If the Pog fits...
Q&A with Félix Rabin
Q&A with Félix Rabin
2020 has started very well for young French singer-guitarist Félix Rabin, a player who was inspired by the likes of Jimi Hendrix, Gary Clark Jr. and David Gilmour / Pink Floyd but who carries a very inventive and individualistic sound in both his playing and original song styles.
In January he won Best Act at the Giants of Rock Festival in the UK and has been invited back to play the main stage in 2021.
At the end of February and into March Félix Rabin and his band will support American roots-blues guitarist Samantha Fish on her UK and European tour; that tour stint is followed in April by the release of Rabin’s debut EP Pogboy (an earlier EP, entitled Down Our Roads, while a strong offering, was more of a what-to-expect-live promotional release).
Félix Rabin took some time out from rehearsing for the Samantha Fish tour to take a few questions from FabricationsHQ about Pogboy, his highly individualistic sound and ongoing touring efforts to establish himself in the UK.
Ross Muir: The new EP, Pogboy, is more than an EP. It’s a 30 minute mini-album that covers all the Felix Rabin styles across 6 tracks – It’s the perfect Introducing Felix Rabin product.
Félix Rabin: That’s exactly what I aimed for and wanted to do – to have six songs that have a very wide range, almost like a large painting of the music we do.
Some of it is coloured as rock, some of it as pop, others are a little bit more prog and there’s some blues and soul. I just thought it was a pretty cool way to go.
RM: It’s interesting you use the word painting because Pogboy is the sonic equivalent of a large canvas with different musical colours… you have the huge sounding Walk, the pulsating groove that drives Moving On, the funk-rock of Say, to name but three.
FR: Exactly. And with this being the first real EP, we wanted something strong and varied like that to promote on the upcoming dates with Samantha Fish and then our own shows…
In January he won Best Act at the Giants of Rock Festival in the UK and has been invited back to play the main stage in 2021.
At the end of February and into March Félix Rabin and his band will support American roots-blues guitarist Samantha Fish on her UK and European tour; that tour stint is followed in April by the release of Rabin’s debut EP Pogboy (an earlier EP, entitled Down Our Roads, while a strong offering, was more of a what-to-expect-live promotional release).
Félix Rabin took some time out from rehearsing for the Samantha Fish tour to take a few questions from FabricationsHQ about Pogboy, his highly individualistic sound and ongoing touring efforts to establish himself in the UK.
Ross Muir: The new EP, Pogboy, is more than an EP. It’s a 30 minute mini-album that covers all the Felix Rabin styles across 6 tracks – It’s the perfect Introducing Felix Rabin product.
Félix Rabin: That’s exactly what I aimed for and wanted to do – to have six songs that have a very wide range, almost like a large painting of the music we do.
Some of it is coloured as rock, some of it as pop, others are a little bit more prog and there’s some blues and soul. I just thought it was a pretty cool way to go.
RM: It’s interesting you use the word painting because Pogboy is the sonic equivalent of a large canvas with different musical colours… you have the huge sounding Walk, the pulsating groove that drives Moving On, the funk-rock of Say, to name but three.
FR: Exactly. And with this being the first real EP, we wanted something strong and varied like that to promote on the upcoming dates with Samantha Fish and then our own shows…
RM: Another song I want to mention is Death. That’s the real sleeper but absolute grower of the EP.
It resonates like a downplayed blues version of Like a Hurricane mixed with Film Noire and Pink Floyd.
Where did the influence for Death come from?
FR: That song came first from the idea to write something more like Pink Floyd, or to carry the sort of vibe when they wrote or sung about life and death. That was the exercise.
The lyrics actually come from a poem called Death by an American author and poet, which goes back to the 1940s or 1950s. I first read that poem years and years ago but I had always said to myself that one day I want to write a song with those lyrics because I thought they were very powerful.
It made sense to add them to a song that had a Pink Floyd vibe and they matched up perfectly.
RM: I also think your solo on Death is your best to date.
FR: Thank you. It’s a pretty cool solo but that’s the Gilmour influence coming out! [laughs]
RM: That influence is definitely there in your playing, as is Hendrix, but you have very individualistic sound, part of which is how you use your effects including, of course, your favoured Pog (Polyphonic Octave Generator) pedal. Hence the EP title. How did you evolve to that sound?
FR: It’s actually hard to describe the process.
When I started building my own sound I had some influences in there already, from guitarists I really liked, but I did also have a vision of what I wanted, as a sound.
