In the music video for his new track "A Voice from the Future," queer, Mexican-American artist Felix and the Future is a runaway from Earth looking for a home in Outer Space. The video, co-directed with Michael St. Onge, offers surreal and sensual visuals that recall kindred queer space spirits like David Bowie. Felix stokes our deepest desires with his seductive, synth rhythms and out-of-this-world scenes to lead us towards our guiding lights. PRIDE spoke with Felix and the Future about the making of his new video, and how he created his artistic universe.
PRIDE: How did you develop the visual style of the video?
Felix and the Future: The visual style is a cosmic homage to photographer and artist James Bidgood, who directed the film Pink Narcissus. I've been developing my own style for years using masked characters, alien bodies, and sexual deviants to tell stories through music videos. I wanted to merge my own dark fantasy world with his smooth, colorful aesthetic. The characters in this video are all the many facets of my own brain, competing for dominance, and trying to cope with the ever-changing external life.
"A Voice from the Future" calls when it is time to evolve. It calls only once, and you can either embrace your ultimate form, or you can shy away from it. There is no guarantee that the stars will be any warmer on the other side of space, but, I, Felix and the Future, am actively embracing my own evolution even if it means not recognizing my own face in the mirror.
"A Voice from the Future" was also me saving myself from becoming the skeleton that was my mother. She died at 36 to anorexia and bulimia. I was a child when I lost her. The smell of a corpse lingered in our house for years as she crawled back and forth from the grave, tip toeing the lines of life and death. I started this song out with the sounds of bones in my head and years later I'm using my songs to heal myself, and to offer it to anyone else in need.
What message do you hope LGBT audiences get from watching your video?
I hope that any LGBTQ+ person, person or color, and anyone disenfranchised is inspired to answer their own voice that calls them into the future. The same voice that we hear when we are alone in the black of night. It is a small light that travels from space and into our bedroom and helps us become the greatest versions of ourselves that we can become.
And then using that same voice to champion those less fortune so they too can rise up.
It is also a reminder that change happens in increments, and that even if our body feels stagnant, there's always an inner life that we can foster and grow.
We are living in an age of fast changes, aggressive politics, and social upheaval. I would encourage anyone watching not to dim their light, because others are afraid of leaving the dark.
Watch the music video for "A Voice from the Future" below. And for more on Felix and the Future, follow him on Instagram and check out his official website!
Check out Felix and the Future's LP, Holy Hands Vol. 2 on Spotify!
