Feline and Strange

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Feline and Strange

Feline and Strange is a wave / dark cabaret band from Berlin with influences from opera and electronic music.

history

The Berlin opera singer Feline Lang founded the band in 2009 instead of her opera ensemble canteatro . Initially a duo from Lang as songwriter and singer and the pianist and electronic producer Chrischto, the band made their first appearances in galleries and at smaller festivals. Shortly afterwards, trombonist Uli Christenn, bassist Marc André Haller and percussionist and cellist Christoph Klemke joined them, but Chrischto left the band and was replaced by jazz pianist Matti Häcker. Feline Lang took over the electrical production herself.

For a short time the band consisted of seven members, with the flamenco guitarist Cristobal and the harpist Brigitte Langnickel-Köhler they played several gigs, but after that both were only engaged as occasional guests for logistical reasons.

The now five-piece band released their first album Behavior at the beginning of 2011. The album was particularly well received by the jazz press and the band played increasingly in jazz clubs, despite the increasingly electronic orientation.

The second album Science Fiction was discovered and appropriated especially by the steampunk scene, and from now on the band played primarily at relevant festivals. With the repertoire of this album, the cello became more and more important, so that Christoph Klemke was replaced on drums and percussion by the guest drummer Agustin Strizzi.

At the beginning of 2014 the trombonist Uli Christenn left the band. The current recordings for the new album were therefore completed with the Discovery Horns wind formation. At the same time, the idea of ​​“Space Radio”, a cabaret version of the stage show on a small scale, was born. Feline Lang took over the piano part herself, the show became the monthly jour fixe in Berlin's only steampunk bar, the 12-degree Aetherloge.

At the end of 2014, during the final work on the planned third album, the band received an invitation from the renowned US producer Jason Rubal to record an album with him. The band accepted and produced, now only with the three core members Feline Lang, Christoph Klemke and Marc André Haller, the album Lies . Brian Viglione on drums and Jesse Platts on piano can be heard here for the first time as guests .

Shortly before the publication of Lies , Feline Lang received a scholarship from the Berlin “musicboard” and traveled to a residence in Marseille. It was there that the foundation for the band's fifth album, Out , was likely to be released at the end of 2016. The band also received funding from the German Bundestag's Music Initiative for their first US tour in spring 2015.

The band re-recorded the unreleased album during this tour, also with Jason Rubal and Brian Viglione, and released it in 2016 under the title Truths . On bass, however, you can hear the co-producer Tyler KouqJ Garrett, as Haller was unable to take part in the tour for family reasons.

The Record Release Party for Lies had assumed the character of its own festival as “Steamball”. Since the band was now in a lively exchange process with international artists through international appearances and the support of Rubal, they institutionalized the festival without further ado in order to offer an attractive performance opportunity for the guests from abroad. The “Steamball” has now taken place four times in Berlin.

In the spring of 2016 the band traveled to the USA for the fourth time, toured and recorded the songs written in Marseille, again with Brian Viglione on drums and Tyler KouqJ Garrett on bass, as Haller had recently left the band.

In 2017 this fifth album "Out" was released, for the first time only in electronic form on motor RaR. The band continues the tradition of paper artwork, but only sells it in their own web shop. With the tour for the album, the duo will for the first time play more often abroad, especially in Great Britain, than in Germany. Also Goth festivals in Belgium, the Netherlands and Italy. will be played and for the first time in Germany the biggest festival of its genre, the Wave Gotik Treffen 2017, Feline Lang started a cooperation with the British band birdeatsbaby, from which the single "Cassandra's Twin" emerged at the end of the year.

Feline and Strange 2018 (Photo: Merlin Noack)

In 2018 the band positions itself politically under the hashtag #howcanartnotbepolitical, is committed to climate protection and against racism. The climax are appearances for Extinction Rebellion, a. a. at the Wave Gotik Treffen 2019. At the end of 2018, the new drummer Rah Hell will join the band. The album “Trigger Warning” is developed together and presented song by song on the Patreon crowdfunding platform. The album will be recorded again in the USA, with the successor of Jason Rubal, trans woman and bassist Taylor KouqJ Bull. The public release date of the album is given as April 4, 2020.

style

The band developed from a NuJazz formation via electropop with cabaret elements to today's Darkwave / Dark Cabaret band.

In addition to the lead singer's voice, the sound is defined by the cello in all conceivable ways of playing and the piano used in around 70% of all songs, as well as the electronic sounds.

Lang's compositions are influenced by her training and past as an opera singer: sprawling, epic and opulent, in classic song structures, often with orchestral accompaniment and dramatic climaxes.

