Folk rock Americana band The Felice Brothers played at the Black Cat in D.C. Sept. 29. The New York band is currently on tour for its latest album “Celebration, Florida” and released an EP “Poughkeepsie Princess” last month. Band members include brothers Ian Felice and James Felice, as well as long time friends Christmas, Greg Farley and David Turbeville. Vocalist and accordion player James Felice talked about touring and the band with the Black & White.
Black & White: How has touring been for “Celebration, Florida” been compared to your other tours?
James Felice: I think this has been the best tour so far. The record has been out for a while, and this was sort of the second leg of our “Celebration, Florida” tour. It’s a little bit different. I think some of our fans aren’t thrilled with the new direction the band is going in, but I think other people enjoy it more. And we certainly enjoy playing new songs, and having fun experimenting with new sound.
B&W: What “new direction” is the band going in?
JM: I think we were for a long time – and we still are – a bar band at heart. We’re trying to be a little more sophisticated, and it’s a slow process because we’ve come from such a dirtbag beginning that it takes a long time to evolve into a more clean-sounding band. The transition has been slow but very rewarding for us. When we started, we didn’t even know how to play our instruments; we were just sort of winging it. We’re still evolving and still trying to find that sound.
B&W: So why did you start the band in the first place?
JM: We loved playing music and nothing else. We were very poor and homeless. We could play in the streets and make a hundred bucks a day and eat. It was something fun to do, and it was something fun to do with my brothers. We realized that Ian was such a talented songwriter that we could be a real band.
B&W: What would you say the dynamic of the band is?
JM: Right now, I love the dynamic of the band. We all get along extremely well, even better than we’ve ever gotten along before, because I think everyone is comfortable with who they are and what they’re doing.
As for as being with my brother, it’s fun. We have a lot of fun on tour, we’re always making each other laugh. I think that’s the most important thing; if you can laugh, you’ll be okay.
B&W: When people describe your music, they often use the term Americana. Do you agree with that classification?
JM: You know, the first time I ever heard that term Americana was when somebody told me that we sounded like Americana. We’ve never ever sat around and been like, “Oh, we love Americana music, and we should play that type of music.” But if that’s the label, then that’s fine. You can call us anything you want. I’m not up at night being like “Oh f***, I can’t believe I’m an Americana band, I wish I was… oh, I don’t know, Afro-folk or something.”
B&W: You recorded “Celebration, Florida” in a high school. What was your reasoning behind that?
JM: We needed a cool place to record our album. There was an abandoned high school in a town not too far from where we live and they were renting out rooms to various artists. We rented the old gymnasium, a couple classrooms and an old auditorium and we just went crazy for months. We had a sound from the beginning that we wanted and that’s how it turned out. I think we were all very satisfied.
B&W: What’s this new direction you think the band is moving towards?
JM: The band is always evolving, we’re always changing and we’re always trying new stuff. I don’t know what the new record is going to sound like. It could be a bunch of banjos, for all I know. At the end of the day, we just want to make music that makes sense to us. We’re not trying to fill anybody’s expectations.
