http://www.dancestar.com Lenny Kravitz presents The Album Of The Year Award to Felix Da Housecat for "Kittenz & Thee Glitz" at Dancestar USA. Felix da Housecat’s 2001 album, Kittenz and thee Glitz, turned the dance music world on its side as his collaborations with the now infamous Miss Kittin on “Silver Screen” and “Madame Hollywood” and Melistar on “Harlot” and “What Does it Feel Like” spawned a synth club revival. Felix da Housecat’s 2001 album, Kittenz and thee Glitz, turned the dance music world on its side as his collaborations with the now infamous Miss Kittin on “Silver Screen” and “Madame Hollywood” and Melistar on “Harlot” and “What Does it Feel Like” spawned a synth club revival. Along the way, Felix gained mainstream press acceptance and was heralded by Entertainment Weekly, Rolling Stone and Spin as one of the most creative artists in music today. With DEVIN DAZZLE AND THE NEON FEVER (2004, Emperor Norton), Felix once again has sewn together an album a la hip-hop’s Dan The Automator and Prince Paul which taps the talents of varied producers and vocalists and creates a thoroughly enjoyable ride. Boasting guest vocals from James Murphy of DFA/LCD Soundsystem (“What She Wants”) – “He’s a cool white boy with lots of funk,’ states Felix, Tyrone "Visionary" Palmer (“Ready to Wear,” “Neon Human”), Kate Wax, and an all-girl group known as The Neon Fever (“Rocket Ride,” “Short Skirts,” “Everyone is Someone in LA,” “Hunting Season”) Devin Dazzle and the Neon Fever transcends simple dance, rock or pop music. While Kittenz had it’s framework squarely built upon DJ and club culture, Devin Dazzle and the Neon Fever is an album built upon punk/post new-wave culture and is deliberately more song oriented. To accomplish this Felix took a new approach. “I decided I wanted to use live musicians for this album,” Felix explains. “I got so tired of the arpeggiated bass lines everyone's using, so I went out an got proper live musicians. I play keyboards because I really wanted to get a live feel for this record." Over the course of 20 years his determination and willingness to re-invent himself have led him to a point that has now included a Grammy nomination, remix work for artists such as Madonna, Garbage, New Order and Giorgio Moroder; to DJ gigs at the world’s most prestigious music festivals. Born in Detroit in 1971 and raised in Park Forrest, outside Chicago, Felix Stallings, Jr.'s earliest influence was his father, a saxophonist who turned him on to classic '70s funk and soul by artists like Stevie Wonder and Earth, Wind & Fire. His next major musical epiphany came about when Purple Rain dropped and he became the keyboardist for Shades of Blue, a band that covered Prince & the Revolution songs. What finally gave was Pierre’s once-in-a-lifetime offer. "Once I got to London and saw all those punk rockers," Felix says, "I thought `this is where it's going to happen.'" Armed with a box of DATs, Felix made the rounds. "It was crazy," he says, "I'd walk into a label cold, play a track, and they'd sign it!" He quickly sold "What's Love About" to Freetown Inc and "Thee Dawn" to William Orbit's Guerilla label and returned to the states with more money then he'd ever seen. In 1992 "Thee Dawn" became a European smash and Felix blew-up overseas. "I was producing a track a week for different labels," he says. The next year, the success of "Thee Underground Made Me Do It," and "In Thee Dark We Live," helped further cement his fame. The latter track, released under Aphrohead, was just one of Felix's many production aliases which would come to include Wonderboy, Rocketmann, Outerrealm, Thee Glitz and Thee Maddkatt Courtship. Dancestar is the world’s only Televised Electronic Music Awards Show, created by Andy Ruffell with Ben Turner as Creative Director the show has been broadcast in over 54 Countries around the world. Previous winners include – Tiesto, Paul Oakenfold, Faithless, ATB, Fat Boy Slim, Frankie Knuckles, MOBY, Masters At Work, Ferry Corsten, David Morales, and Carl Cox. More info – info@dancestar.com

• published: 08 Oct 2015
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