As Laidback Luke tore up the main stage at I Love This City: San Francisco, we had a chance to briefly catch up with Felix Cartal (née Taelor Deitcher) backstage before his set. He is currently on tour to showcase his new album, Different Faces, which came out at the end of March. In addition to a number of solo dates, you can also catch him at several major festivals this summer including Electric Daisy Carnival in Las Vegas, Spring Awakening in Chicago, and Electric Forest in Rothbury, Michigan.

LOLLI: You just released Different Faces, your second full length album. What has changed since you released your first album? Has your approach to production changed? Have you learned anything new going back at it a second time?

TAELOR DEITCHER: I think I’ve sort of streamlined everything. I think my ideas were a lot more focused and to the point. I think the biggest thing was, rather than have 30 ideas in one palm, I’d find one thing that works and really hammer it home. I definitely felt a little more mature, and a little more focused.

LOLLI: Your first album was called Popular Music. Is there any story behind that title? Did you have a premonition of how electronic music was going to blow up like it has, at least in the United States?

TAELOR: (laughs) I’m just a pretty sarcastic person, and I thought it was really cheeky to be like, “I’m gonna declare my music as ‘popular’ on my debut record.” So, yeah, it was sort of like a little joke.

LOLLI: You were first exposed to a very large audience in the United States when you toured with MSTRKRFT. What was it like touring with them?


Dylan Stoker, Lolli.org West Coast Correspondent & Social Media Manager, interviewing Felix Cartal at I Love This City: San Francisco.


TAELOR: Well, it’s amazing how it helped my career so much, and it was really hard on my liver. So...I just want to tell them thanks a lot...just throwing that out there. (laughs)

LOLLI: Did you learn anything about playing bigger crowds?

TAELOR: Yeah, I had never really played for crowds that big before, and by the end of it I felt like I had a lot more confidence. Basically doing 30 dates in 30 days is a whole lot. It’s sort of like cramming a year’s worth of touring into a small amount of time.

LOLLI: So now you’re playing small venues, as well as these major festivals. How do you tailor your sets to adapt to the audience you’re playing for?

TAELOR: I think the difference between festivals and clubs is that at festivals, kids want to get excited and jump, whereas at clubs, it’s more like I need to keep things more stable...Oh shit, there’s a raccoon!

LOLLI: (turns around) What??

TAELOR: (laughs) A raccoon just ran behind that building!

LOLLI: Whoa! Never seen that at a festival before. (laughs) Well thanks so much for speaking with me! We can’t wait for your set!


Dylan Stoker, Lolli.org West Coast Correspondent & Social Media Manager, with Felix Cartal at I Love This City: San Francisco.



Felix Cartal on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/felixcartal
Felix Cartal on SoundCloud: http://soundcloud.com/felixcartal
Felix Cartal on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/felixcartal
Felix Cartal Blog: http://felixcartal.com/



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