
Richard Sallis Interview
Q: Can you talk about your musical history? Why did you choose to come back and make music after an eight year hiatus?
A: I’ve been making music since I was a toddler but I didn’t start releasing things until I was in my late teens. I led a band called Stock Exchange, and our album Casino was quite successful both online and in the local scene. When that band broke up The Cameramen was made up of leftover members, but we weren’t really as successful. When our album Good Things Do Happen failed to make the splash we were hoping for, I kind of lost all my confidence as a songwriter and gave up. I was happy not making music for a while, it was nice to just live life without looking at everything through the prism of how it could inspire a song. Then when I found out I was going to be a father, the song Bouncing Masquerade Ball popped into my head. So I recorded a demo and timidly sent it to my friends, kind of expecting them not to be too impressed by it. But their overwhelmingly positive reactions told me that maybe, it was time to give in to that creative urge again. I made Felix just to see if it was still possible for me to do this.
Q: What was your creative process like while writing Felix?
A: It was an attempt to get out of my own way a bit more. I have the habit of entering into self-critical perfectionist mode quite a lot, which is an excellent way of killing ideas before they have the chance to bloom into something. This time around I tried to get that part of my brain to shut up, and just allow the songs to be whatever they naturally want to be. I’d then decide afterwards if they’re worth releasing or not. All the songs on the album are spontaneous and spur-of-the-moment, and the lyrics are about whatever was on my mind at the time. I would just write rhymes about how I was feeling on my phone as situations were unfolding. A lot of the songs are just instant knee-jerk reactions to things.
Q: You mention the album was about impending fatherhood? Has your perspective changed since then? And did the songs you write then feel like they have a different meaning now?
A: The songs are still pretty new for the most part, so it’s going to take some time for my perspective to change on them. I decided the second my wife went into labour the album was finished, and whatever I had ready at that moment is what got released. It was the first time I worked to an inflexible deadline. That’s because I knew it would be impossible to return to the mindset I had before having a kid. I wanted Felix to be a time capsule for me - starting at the beginning of our first pregnancy (which unfortunately failed) and ending with our son’s birth. Going through that for the first time is a life experience you can never ever repeat, so I wanted to make a document of that.
Q: Can you talk about your musical history? Why did you choose to come back and make music after an eight year hiatus?
A: I’ve been making music since I was a toddler but I didn’t start releasing things until I was in my late teens. I led a band called Stock Exchange, and our album Casino was quite successful both online and in the local scene. When that band broke up The Cameramen was made up of leftover members, but we weren’t really as successful. When our album Good Things Do Happen failed to make the splash we were hoping for, I kind of lost all my confidence as a songwriter and gave up. I was happy not making music for a while, it was nice to just live life without looking at everything through the prism of how it could inspire a song. Then when I found out I was going to be a father, the song Bouncing Masquerade Ball popped into my head. So I recorded a demo and timidly sent it to my friends, kind of expecting them not to be too impressed by it. But their overwhelmingly positive reactions told me that maybe, it was time to give in to that creative urge again. I made Felix just to see if it was still possible for me to do this.
Q: What was your creative process like while writing Felix?
A: It was an attempt to get out of my own way a bit more. I have the habit of entering into self-critical perfectionist mode quite a lot, which is an excellent way of killing ideas before they have the chance to bloom into something. This time around I tried to get that part of my brain to shut up, and just allow the songs to be whatever they naturally want to be. I’d then decide afterwards if they’re worth releasing or not. All the songs on the album are spontaneous and spur-of-the-moment, and the lyrics are about whatever was on my mind at the time. I would just write rhymes about how I was feeling on my phone as situations were unfolding. A lot of the songs are just instant knee-jerk reactions to things.
Q: You mention the album was about impending fatherhood? Has your perspective changed since then? And did the songs you write then feel like they have a different meaning now?
A: The songs are still pretty new for the most part, so it’s going to take some time for my perspective to change on them. I decided the second my wife went into labour the album was finished, and whatever I had ready at that moment is what got released. It was the first time I worked to an inflexible deadline. That’s because I knew it would be impossible to return to the mindset I had before having a kid. I wanted Felix to be a time capsule for me - starting at the beginning of our first pregnancy (which unfortunately failed) and ending with our son’s birth. Going through that for the first time is a life experience you can never ever repeat, so I wanted to make a document of that.

