Ross From Friends – “Pale Blue Dot” Video
The parents of Felix Clary Weatherall, aka Ross From Friends, met in 1990. His father, Jamie Clary, had built up a sound system in the 1980s while playing at squat parties in and around London. And when he decided he wanted to see more of Europe, he got his hands on a bus, enlisted some friends, and travelled through France, Belgium, and Germany, setting the sound system up in towns along the way to throw spontaneous parties and play hi-NRG dance, Italo disco, and proto-Techno music. Ross From Friends’ mother Jo Weatherall, then just a friend of a friend, heard about the trip and offered to document the whole journey/traveling rave on video in exchange for a seat on the bus.
As a result of that trip, Felix Clary Weatherall and the beautifully hazy house music he records under the very goofy name Ross From Friends was born. The rising London producer caught our attention in 2016 with his You’ll Understand EP, and next week, after signing to Flying Lotus’ Brainfeeder label for the release of the Aphelion EP earlier this year, he’s finally coming out with his debut full-length.
The album is called Family Portrait, and we’ve already heard one song from it, the thumping “Project Cybersyn.” Today, he’s sharing another, “Pale Blue Dot.” The song comes along with a video that take the Family Portrait idea quite literally, made up of the footage that Ross From Friends’ mother shot on that fateful trip through Europe. The grainy VHS footage is a natural fit for Weatherall’s lo-fi aesthetic, and you can watch it while listening to “Pale Blue Dot” below.
Family Portrait is out 7/27 via Brainfeeder.