In less than a year, the Felice Brothers have gone from honing their folk infused sound at Sunday BBQ sing-alongs and recording their debut LP in a chicken coop, to opening for Bright Eyes and selling out their own upcoming solo gig at NYC’s Mercury Lounge weeks in advance. Comprised of three Catskill Mountain-bred and based brothers—James, Simone and Ian (who lent the band their surname)—and their friend Christmas, the Felice Brothers’ bio epitomizes fact sometimes being stranger than fiction.

From singing in the subway to sharing a stage with one of indie rock's brightest stars, the Felice Brothers' indifference to the spotlight has proven refreshing at a time when most acts suffer from pretense and pre-packaging. PsychoPEDIA spoke with James—one-fourth of the affable, bright-eyed band—during some increasingly rare off-time, about booze, Thomas Burton and the best thing about blowing up. In his words:

Where are you now?
I’m driving right now. I had to go buy some new boots; mine were basically like socks. I got some new Tims… it’s probably the third time in my life I’ve ever been shoe shopping [laughs].

What’s your number one vice?
We probably drink too much liquor. We really like scotch; although, I’ve been known to enjoy Segrams and other shitty whiskies. We drink, we smoke, we don’t do any drugs…yet [laughs]. I haven’t killed anybody and I’m not into hookers, so I think I’m doing ok.

Any crazy stories from the tour with Bright Eyes?
We tried not to have any crazy stories; we didn’t want to blow it [laughs]. We wanted to be as professional as possible.

What kind of music did you listen to growing up?
Aw man, a lot of different things—a lot of old, classic country music, delta blues. Robert Johnson, guys like that. And, you know, [Bob] Dylan, Neil Young and The Band of course, Randy Newman, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Wu-Tang Clan…

Do any of your musical leanings come from your family?
Not really. Our parents are really just hard-working people. Maybe my dad, who listened to the Dylan and Neil Young when he was younger, but no one in our family played music. We had to figure that one out on our own. It was a jump when we started the band. Ian was living in a tent in the woods; I was sleeping in my car in the parking lot. I remember I left my job and was like, ‘I’ll be back soon.’ But I haven’t gone back yet. It’s beautiful; I couldn’t really ask for anything more amazing to happen in my life.

What would you buy with your first million?
[Laughs] Well, when that happens when I’m 85 I’ll probably buy a defibrillator. No, that goes back to the family—our father, our parents, and anybody that needs it. I have no desire, I don’t think any of us really want anything; we grew up really poor, we never had much. Our little brother wants to go to medical school, so if we could help him out that would be cool. Maybe a TV and a DVD player…

What was the last movie you saw?
There Will Be Blood. It was phenomenal. Paul Thomas Anderson has made so many great films, but that was the best. That was some other shit; that was some Citizen Kane shit. I drove an hour and a half to go see it, twice. Christmas bought the soundtrack the other day and we’ve been listening to that. Johnny Greenwood is a genius.

One of your MySpace commenters said, “accordions = women.” Have you found that to be true?
I would say that is not as true as I wish it was [laughs].

Have you guys been on the receiving end of a lot of female attention?
Yeah, I guess so. We try not to… we’re six guys all together in one bus so it’s not really like anybody can bring a girl on the bus. There was one time and it was sort of weird… if there’s a nice, beautiful girl then maybe, but we try not to get caught up in that shit. We try to be professional; this is our job. Women like that come and go; right now we have to stay focused.

I know you guys do a bit of gambling on the bus. What do you play?
We play a lot poker—mostly five-card stud. That was one of the things with our dad: you never play cards unless you’re playing for money. We all share all the money anyways, but I’ve definitely won $40 or $50; I probably had to give it back for gas [laughs]. Gambling is an important part of our lives. But any money we have goes in the band; no one has their private stash or any of that kind of shit. Everything is shared. I can’t really imagine a band that has their own money because it’s not your money it’s the band’s money. If you had a wife or a kid or a mortgage maybe… none of us have anything else to pay for. It’s all for one and one for all. Hopefully it’ll be that way forever.

How have your family and friends reacted to your success?
People have been really, really supportive. I think the music we play, it’s the kind of thing my parents like, my aunts and uncles, people that I respect. The best part about it is my father comes home in his pickup truck and he’s blasting our album; he didn’t even listen to the first album, he’s not that kind of guy. That’s so humbling and beautiful, that makes me very happy.

If you weren’t making music what would you be doing?
Holy shit I have no idea. I’d probably be a fisherman. I love the ocean… let’s just hope that doesn’t have to happen for a while.

What’s the best thing about blowing up?
[Laughs] I don’t know. I guess people come up to me and they say this and that, ‘you’re famous,’ or whatever. I know I’m not, but it’s nice to have people come up to you and tell you that they enjoy your music. In this world everybody wants to be touched and to touch other people with what they do, and the fact that people are touched by what we do is just wonderful.

I know you guys lived in Brooklyn briefly after forming the band. Would you ever move back?
It sort of scares me—they’re too many people, too much noise. It’s great in small doses. You know, Thomas Burton always said you can’t live a contemplative life in the city…

~Alisa Gould-Simon


Second photo by geordieboy2000 via Flickr
Third photo by Benjamin Tucker via Tennessee Journalist
Fourth photo by go2wu via Flickr
Seventh photo by Christopher Rodney Scofield via Flickr
Fifth, sixth, and eighth photos courtesy of Felice Brothers