Felguk Talks About Coming To Orange County And Their North American Tour


For five years, Felipe (Fel) and Gustavo (Guk) of Felguk have been tearing up clubs and festivals of all kinds. In 2011, the Brizillian duo was placed in the top 100 DJ poll by DJ Mag. 2007 proved to be a break out year, as they received a personal phone call from Madonna. This led to producing a remix on the her album released on Warner Bros, Celebration. The remix titled '”2nite” was received well by Madonna and Warner Bros which led to a music video, and ultimately became the theme song for EDC 2010.
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Since then, Felguk hasn't looked back. They've produced countless remixes and collaborations with David Guetta, the Black Eyed Peas and Flo Rida.The duo from Rio de Janeiro is set to start the first leg of their North American Tour at the Yost Theater tomorrow (March 1). After their California dates, they'll head to the East Coast for the Ultra Music Festival, tour with Benny Benassi in Europe and cap it all off by performing at the massive rave Tomorrowland in Belgium. Here's what Gustavo of Felguk has to say.

OC Weekly: How did you get your name?
Gustavo: The name is a mix of our names Felipe (Fel) and Gustavo (Guk). Felipe used to call me Guka, and it has stuck since.

Who are your influences?
We have many influences inside and outside of EDM. Our more direct influence is from dane, which include Deadmau5, Wolfgang Gartner, Dada Life and Skrillex. Outside of EDM we love and are influenced by rock music like Coldplay, U2, Led Zeppelin, System of a Down, Foo Fighters and all other kinds of rock music.

Tell me about your current US tour that kicks off this week.
Early March we only tour California, starting with the Yost Theater, then Avalon and finally stopping in San Francisco. Late march, we will hit the East Coast for the Ultra Music Festival, followed by other gigs.We have played both coasts before, and are very excited about Ultra, where we have never been. We are excited to see all our DJ buddies and friends. Also we can't wait to see all of the big shots in the industry. It will be really fun to be a part it for the first time, while we're are really excited about our mini tours.

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What do you think of the American EDM scene?
I think EDM is evolving very fast; it's interesting to watch how the quality [of music] is changing. It is not happening in other genres or in other types of music. People follow fashion trends and it is not like anything else. It's the cool [thing] to do and people are making it a movement. I don't know about America, but in Brazil, techno, tech house and house became big because of Two Room Records.

Things started to change and now we have the dubstep phenomenon, which has taken over. The thing people don't understand is that dubstep is not so new, but it's cool to see how fast [it's growing]. Big room house (i.e., Swedish House Mafia) is also getting popular and now everything about the music is epic, not like how techno used to be. It is stadium music now, which is really exciting. A lot of producers are following the trends. Saturation is what makes new trends popular and pulls them along. I am happy I'm here to see what is going to happen. I just wish I could foresee what is going to happen in the future.

Tell me about what you have in store for your set at the Yost Theater this Thursday.
We are going to play a lot of originals. We play more of our original tracks then other DJs and producers. We will play a lot of electro that we love, and a little bit of electro-dubstep crossover with a lot of references to old rock songs. We like to do that in the middle of our songs and like to keep the rock & roll vibe.

You guys are headlining The CONTROL 3 Year Anniversary on Friday. Tell me about that.
It's a party that we know. We've played it a few times before. The crowd is really, really energetic. They know the tracks, they sing along, they like to have fun. We know the people who promote the party; it will be wonderful.

Tell me a little about your remix with Dirty South and Thomas Gold — “Eyes Wide Open.”
When the offer came in, we really appreciated the vocals but didn't know what style to use it with. We found a sound that we call dubstep and electro, like Knife Party and Kill the Noise. It has dubstep sounds and feels like dubstep too. It was really cool to do; we're happy about the mix.

Where is your favorite place to play in the world?
California is up there, to be honest. I really love this place, because of the crowd and what I said about the US became contender for dance music. It feels like we play to a crowd that listens to club music. It's kind of an experienced crowd. In Sao Paulo, Brazil it is the same experience. Dance parties with electronic music was big 20 years ago, and is still the main [thing] in Brazil. It is like L.A. in California, it is the main place for all music.

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