What’s Good? Felix Flores (Part One)

Here at Retail DJ, I’ve had the opportunity to watch quite a few people get dressed, undressed, and dressed all over again for the feature Get Ready With __?__. But for this special edition of What’s Good and Get Ready With __?__, Kristal Munoz (Retail DJ’s resident photographer) and I went a hop, skip, and a jump over to Williamsburg to meet up with singer/songwriter Felix Flores for a little tea time chat with a catch. You see, this interview and photography session would be about more than just what Felix wears on a regular basis. He came up with the brilliant idea to let us get a sneak peek at his wardrobe for his upcoming trip to Mexico! Though traveling South of the Border for an entire month to shoot his new video and make a bit more music, Felix was cool enough to sit down with us (albeit, in top of a hot pink pig seat!) to give us his sage advice on fashion and to warn us of the dangers of Baltimore fried food. So come with us across the bridge for a bit to find out What’s Good with Felix Flores! 

Retail DJ: So what’s going on? You are going out of the country soon, right?

Felix Flores: Yes, to Mexico.

Retail DJ: Can you fill us in on all the details for the trip?

Felix Flores: Well, basically we just finished our first music video. It’s for the song “Steady Hum Drum.” We’re really excited about that! We’re planning on two more videos, and couldn’t think of a better place to shoot than in Mexico. We happened to bump into a friend of a friend who works in an art gallery in Mexico. She’s throwing this big party –an opening for some show she’s doing in March. She said, “you should come down here, and we might be interested in playing your original music video in the gallery. We’re going to try to get you a show in Mexico City.” So, that said, we have all the contacts to get shows there, and the cinematographer we used for the original video, he decided this past Saturday that he was going to come with us too. So that’s great, and we don’t have to worry about anything.

We’re going down there. We’re going to shoot in the desert and everything a whole matador-themed video. We were thinking about getting a bull arena, but we figured that would be just a little bit complicated.

Retail DJ: Expensive, probably!

Felix Flores: So we decided to go with something more natural, and we couldn’t think of a better place than the desert. We originally had this idea of me in the desert covered in scorpions. [all laugh] But we couldn’t figure out how to make that happen without me actually getting stung or using a bad dummy. We thought of using a stand-in, but then we didn’t want to be [held] responsible [if anything happened].

Retail DJ: What is the name of the desert where you plan to shoot?

Felix Flores We are going to choose one when we get there. We haven’t decided that yet because there are a couple of places that we looked at. There’s a place Yerba de Agua, which is this petrified cascade (and that’s not a desert—it’s, like, a petrified waterfall), and there are bathing pools on top. We were thinking about maybe doing it around the bathing pools. But we’re also looking at the desert. We’re not sure where we’re thinking. There are some sand dunes near Torreón. I have a friend who’s a teacher there, and he told us about this. He took pictures of these beautiful sand dunes.

So we’re going to decide later. We’re going to take a week to location scout. We’re going to be there a month.

Retail DJ: Oh wow! I didn’t realize the trip was going to be that long. When are you leaving?

Felix Flores: Monday, February 22nd.

Retail DJ: Wow, that’s great. So soon!

Felix Flores: Yeah! So after we finish the first one, then we’re going to do another one. But we have to give the concepts up to the cinematographer or the director of the video. I am not going to do any of the “creative” or concepts for this video, just the first one.

Retail DJ: Weren’t you working on one here in the city? Is it a two-part video?

Felix Flores: Yes, I was. The first one is the one we just finished up. It should be ready soon. (author’s note: the video has been completed by the time of this publication). So we’ll see. It’s been delayed. We had a music video premier party, but the music video never arrived. [laughs]

Retail DJ: This reminds me of the moment on Real Housewives, when Sherée had a fashion show “with no fashions.” She had no clothes, no models, nada, and just turned it into a get-together. Funny stuff. But in your case, it wasn’t that bad, right?

Felix Flores: No, no! I at least had my piano with me and I performed, but I didn’t have the music video.

Retail DJ: So you’ll be in Mexico for a month, which is a pretty long time. Will you be doing anything there besides just the video? You’ll be performing too, right?

Felix Flores: Yeah.

Retail DJ: Where will you be performing? Do you know any of those details yet?

Felix Flores: Those, I will have later and can give you as the date approaches. But beyond performing, we’re basically taking a small vacation, and we’re going to do a lot of songwriting too and creating concepts for the next bits of work. After this first video comes out, once we put it online, we’re going to start really pushing to try to get some representation and get interest in general from fans. We think the idea in the video we just finished is going to be interesting enough to get some attention hopefully!

Retail DJ: So how do you prepare, in terms of packing, for an entire month of travel? Do you have idea what you’re going to bring?

Felix Flores: Well, I have to bring a little bit of everything because where we’re going (for example. Torreón), it’s not going to be much warmer than here. We looked at the weather, and last week, it was like 39 or 40 degrees some days. But then we’re also going to be in Tulum and Cancún, which is, like, beachwear! Then we’re going to be in Mexico City, where it’s like 60s and 70s. So we’re going to bring sweaters, longjohns. . .

Retail DJ: Sequined pants . . . [all laugh]

Felix Flores: . . . sequined pants. Everything!

