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| Photo by Nick Mckk |
Feelds (James Seymour) finally unveiled Cut Your Teeth in its entirety last Friday, September 20th, and it's as special as we thought it would be. The album was very much a DIY effort by Seymour, who also produced, mixed and handled all the artwork for the record. He goes into depth about how the album came to life below.
David ‘Papi’ Hunt
'Papi' is the owner of the voice you hear talking at the front and back end of the record. I met ‘Papi’ back in 2015 when I was on an audio-engineer study trip to LA. The group I was travelling with hopped on a bus one day to ‘see the sights’, and ‘Papi’ was our driver & guide. I found him incredibly intriguing, excitable, honest & inspiring; so I pulled him aside for a chat during our lunch break. For whatever reason, I decided to record the conversation on my phone, and we ended up chatting for over an hour about everything from his life, growing up in the Appalachian mountains, to the youth roller skating team he organised & toured the world within the 70s. This recording sat filed away for years until I dug it up again and was enlightened by his enthusiasm once more. This chat essentially motivated me to do the record and encouraged a lot of the themes explored throughout.
Karate Clare and Judo Jim
My parents, who met when Dad moved over from the Judo world into the Karate dojo that Mum was training in at the time (Mum came 3rd in the world at one point!). The group would sometimes head down to the Geelong Surf Coast for some training excursions, and around the time I re-discovered ‘Papi’s’ recording, I also stumbled across a film photo album from one of these camps. This inevitably sparked the whole imagery for the album, these photos were just too good not to share with the world. From there, the ‘Cut Your Teeth’ journey began.
The Watermelon Emoji
This one really came into play throughout the journey. It seemed only fitting that something so elaborate and rich with imagery (the album) could be summed up in today’s short-attention-span society with a small digital icon.. I hope people have read this far! 🍉
Mum's Sewing Room
The birthplace and curation of ‘Cut Your Teeth’. I moved back home to the Northern Suburbs of Melbourne just before working on the album, and completely took over Mum’s sewing room as my studio, where it’s still operating today (thanks and sorry Mum!). It’s one of those rooms that probably shouldn’t have sounded good, but I think my limitations really forced me to make it work, and really get to know how the space works in terms of sound. There’s been some pretty fun moments in the studio already, including the 40+ degree day Jarred (drums) and I spent in there because we “had” to get the drums done that day. We obviously couldn’t have the A/C on due to sound pollution, and the room is already a little hotbox, even in the winter. Regardless, Jarred smash out 5 TRACKS that day and absolutely nailed it. I don’t think either one of us have ever been more sweaty.
Collaborators
They helped shape this album. Not only are the people around me extremely good at what they do, but they also have so much love and support to give. An incredible amount of people actually contributed financially to this venture, and without any of them, this record would not have happened. I’m just going to list a few legends who had a big part..Clare & Jim (Mum & Dad), Dean Valentino (Fright Night Music), Rhiannon (Merpire), Jackson (Rat!hammock), Jarred Young (drums on record & in band), Katie Wighton (vocals on record & keys in band), Kiya van der Linden-Kian (cello), Jonathon Ferraro (extra drums), Daniel O’Keefe (guitar in band), Mark Webber (bass in band).
Listen to Cut Your Teeth by Feelds below:
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