Felix Potier
First appeared - Issue #10

With this Grab you’ve got a bargain. We’re giving you two for the price of one. It’s time to focus on the young man with the mostest! The dude who one night is rockin’ it and boppin’ it with Macarburettors down at a sweaty Hyde Park Hotel, the next night he’s Mr Dynamite himself singing out front of the funkiest fellows in town, the one and only Bobby Blackbird and the Blue Jays. Who is this schizo mother I hear you ask? Well, he is the very young and the very talented Felix Potier.

 Readers of Groove may remember his face from The Salt Flat Trio, a band we featured in Issue No 8. Felix cut his teeth playing rockabilly and studying music at Edith Cowan, and Macarburettors began two years ago when Benny Von Lebedevs, a drummer friend of Felix’s from The Mustang Bar rockabilly scene hustled one Filthy Luca Adrigan into playing double bass for the first time. Playing a mix of their own material, (songs like ‘I Ate Two Cats On The Weekend’ and ‘Left Town On My Motorcycle’) and hotted up versions of old rockers and the odd Beatles tune they have left fans at the Hydey and the Castle for dead. Their fifteen song CD ‘Macarburettors’ will give you some idea of how much aural damage they can do. Just check out the opening guitar solo on ‘Blood Brothers’, that’ll convince you. Recorded in the office of some friends by Max Ducker of Chimbu this lo fi recording packs a mighty punch.

Speaking of recording in offices Bobby Blackbird and the Blue Jays’ debut seven inch single was tracked in a renovated office just down the road from Dada Records. The proud owners of Cardboard City Records are Dan ‘The Man’ Moore, (DJ and one man promoting machine) and Ryan Grieve, who was a fellow student of Felix’s at Edith Cowan. Ryan is the Blue Jays’ heavy drummer, who has built a fine reputation with bands such as Flux Capacitor, The Gloworm Trio and most recently Rhibosome. In receipt of some ArtsWA funding to set up not just a studio space but also a musical think tank Dan and Ryan searched high and low for the right spot, just as they do when trying to find that elusive sample or soul record.

‘Don’t Need Nobody’, featuring a plaintive Felix vocal B/W ‘Peach Fuzz’, the very seriously funk-dripping instrumental is getting some good rotation on RTR and Triple J. Following on Cardboard City Records will put out a twelve inch with four tracks from Dan, Nathan J and Ryan and a second seven from BB & BJs tentatively titled ‘What You Wanna Do’ B/W ‘Theme From Bobby Blackbird and the Blue Jays’. Joining in the fun are Chris Doropoulos percussionist, Jesse Fulton bassist, and for live shows a brass section helps out. They’ll be doing a special show on Easter Sunday at the Inglewood Hotel and are planning an overseas trip later in the year. I did talk to Felix and he gave me the facts just like that. He also said “Dan The Man’s always been an inspiration for me ever since I met him at the Con where he was doing the sound course”. Well that’s all folks, be sure to check out both these great bands featuring the sartorial dresser and handy guitar picker that is Felix Potier.