Retail DJ: How do you think this trip will compare to your Baltimore trip? (author’s note: Felix had taken a trip to Baltimore, MD a few months ago to perform)

Felix Flores: [laughs] Well, let’s put it this way: I won’t be performing at an all-you-can-eat buffets!

Click below to continue reading “What’s Good? Felix Flores (Part One):

Retail DJ: Wait, so no all-you-can-eat buffet performances in Mexico?!?!

Felix Flores: Well, at least if I do end up performing at one, they will be serving tacos and burritos and not, like, silver dishes full of Cheez-Its.

Retail DJ: That doesn’t sound good. Did the bad food kill a bit of the inspiration in Baltimore?

Felix Flores: No, I think the weather and the fact that the city was for lease [all laugh] . . . There were a lot of factors that killed [the inspiration] way before the performance, but we had a great time! We just sat in the hotel room and ordered room service—you know, over-salted burgers and whatnot. The weather was just so awful that once we got there, we didn’t really want to go anywhere, and our performance was inside the hotel. But we did go to this really cool market—I don’t know, I can’t remember the name of it—but it looked like how the natural organic market looks in Union Square, where they have the people selling produce and whatnot, except they were selling raccoon and possum! We asked to sample, but they said we couldn’t.

Retail DJ: I hear it just all tastes like chicken. I mean I’m Southern, so ya know . . . But everything tastes like chicken at the end of the day, so . . .

Felix Flores: EVERYTHING in that market was fried. Fried chicken. . . oh and this yellow lemon cake that gave us heart palpitations. [all laugh]

Retail DJ: Oh man! Well, sorry to hear about the food! At least you guys had fun. It sounds like it was more of an anthropological study than anything else! [all laugh]

Felix Flores: Yeah . . . I just have never seen that many “For Lease” signs in my entire life. You could go down five to ten blocks and just see . . . empty places.

Retail DJ: Strange. So, going back to Mexico, where not everything seems to be for lease, have you been there before?

Felix Flores: Yeah.

Retail DJ: In terms of the music scene, how do you think it compares to here? How do you think the people will receive your sound?

Felix Flores: Well, I guess I can only base it on some of the artists I know and like from there. I think in Mexico, they are more accepting of electronic artists, than they are in New York, and in the U.S., and maybe even more [accepting of] experimental artists. But I guess I can’t really generalize as much because when I was in Mexico City, it wasn’t about music before, and the friends that I was hanging out with weren’t in that scene at all. It was more of an escape. But I think there is a market there. I definitely think there are people who are interested in this because I feel like Mexico is more similar to Europe, with music, than it is New York City.

Retail DJ: What about fashion? Was there any big glaring difference between Mexico City and here for you?

Felix Flores: Not really. I didn’t really notice a huge difference. The stuff that I saw was less shocking. It was less extreme [there]. It was very . . . tame, I thought. But I was only in a couple of areas.

Retail DJ: How long were you there that time?

Felix Flores: Two weeks. I was just traveling. But also, my opinion of Mexico was influenced by all the people in my hostels, too. They were European . . . European backpackers. So I can’t really give an accurate idea of fashion in Mexico. Also, I wasn’t really in any fashionable cities. I was in Porto Escondido and Oaxaca, and I feel like Mexico City and Guadalajara are more geared towards fashion and artists.

- we take a little break to have Throat Coating tea. . . seriously–

Retail DJ: For your fashion, let’s just say looking at you now, and quite frankly whenever I see you, you’re often wearing something unique, a pairing of two genres of clothing, if you will, that I wouldn’t necessarily put together in my head, but somehow it manages to work.

Felix Flores: What kind? How?

Retail DJ: Well, like sequins and velvet, what you’re wearing today. I wouldn’t normally consider pairing a velvet Asian-inspired collar jacket with sequined “gypsy” pants, but somehow the look works because it’s you! One of the things I talk about on the site a lot is that trends don’t look good on everyone, but you’re one of those people who can pretty much wear anything and pull it off. So bearing this in mind, what makes you decide you want to buy something? Is there a light going off somewhere in your head that compels to buy certain items?

Felix Flores: There is. There’s definitely, for the piece of clothing I truly truly love. I see it, and then I hate it. But then I walk away from it for a second, and I’m like, “No, wait. Do I really hate that?” So then I go try it on. For example, my jacket with the shoulder pads—I tried it on, and the sleeves were too short, and I was like, “What?” But then I realized they were just rolled up! So then I rolled them down. [laughs] I just happened to be with my grandmother at the time in Michigan. We were in a Goodwill. I said, “Do you like this?” and she just gave me a funny look and said, “It’s very you.”

Even if I don’t buy [something] immediately, I’ll think about it for days until I have to go back and get it.

Though it’s not like I choose shocking things to be shocking, I just happen to like some things that are, you know? I just feel like, we’re in New York City. You can do and wear and say whatever you want. But everyone just seems to do the same boring thing. Why? We have access to some of the greatest artists, designers, and whatnot on the planet. Why not be a part of that?

Retail DJ: But do you think that “otherness” is becoming—or has already become—the norm?

Felix Flores: Not really. I think if anything, it’s fading away. I mean, sure, you can that because Lady Gaga exists, that it’s the norm. But how many people dressed like Lady Gaga do you see in New York City every day? None.

Check back soon for part 2 !

- Retail DJ

Tags: felix flores, what's good?