Q: There’s a lot going on musically on this album. How was the collaboration process?
A: I just sent messages to almost all my friends who I thought might be up for it. Some were super enthusiastic, some were apologetic for being too busy, some just ignored me, but no matter. History is made by who turns up. Probably the most insane thing I did was build the choir on The Kid Has Gone Missing, which came from DMing individual singers from all over the world. If I was sane I would’ve gone to the local church and asked to borrow their choir or something, but instead I got about 20 different friends sending me files online. It took several months, but the end result sounded beautiful. Making the album was also an excuse to reconnect with old friends. Oscar Hose, who I hadn’t worked with since we were both in Stock Exchange, came back to do saxophone for this record. He’s now the godfather of my child, so it worked out really well.
Q: Can you talk about the actual recording of Felix and what that process was like?
A: My studio gear got moved out of the house to make space for our son’s room, so I set up a new studio in our garage. It was around the same time my parents were returning all my musical gear I had as a kid, now that my wife and I were in a place big enough to house it. So I was able to set up my hundred year old piano, my drum kit, a dusty electric organ from the 1970s, all sorts of things. A lot of the drums and percussion sounds were provided by Daniel Altmann from The Cameramen, who we recorded in a big church. Those were inspiring sessions. It would be a cool story to say I recorded the whole album in a church, but it was mostly in my dusty old garage. It’s a literal garage rock record, if you will.
Q: What else should we know about your music?
A: Just that if you liked Felix for whatever reason, I have a bunch of other stuff you might want to check out. It’s all on richardsallis.bandcamp.com - Casino by Stock Exchange is probably my most well liked and popular work, and is something I’m really proud of. It probably shares the most DNA with Felix so you should start there. Elsewhere there’s The Horror which is a dark industrial shoegaze thing, Fantasyland which is happy psychedelic sunshine pop, and Polar Wolf which goes into the more ambient Brian Eno side of things. It’s all Bandcamp only for now, but I’d like to get it all up on streaming at some point this year.
A: I just sent messages to almost all my friends who I thought might be up for it. Some were super enthusiastic, some were apologetic for being too busy, some just ignored me, but no matter. History is made by who turns up. Probably the most insane thing I did was build the choir on The Kid Has Gone Missing, which came from DMing individual singers from all over the world. If I was sane I would’ve gone to the local church and asked to borrow their choir or something, but instead I got about 20 different friends sending me files online. It took several months, but the end result sounded beautiful. Making the album was also an excuse to reconnect with old friends. Oscar Hose, who I hadn’t worked with since we were both in Stock Exchange, came back to do saxophone for this record. He’s now the godfather of my child, so it worked out really well.
Q: Can you talk about the actual recording of Felix and what that process was like?
A: My studio gear got moved out of the house to make space for our son’s room, so I set up a new studio in our garage. It was around the same time my parents were returning all my musical gear I had as a kid, now that my wife and I were in a place big enough to house it. So I was able to set up my hundred year old piano, my drum kit, a dusty electric organ from the 1970s, all sorts of things. A lot of the drums and percussion sounds were provided by Daniel Altmann from The Cameramen, who we recorded in a big church. Those were inspiring sessions. It would be a cool story to say I recorded the whole album in a church, but it was mostly in my dusty old garage. It’s a literal garage rock record, if you will.
Q: What else should we know about your music?
A: Just that if you liked Felix for whatever reason, I have a bunch of other stuff you might want to check out. It’s all on richardsallis.bandcamp.com - Casino by Stock Exchange is probably my most well liked and popular work, and is something I’m really proud of. It probably shares the most DNA with Felix so you should start there. Elsewhere there’s The Horror which is a dark industrial shoegaze thing, Fantasyland which is happy psychedelic sunshine pop, and Polar Wolf which goes into the more ambient Brian Eno side of things. It’s all Bandcamp only for now, but I’d like to get it all up on streaming at some point this year.