Toronto-based duo FEATURETTE was formed by singer Lexie Jay and drummer, Jon Fedorsen. FEATURETTE makes emotionally-charged, heavy-hitting electro-pop music that has met with international critical acclaim. After receiving their first full recording grant from FACTOR Canada, the duo released their debut LP CRAVE in October, 2016. Their first single, Broken, garnered much attention from media outlets across Canada, including Indie88 Toronto, four Stingray channels (national satellite), MusiquePlus and key spins in primetime on 102.1 TheEdge, Live885, CTV, RogersTV, The RIVER Detroit | Windsor, The ZONE Victoria, CHOM977 Montreal, X929 Calgary, LIVE885 Ottawa, MUCHMusic to name a few. The duo followed this up with an extensive Frosh Tour in September 2016, hitting many major University and College campus stages in Ontario.
Lexie took some time to have a little chat with us and here’s how it went.
Let’s go back in time a little and tell us about the genesis of Featurette.
This one time at band camp… we started a band! Haha
If you can believe it, Jon and I started writing and playing together as folk project, where we had guitars and fully recorded tracks, that we would soon after ditch in favour of synths and drum machines. Once we settled on synths/keys and pads, which suited us (and our skill set as piano players) way better, we found our sound and the rest was history. We’ve been evolving and changing ever since, and really enjoy creating sounds from scratch and matching visuals as a major part of our project.
Tell us a bit about your musical direction and influences.
Our influences come from all over – from Norwegian influences like Aurora, to Broods from New Zealand, to Phantogram and K.Flay in the US, we draw from all over to paint a picture of our own. Currently we’re really feeling Petit Biscuit (France), Moderat (German), ODESZA (US), Louis the Child(US) and Bülow (Germany/Canada).
How would you describe the music that you typically create?
Sound design is a huge part of our process. We sit for hours tinkering with different synths (Logic is our DAW), creating unique sounds that inspire melodies based on their character. It’s a super fun way to make music! On the other hand, we also love to just sit down at a piano when a melody comes first, and flesh out a tune that way, then find a way to fit it into our electronic world. I think lately we can confidently call our sound Electronic Indie Pop, with some future pop influences sprinkled in here and there.
Tell us about “The Blame”
The Blame is very close to my heart. I started writing this song in 2018, when my story of my past sexual abuse as a child began to bubble to the surface for me. It wasn’t until 2019 when I actually told my parents about what had happened; I’d lived with this secret for a really long time, since the abuse took place from when I was 11-17 years old. It’s a painful story to tell, so I felt really stunted in writing this song. I knew it needed to come out, but I wasn’t ready to address it, necessarily. We actually released it in our 2020 record Dream Riot, and if I’m honest with myself, I sort of swept it under the rug. I wasn’t in charge of production for this one, I just sort of let it happen without really steering the narrative in any direction. When it came to release time, I dogged addressing that song in interviews and publicity, I wasn’t ready to confront the issue. But in quarantine, and during covid, I’ve grown a lot. I’ve had a lot of time to reflect, heal, and find peace within myself, to the point where I’m ready to look my demons right in the eyes. My therapy in this is creating the art for The Blame – Exposed Version. The track and music video are the final product that I was hoping to put forward from the start. I had a hand in every part of it, and it was such a therapeutic thing to conceive of the sounds and the visuals that would go into the telling of this delicate narrative.
Is there a message in the video to those who have experienced sexual abuse.
There definitely is. At the emotional arc of the song, I smash through the invisible barrier that I’ve carried with me for my entire adolescent and adult life to this point. I think that’s the breakthrough that I wish for all survivors. A moment when they feel like they’re in control – breaking free from their confinements and taking back the narrative. That feeling of power returning with the message to their abuser: ‘you don’t own me’. I’m lucky to be getting to that place with my art, and I so hope that others who listen to it, or watch the video, will feel empowered to take those steps toward their healing as well. It’s never too late to heal.
The video was directed, produced and art directed by Lexie. How big of an undertaking was that?
Massive honestly because it wasn’t just the usual treatment, co-direction, production and art direction that I normally do, but this time it was an emotional heavy lift as well, which is what made it so powerful for me. I tried to capture every element of my experience to hopefully reach and resonate with other survivors, like myself. From the dancing in the oversized T-shirt as my inner child, to the 90’s aesthetic details in the butterfly clips, showcasing the ‘when’ of my story. Designing a costume that’s entirely see-through because that’s how I’ve felt all these years. Throwing myself a dark birthday party, and showing my age with the birthday candles… all these details were conceived to tell my story. With every single paper airplane I folded, I spent time with my thoughts, reflecting on what happened to me, and how I’m choosing to take that with me into the future. The giant sharp pencils were also a very poignant image that came to me early on – along with the desk and the lockers; bringing that dreamscape school imagery to life was a difficult but necessary task.
My favourite part was finding the breakaway glass for the scene where I get to smash through – that was such an awesome foray into the special FX world, and beyond cathartic to smash through that on set. Sourcing everything safely in Covid was no easy feat either, but I’m beyond happy with the team that helped me bring my vision to life and how everything ultimately came together. Let me tell you, it was an intense day, and we all cheered when that sledgehammer finally hit that pane.
Describe your favourite and least favourite part about being a musician
My favourite part is creation. It’s always been this way… I love to make something out of nothing. I love when a melody hits you out of nowhere while you’re in the shower and you have to run over to a piano to get it down so you don’t forget it in that fleeting moment… the spontaneity of that and the potential of each seed you plant I think is so beautiful.
I think my least favourite part is all the hats you have to wear as an artist that pull you away from the music. I have a love-hate relationship with social media. I find it to be very taxing and don’t naturally gravitate towards those kinds of interactions as an introvert, but I’m trying to get better at it and the whole ‘self promotion’ aspect of it. It’s an evolving process for me.
What is the biggest struggle for you as a band at the moment?
Our biggest struggle is timing at the moment. We know we’re last in line was far as businesses that are essential, and the flight-pattern of all of that returning to normal. But we still need to work to stay relevant and make our mark – we have so much that we’ve created that’s ready to be released into the world, but the timing isn’t easy with so many other major factors and movements that need attention. Basically we’re waiting our turn. With this release, the timing felt right with April being sexual abuse awareness month, so we wanted to make our announcement for The Blame at that point, and then hopefully as vaccines roll out and normalcy returns, we can start to share more and more.
How have you been keeping creative during the Pandemic?
Writing is probably our favourite part, so we’ve definitely been in the studio a whole bunch. We’re lucky to be bubbled together of course, so it’s easy to just hit the studio when inspiration strikes! We’re also both visual artists as well, so we’ve been doing a lot of that. Painting, late-night music walks at 2am when no one is around to see us dancing in the streets, and then some more studio time.
What are your plans for the rest of 2021?
Since we’re in Canada, much the same as the above! We are excited for life to return to normal, but fully recognized that it’s unlikely that touring or shows will be feasible in Ontario until 2022, so we’re excited to plan for our Dream Riot release party (which came out in 2020 wow – how long have we been inside?!), and simultaneously releasing new art, because at the end of the day, the life goes on!
When you kick back who are some of the artists you listen to?
We recently bought the new Tame Impala record and have been loving that, but anyone who knows us knows we’re huge Radiohead people. Anything along those lines with a nice glass of wine sounds like a good night to us!