Step by step, year by year, it was a case of slowly getting there – but right at the start I didn’t know how I was going to get there! [laughs].
You try different amps, different guitars, you even become different yourself, in how you play and how you finger the frets. Everything is an evolving process but eventually it all comes together and starts to fit – if that all makes sense! [laughs]
RM: It does, and it’s been worth the lengthy process because it has shaped your sonic identity.
That sound, along with this new EP, really do express what you and the band are now all about.
This is far from your normal blues rock guitar sound, or style.
FR: And that’s something we were definitely trying to do. I don’t think we’re just in the blues rock scene or the guitar scene of the moment. What stands out to people in those scenes is like some of the stuff we play but we like to try something new, or mix new things in.
Then, if something comes from that , that has to be better. It adds to the richness of the music, rather than trying to replicate the sounds you’ve heard before.
A good example of that is Stevie Ray Vaughn; he had a very specific tone and a very specific way of playing. A lot of blues guitar players try to replicate that – and that’s cool, because it is a great sound – but it can end up sounding like something that’s been played already, or even over-played.
If you’re trying to build your own sound then playing like someone else doesn’t really lead anywhere.
I really, really like Stevie Ray Vaughn but I never tried to sound like him, in terms of tone.
RM: The other great thing about the EP is that you have horns – trumpet and tenor saxophone – featured on some of the tracks. That’s really helped to expand the sound of the songs in the studio.
FR: It has, yes. I have played with horns before – not the brass players on the EP but two guys from London, who sometimes play with the band.
We’ve done some shows with them but we have to think about the money side of things – if we’re playing or touring with six people that’s six beds, six meals, six people to pay! [laughs]
Samantha Fish has a brass section too, or sometimes plays with a brass section, but she hasn’t brought them over to Europe. It’s not always easy to make it happen.
RM: So have you been working with brass players for long?
FR: I’ve been playing with a brass section for about two years now; it makes things that bit richer and brings a lot of depth to some of the songs on the EP, like Death, for example.
The sound of that trumpet and how it’s played? That gives me a feeling of loneliness, and melancholy, which I really like…
It resonates like a downplayed blues version of Like a Hurricane mixed with Film Noire and Pink Floyd.
Where did the influence for Death come from?
FR: That song came first from the idea to write something more like Pink Floyd, or to carry the sort of vibe when they wrote or sung about life and death. That was the exercise.
The lyrics actually come from a poem called Death by an American author and poet, which goes back to the 1940s or 1950s. I first read that poem years and years ago but I had always said to myself that one day I want to write a song with those lyrics because I thought they were very powerful.
It made sense to add them to a song that had a Pink Floyd vibe and they matched up perfectly.
RM: I also think your solo on Death is your best to date.
FR: Thank you. It’s a pretty cool solo but that’s the Gilmour influence coming out! [laughs]
RM: That influence is definitely there in your playing, as is Hendrix, but you have very individualistic sound, part of which is how you use your effects including, of course, your favoured Pog (Polyphonic Octave Generator) pedal. Hence the EP title. How did you evolve to that sound?
FR: It’s actually hard to describe the process.
When I started building my own sound I had some influences in there already, from guitarists I really liked, but I did also have a vision of what I wanted, as a sound.
Step by step, year by year, it was a case of slowly getting there – but right at the start I didn’t know how I was going to get there! [laughs].
You try different amps, different guitars, you even become different yourself, in how you play and how you finger the frets. Everything is an evolving process but eventually it all comes together and starts to fit – if that all makes sense! [laughs]
RM: It does, and it’s been worth the lengthy process because it has shaped your sonic identity.
That sound, along with this new EP, really do express what you and the band are now all about.
This is far from your normal blues rock guitar sound, or style.
FR: And that’s something we were definitely trying to do. I don’t think we’re just in the blues rock scene or the guitar scene of the moment. What stands out to people in those scenes is like some of the stuff we play but we like to try something new, or mix new things in.
Then, if something comes from that , that has to be better. It adds to the richness of the music, rather than trying to replicate the sounds you’ve heard before.
A good example of that is Stevie Ray Vaughn; he had a very specific tone and a very specific way of playing. A lot of blues guitar players try to replicate that – and that’s cool, because it is a great sound – but it can end up sounding like something that’s been played already, or even over-played.
If you’re trying to build your own sound then playing like someone else doesn’t really lead anywhere.
I really, really like Stevie Ray Vaughn but I never tried to sound like him, in terms of tone.
