

Many of you (and me too) know Felix from his work with DIORAMA and FROZEN PLASMA, but now he’s released his first solo album called ‘Pathways’ and here he now talks about the album and how he came to music.

Reflections of Darkness (RoD): Maybe some questions before we come to the album. For what reason did you start making music in the first place?
Felix Marc (FM): Let’s call it group pressure. After one year abroad, I returned to Reutlingen and my fellows from back then had started to collectively produce own Techno tracks on the PC. I slipped in there so to say and came to like putting own musical ideas into music.

RoD: Musically you orient yourself audibly on the sound of the 80s. Why did that special period have such an impact on you?
FM: During the period I spent much time in front of the radio, recording bits and pieces, because the TV hadn’t such supremacy in Germany yet. You only had the first three channels and one music show, which was “Formel Eins”, and that’s it. What I mean is that I dealt with the music more intensively than I would probably do today.

RoD: On your old website you had some other songs that didn’t make it on ‘Pathways’. I found ‘Die Welt ist schön’ to be a great song. Will those songs find their way on a release someday?
FM: Somewhere in the abysms of my HDD there are some more crude diamonds that I’ll maybe dig up for a follow-up release. ‘Die Welt ist schön’ surely is one of the closer candidates for a possible release.

RoD: The melancholic character of your songs is obvious and if one listens to the lyrics very close they’ll notice that you frequently digesting very personal and not always positive events in them. Would you say that such events in general, are a driving force for creativity?
FM: I can agree with that statement. Many creative moments are created through emotionally painful moments. But not exclusively. I’ve also drawn inspiration for composing out of positive moments. It also depends on your daily shape, whether you pull of something or not.

RoD: Would you give us a short statement for each song on ‘Pathways’?
FM: A short question with big meaning. I’ll try

Give Back The Moments
The song is about the digestion of a failed relationship, sometimes this means that the partner who was left behind sees the time spent together as ‘Mal-investment’; as wasted time

A thorn inside my head
The thorn inside the head is supposed to be a symbol for the fanatic idea to do something out of love, while you’re actually causing great destruction. The song also deliberately displays some parallels to the current discussion about terrorism. In the end, everything that happens here is doing utmost mischief to those, left behind for the reason of a fulfilled afterlife.

Follow The Demons
A song about the time I met my wife and how I see our mutual relationship. We complement each other and out of that strength we successfully resist all the demons, trying to stray us from the right path.

Belles
A song about conformation and devotion in a relationship that can become a drawback for one party. It also describes the attraction of the unknown and the playing with feelings, regardless of the consequences, respectively the danger to hurt someone or drive them over the edge.

Winterwalk
Things, circling through your mind on a winter walk, while thinking about a new found love.

Separation
The pain of separation of the first long relationship. The oldest song on the album and one of the first songs I ever wrote.

Back to Life
For a good friend who found his way back to life after a tough time in his life; a life he fills with things important to him.

Digital Love
A description of how ‘digital’ relationships over the internet work these days. Under false pretences, you can define yourself. No one will be able to verify it. You create your own ideal profile and go hunting in an ideal world.

All the Words (Catharsis)
The old story with the problem that men and women can’t be ‘just’ friends. Sooner or later, the sexual attraction prevails and the friendship becomes anguish for at least one party.

Sweet Dancer
A tribute to the Irish poet and noble price winner William Butler Yeats. The setting of one of his poems I’ve written in his home country.

Control
A song about One Night Stands with the omnipresent question how many details about my person and my life I’m willing to give away in this very moment. How much control do I want to retain over the situation or am I ready to let go? Or was it the woman for life? All for one moment, or one woman for life?

Pathway
The title song of the album, describing the quest for the right path; the quest for our own light that takes a long time and leads through many ups and downs on which you’re so desperate or lost sometimes that your hands reach out for help.

RoD: I noticed you putting much work into the rhythm sections of your songs, I mean they’re straight but never become simple. Was that a point during the production which was important to you. Unfortunately many projects are already satisfied with very simple rhythms these days.
FM: The beats are very important to me besides the vocals. They need to have enough pressure and even reveal new facets to the listener after countless spins.

RoD: Did you already present ‘Pathways’ to some people beforehand and if so, how were the reactions?
FM: The individual songs in their original versions have been spread out among close friends and actually received very positive feedback; especially from band colleagues and fellow musicians.

RoD: Are you rather relieved; now that your first solo album is finally done or rather nervous, because you never know how the people out there will react?
FM: I’m rather relived that I took this step and so my personal goal has already been achieved and the duty is fulfilled. I will follow everything that is to come now with curiosity.

RoD: Are you planning to present your songs life as well?
FM: Yes, as soon as cloning has become a secure and reliable technology, otherwise I would need to quarter myself considering the amount of musical projects. For now I’ll bide the reactions to the first album before I decide to play them live. Free after the motto “All or Nothing”.

RoD: Any last statement?
FM: It’s my birthday in 4 minutes, so I will go and open the champagne bottle now. Thanks for the interesting interview and much fun with the album.

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