Ross from Friends

For the Friends character, see Ross Geller.
Ross from Friends
Birth nameFelix Clary Weatherall
BornJune 1993 (age 31)
Colchester, Essex, England
GenresElectronic music, dub techno, vaporwave, house
Occupation(s)DJ, record producer
Years active2012–present
LabelsBrainfeeder
Websiterossfromfriends.net

Felix Clary Weatherall (born June 1993),[1] known by his stage name Ross from Friends, is a British electronic music producer and DJ. He is signed to the Brainfeeder label, and released his debut album Family Portrait in July 2018, being noted as "one to watch" by The Guardian.[2]

Weatherall began to make music under a number of different names before settling on Ross from Friends in 2012. The name was chosen because a TV in the studio he was using had a DVD of Friends stuck inside it, and so would only play episodes of Friends.[3]

Career

Weatherall's first releases came on small UK electronic labels, such as Magicwire and Lobster Theremin.[4] His 2015 release "(Talk to Me) You'll Understand" was described by XLR8R as "a hazy lo-fi number with woozy synths and classy vocal samples."[3] This breakthrough track has around nineteen million streams on YouTube.[5][6]

Mixmag published a joke article on 1 April 2018, suggesting that David Schwimmer, who played Ross in the TV sitcom Friends, was suing Weatherall.[7][3]

His debut album Family Portrait was released in July 2018. Mixmag described it as combining various electronic influences like "the vibrancy of hip hop, Japanese boogie, and house music". Weatherall rejects the use of the term 'lo-fi' for his music "because of the connotations of it."[5]

In August 2019, Weatherall released Epiphany on Brainfeeder, a three track EP with artwork designed by the skateboarder Chad Muska.[8]

Live show

Weatherall tours his live show with his band members and friends, Jed Hampson and John Dunk.[9] The live set has a unique setup "combining saxophone and keys with Ableton-led beats and basslines".[10] The three bandmates have taken their live show to festivals and venues such as Glastonbury, Coachella, The Roundhouse and Sonar.[11]

Personal life

Weatherall was born and grew up in Brightlingsea,[5] near Colchester, Essex, in a musical family. His father was a designer of electronic sound systems for live shows,[4] and played "Hi-NRG and nascent techno music at squat parties".[12]

Weatherall's first music video "Pale Blue Dot" is composed of archival homemade footage taken by his mother, telling the story of the spontaneous raves his parents set up with his father's homemade soundsystem on a bus around Europe in 1990.[13][14]

Discography

Albums

Extended plays

  • David Crane's Amazing Tennis (2013)
  • Alex Brown (2015)
  • You'll Understand (2015)
  • Don't Sleep, There Are Snakes (2017)
  • The Outsiders (2017)
  • Aphelion (2018)
  • Epiphany (2019)

Remixes

  • "Wallflower" (Ross from Friends Remix) (2015)
  • "Halfway to Nowhere" (Ross from Friends Remix) (2017)
  • "Edison" (Ross from Friends Remix) (2018)
  • Thundercat – "Friend Zone" (Ross from Friends Remix) (2018)[15]
  • Flume featuring London Grammar – "Let You Know" (Ross from Friends Remix) (2019)[16]

References

  1. ^ "Felix CLARY WEATHERALL - Personal Appointments (free information from Companies House)". Find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk. Retrieved 3 December 2020.
  2. ^ Kalia, Ammar (2018-07-18). "One to Watch: Ross from Friends". The Guardian. Retrieved 2019-11-18.
  3. ^ a b c XLR8R Staff. "20 Questions: Ross From Friends". XLR8R. Retrieved 2018-12-18.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  4. ^ a b Kalia, Ammar (2018-07-14). "One to Watch: Ross from Friends". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2018-12-18.
  5. ^ a b c "Ross From Friends navigated a whirlwind of hype to emerge on a world famous label". Mixmag. Retrieved 2018-12-18.
  6. ^ "Ross From Friends - Talk To Me You'll Understand". YouTube.
  7. ^ "David Schwimmer is suing Ross From Friends for "defamation of character"". Mixmag.net. Retrieved 2018-12-18.
  8. ^ "Ross From Friends Returns With New EP 'Epiphany'". Clash Magazine. Retrieved 2019-09-09.
  9. ^ "Ross From Friends navigated a whirlwind of hype to emerge on a world famous label". Mixmag. Retrieved 2019-08-27.
  10. ^ "Ross from Friends: How I Play Live". DJMag.com. 2018-10-21. Retrieved 2019-09-09.
  11. ^ "Selected By Ross From Friends". Notion.
  12. ^ "Ross From Friends – Biography". The List. 2020-07-19. Retrieved 2024-04-22.
  13. ^ "Ross From Friends: Pale Blue Dot". Nowness. Retrieved 2019-09-09.
  14. ^ "Ross From Friends shares new video for "Pale Blue Dot"". The Fader.
  15. ^ "Listen to Ross From Friends remix Thundercat's "Friend Zone"". The Fader.
  16. ^ Levin, Harry (2019-08-26). "Ross From Friends puts a minimalist touch on Flume's 'Let You Know' [Stream]". Dancing Astronaut. Archived from the original on 2019-09-04. Retrieved 2019-09-04.