Soon to be showcasing his first international show with his band this coming August, Mellow Fellow has promised to “wreck shit up” for listeners in Hong Kong with his lo-fi goodness
If you follow shoegaze and dream pop acts like Fazerdaze and The Bilinda Butchers, then you will probably fancy Mellow Fellow. After the viral success of his fuzzy lo-fi tunes like Dancing and How Was Your Day? on YouTube and Soundcloud – sad music you play on repeat for late night conversations – the Filipino indie musician has been steadily gaining a dedicated following on the internet. We chatted with him about his album Jazzie Robinson, as well as the joy of collaborating with other artists on the web.
Mellow Fellow chats about music in the age of internet
On your Soundcloud page, it says “Not From The Philippines” (laughs), why is that?
Haha… I think it’s just been a running gag for a while now that people actually think I don’t live in The Philippines. It’s all just good fun. Do I really live in The Philippines? Who knows.
Your track Dancing got a million views on YouTube (uploaded by the lovely TheLazylazyme); what’s internet fame to you?
It’s cool. It feels nice that your art is being appreciated by people from all over the world. Pretty fucking overwhelming at first, but hey I’m trying to get the hang of it.
What’s impacted you most as a songwriter who makes dreamy lo-fi tunes?
I think it’s from listening to too many old records. I love the sound of warm, warbly things. It makes me feel more intimate and songs that have that element mean so much more to me.
How would you sum up the stories behind your latest record Jazzie Robinson?
Jazzie Robinson is basically a collection of songs I wrote while I was broke, tired, in love and having fallen out of love while being in college.
I really like your collaborations with musicians like Floor Cry, Vansire and Clairo, how did you guys get together?
I talked to Felicia, AKA Floor Cry, on Soundcloud and told her that I loved her music and I’d love to collaborate on something with her. She felt the same and New Year’s Eve came out of it. We’re actually really good friends and we talk on the phone occasionally even if we haven’t really met in real life (laughs).
Vansire dropped a song called Halcyon Age and I was so in love with it (Yassss, same for me!!!) that I had to message them to let those boys know how good they sounded. We had a brief conversation on Twitter, then they asked me if I wanted to feature in their album and I was like: “hell fuccckkkcen yess”. I’ve been following them since they released their first record so it was an instant go for me.
As for Claire, we followed each other on Soundcloud like 2-3 years ago? I added her on Facebook and sent her a message. I told her how much I dig her music and likewise she felt the same. Then I asked her if she wanted to work on a song together. She agreed and we just sent each other stems over the internet in a span of about a week and a half, then How Was Your Day? was born.
Who do you look forward to collaborating with in the future?
Michael Seyer! And if you’re reading this, I hope I get to see you someday after three failed attempts of meeting up in LA.
Are there any artists or albums that you currently enjoy listening to?
I haven’t been listening to anything actually. I’m probably just not in the mood to listen to any music as of the moment. But maybe if I were to suggest two artists, it would be my friend Sean, AKA Andy Chlau, great left-of-centre producer from Manila. And my bandmate Denice, AKA Ruru, amazing lady with amazing talent. Next big thing, mark my words.
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