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Get To Know: salute

Check out our interview with this week's featured new artist, salute...

This week's featured new artist is salute.

Check out our interview with him below...

1. For those who don’t know about you and your music, tell us a little bit about who you are and where you’re from…

My artist name is salute (yes, lowercase) but I hate it when people call me that in real life. My real name is Felix. The one thing I hate more than people calling me salute in real life though is people asking me for my real name and then going “Oh! Like a cat!”. No, not like a cat. My estimations of you will plummet if you say anything along those lines. I was born and grew up in Vienna and moved to England just under three years ago.

2. Describe your sound in three words…

Visceral, large, ballsy?

3. Who inspired you to start a career in music?

I did. I never started making music with the intention of turning it into a career, but somewhere down the line I convinced myself I was alright enough to do so anyway. It was just my favourite thing to do after school every day. I don’t think anyone should ever go into music with the intention of living off it - if you think about money ever step of the way, your music immediately starts becoming dishonest. The best music will always tell a true story.

4. Who are your biggest musical influences?

The more I’m asked this question, the more I realise I don’t actually know. I’m influenced strongly by certain nuances in music rather than individual artists; honest and powerful music will always strike me the most. Most of the music I listen to is somehow influenced by r&b though, so there’s that. Anything jazzy with creamy chord progressions, that’s what I like.

5. Tell us about the writing and recording process for your new single/album…

There’s no set process for how I make any of my music. About 90% of my ideas start in my bed though - I’m usually flat on my back with my laptop on my chest at about 3AM. The rest totally depends on what I’m trying to achieve. Sometimes I’ll send it to singers I like and say “Hey, try something on this.” - other times, I’ll travel to meet them and write in the studio with them. I like working on my own though, I enjoy my own company and I appreciate the luxury of being able to make mistakes without having anyone judge me. I also bop my head pretty strangely and screw up my face whenever I make music and I find it quite embarrassing.

6. What can we expect from your live shows?

You can expect to walk away with ringing ears if you don’t wear ear protection, because my live show is meant to look and sound heavy. With my music, I’m trying to tread the line between nasty and beautiful - making lovely things sound in your face and aggressive. It becomes more apparent live, I think. I sing, play keys and hit a whole lot of pads - I also have a bassist who plays keys and a drummer with electronic and acoustic drums, I like my shows to be engaging visually. For big shows, I bring out vocalists who have featured on songs of mine.

7. What has been your biggest career highlight so far?

There are a few, but one was supporting Flume at Palais 12 in Brussels last year. That was completely ridiculous, having a crowd that huge stare at me for an hour while I played a bunch of my songs. It was scary, but the reaction I got in the end was heartwarming.

8. Have you met anyone and been totally starstruck?

I try so hard to play it cool when I meet celebrities. I actually met Tyler, The Creator at a festival in Liege last year, we were both playing. Tyler is my number one idol, probably one of the best humans in existence. We talked for about 10 minutes backstage - I was in complete awe of how friendly and hilarious he was. Definitely a top 10 life moment.

9. What’s on your iPod/playlists that people wouldn’t expect?

I don’t know. Why wouldn’t people expect me to listen to Carly Rae Jepsen for example? Do I not look like someone who listens to Carly Rae Jepsen? I think I do.

10. When can we see you live?

My first London headline show is taking place at Kamio on the 27th September. Tickets went on sale very recently (you can buy them here), I’m unbelievably excited for it.

'You can follow salute on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.'

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