Her lyrics on the first albums, on the other hand, are mostly sarcastic, tragic or cynical. In addition to the pop themes of love, loneliness and self-discovery, the themes of reason, responsibility and anger about the lack of them are in the foreground. Lang's works often have a strongly depressive undertone, which, however, often remains subliminal in sarcasm. From OUT (2017) that changes and death, suicide, despair, but also political issues such as flight, gender, gentrification and the environment are addressed directly. Lang now also writes openly about her depression.

Lang also creates the artwork for the band, in video, image and stage show, she tells the story of stranded aliens, who marvel at people and look for a way home, between science fiction and truths with novels, comics and online games.

This backstory is also told at the concerts and implemented in costumes, staged dialogues and actions. The shows tend to have the character of a musical theater or a revue.

Band policy

The band publishes all of their works via Patreon, but also via the free streaming portal bandcamp.com. All of the band's works are GEMA-free, and the band expressly encourages sharing the music in their booklets . For owners of the originals there are bonus tracks, puzzles and other rewards, as well as the sometimes very elaborate artwork, e.g. B. a book, a comic, a metal box, a pop-up box with a code disk.

Discography

  • 2011: Behavior! ( recordJet )
  • 2013: Science Fiction ( recordJet )
  • 2015: Lies (motor RAR)
  • 2016: Truths (motor RAR)
  • 2017: OUT (motor RAR)
  • 2018: Single Cassandra's Twin (recordJet)
  • 2020: TRIGGER WARNING (recordJet)

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ https://www.felineandstrange.com/
  2. ↑ https://www.felineandstrange.com/aliens/feline-lang-the-mindvoice/
  3. ↑ Feline Lang: summer party @ music allows 2010.mp4. June 5, 2011, accessed June 22, 2016 .
  4. ↑ YouTube. In: www.youtube.com. Retrieved June 22, 2016 .
  5. ↑ Rock Opera: Queen Without Guitars. In: Berliner Zeitung. Retrieved June 22, 2016 .
  6. ^ Feline and Strange - live at Fargo.mp4 .
  7. ↑ Gela Schmidt: Feline & Strange - live smokehouse Kiel 1/2. May 2, 2014, accessed June 22, 2016 .
  8. ↑ Feline Lang: Feline & Strange live 2013 - Carnival of Cultures. August 9, 2013, accessed June 22, 2016 .
  9. ↑ Feline Lang: BEHIND THE SCENES of SCIENCE FICTION by Feline & Strange - German / English subtitles. October 19, 2013, accessed June 22, 2016 .
  10. ↑ Renaissance, steampunk festivals return to central NJ. In: Asbury Park Press. Retrieved June 22, 2016 .
  11. ↑ a b NEWS from outer worlds | Feline & Strange. In: www.felineandstrange.com. Retrieved June 22, 2016 .
  12. ↑ Album LIES (2015) | Feline & Strange. In: www.felineandstrange.com. Retrieved June 22, 2016 .
  13. ↑ Volume Bio | Feline & Strange. In: www.felineandstrange.com. Retrieved June 22, 2016 .
  14. ↑ Album TRUTHS (2015) | Feline & Strange. In: www.felineandstrange.com. Retrieved June 22, 2016 .
  15. ↑ STEAMBALL | Feline & Strange. In: www.felineandstrange.com. Retrieved June 22, 2016 .
  16. ↑ https://www.theaquarian.com/2015/06/03/shoreworld-feline-strange-germanic-soul-cabaret-greets-the-city-by-the-sea/
  17. ↑ https://www.felineandstrange.com/out/
  18. ↑ https://felineandstrange.bandcamp.com/album/out
  19. ↑ https://boozeandreviewsblog.wordpress.com/2017/09/28/1742/
  20. ↑ https://www.snoozecontrol.be/reviews/6892/
  21. ↑ https://mat2020.blogspot.com/2015/05/cirque-noir-con-poison-garden-feline.html
  22. ↑ https://leipglo.com/2018/05/20/feline-strange-wgt-virgins-park/
  23. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4_wlQosLoLs&t=816s
  24. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GgUf7m0XrMM
  25. ↑ https://www.seventhwavestudio.com/about-us
  26. ↑ https://www.felineandstrange.com/tw-trigger-warning/
  27. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pmp8lB9jrSo
  28. ↑ https://www.patreon.com/posts/day-8-tw-mental-30032473
  29. ↑ Album "BEHAVIOR" (2011) | Feline & Strange. In: www.felineandstrange.com. Retrieved June 22, 2016 .
  30. ↑ Album SCIENCE FICTION (2013) | Feline & Strange. In: www.felineandstrange.com. Retrieved June 22, 2016 .
  31. ↑ Album LIES (2015) | Feline & Strange. In: www.felineandstrange.com. Retrieved June 22, 2016 .
  32. ↑ Feline and Strange: ALbum Truths | Feline & Strange. In: www.felineandstrange.bandcamp.com. Retrieved August 30, 2018 .