RM: The other great thing about the EP is that you have horns – trumpet and tenor saxophone – featured on some of the tracks. That’s really helped to expand the sound of the songs in the studio.
FR: It has, yes. I have played with horns before – not the brass players on the EP but two guys from London, who sometimes play with the band.
We’ve done some shows with them but we have to think about the money side of things – if we’re playing or touring with six people that’s six beds, six meals, six people to pay! [laughs]
Samantha Fish has a brass section too, or sometimes plays with a brass section, but she hasn’t brought them over to Europe. It’s not always easy to make it happen.
RM: So have you been working with brass players for long?
FR: I’ve been playing with a brass section for about two years now; it makes things that bit richer and brings a lot of depth to some of the songs on the EP, like Death, for example.
The sound of that trumpet and how it’s played? That gives me a feeling of loneliness, and melancholy, which I really like…
FR: I think that song, not for my generation but the previous generation, or people who are older, can remind them of things that happened in the past, or stir up memories.
There’s a definite vibe to that song and I am really proud of it, coming up with the lyrics from that poem, the music and the style of the song. It’s not something that just popped up one day! [laughs]
RM: You and the band are working hard to make an impression in the UK and in fact the Samantha Fish tour will be the fourth time in not much more than eighteen months you’ve been around the UK…
FR: Yes, we toured the UK in 2018 for about a month with Wishbone Ash and that was a fantastic experience, to play in front of large rock crowds.
We came back last year and did two tours, slowly building up our own audience, and now we are on the road with Samantha, which is great.
Samantha is doing so well now and we are from the same generation, so it’s really cool to be out on the road with her.
But Wishbone Ash were classic rock and Samantha is bluesier, so for us it’s like "OK, we need to play our own music but we still need to fit with the vibe of the audience we’re playing to."
Samantha is more roots and country but she is also rock and pop so I think it will be a good match; I’m really looking forward to playing and seeing how the audiences react.
RM: And another great opportunity to play to a new audience and slowly but surely expand the UK fan base.
As I said earlier, you are working hard to do just that.
FR: Well in the first place it’s something we really want to do but it’s also a pleasure playing the UK.
And to be honest with you, every time we’ve come to Scotland it’s been amazing!
I don’t know what it is but I really feel something when I’m there. And Glasgow is great; I really like it there.
RM: It’s clearly the Auld Alliance in musical form, Félix. Allez l'Écosse, allez la France and vive le musique!
FR: [laughs] Merci, Ross! And thank you so much for your support and having me on FabricationsHQ!
Ross Muir
Q&A with Félix Rabin
February 2020
FabricationsHQ’s review of the Pogboy EP can be found on this page.
Photo Credits: Chiara Ceccaioni
Audio excerpts by permission of the artist.
There’s a definite vibe to that song and I am really proud of it, coming up with the lyrics from that poem, the music and the style of the song. It’s not something that just popped up one day! [laughs]
RM: You and the band are working hard to make an impression in the UK and in fact the Samantha Fish tour will be the fourth time in not much more than eighteen months you’ve been around the UK…
FR: Yes, we toured the UK in 2018 for about a month with Wishbone Ash and that was a fantastic experience, to play in front of large rock crowds.
We came back last year and did two tours, slowly building up our own audience, and now we are on the road with Samantha, which is great.
Samantha is doing so well now and we are from the same generation, so it’s really cool to be out on the road with her.
But Wishbone Ash were classic rock and Samantha is bluesier, so for us it’s like "OK, we need to play our own music but we still need to fit with the vibe of the audience we’re playing to."
Samantha is more roots and country but she is also rock and pop so I think it will be a good match; I’m really looking forward to playing and seeing how the audiences react.
RM: And another great opportunity to play to a new audience and slowly but surely expand the UK fan base.
As I said earlier, you are working hard to do just that.
FR: Well in the first place it’s something we really want to do but it’s also a pleasure playing the UK.
And to be honest with you, every time we’ve come to Scotland it’s been amazing!
I don’t know what it is but I really feel something when I’m there. And Glasgow is great; I really like it there.
RM: It’s clearly the Auld Alliance in musical form, Félix. Allez l'Écosse, allez la France and vive le musique!
FR: [laughs] Merci, Ross! And thank you so much for your support and having me on FabricationsHQ!
Ross Muir
Q&A with Félix Rabin
February 2020
FabricationsHQ’s review of the Pogboy EP can be found on this page.
Photo Credits: Chiara Ceccaioni
Audio excerpts by permission of the artist.