COMING UP IN 2023 | ‘Music To Time-Travel To’
“Felix Danilo’s inventive compositions are fabulous examples of how to use some fairly ‘out-there’ harmonic ideas to enhance the music and overall effectiveness of the songs. He seems to effortlessly transfer jazz and classical theory over to the pop/rock world.”
Muzic.net.nz
“Danilo’s guitar work and composing is captivating.”
Divide & Conquer
“Spectacular guitar-work.”
Pitch Perfect
About Felix
Felix is a young, independent musician from Wellington, New Zealand, who has been playing Electric Guitar since he could hold one, and reached Licentiate Level with the London College of Music at 18. He has played and performed in live bands, from metal and rock to funk. Bands he has played and composed in have been placed at the regional finals of RockQuest, won first prize at Battle of the Teen Bands three years running, and toured with Elemeno-P and Jordan Luck.
In 2020, Felix released his first three albums – ‘It’s Better I Don’t Know’ (as SkeletonCrew) – which received awesome industry reviews – ‘The Place Where You Fall Down’ – an atmospheric soundtrack – and ‘Habibti’ – eastern dance music written for a terminally-ill friend.
2021 brought a move into ambient electronica, with several solo releases, including twin EPs, and collaborative work with composer/DJ Toy Purple (Ishmael Strevens) through his felix danilo. channel.
2022 kicked off with an X-Files tribute album, a return to the rock/metal genre with brother, Hector Danilo, and more Moonscapes. ‘The Territories West’ album, released in September, features Nicole Obren and Kayla McGee singing on a supremely cool, western-themed album. From October 2022 to January 2023, the three ambient Comet albums were released, with tracks designed for the end of the world. Lots more music planned for 2023 so be sure to follow on spotify / social media to stay updated.
Felix composes music under the name ‘SkeletonCrew’ (with vocalist Nicole Obren) and ‘felix danilo’ (solo and collaborative). He plays a variety of instruments and composes in different musical genres, including house, electronic, ambient / atmospheric music, and indie rock, recording and mixing his own tracks.
Felix is available for soundtrack commissions, and has composed and recorded commercial pieces. Contact him at felixdanilo.music@gmail.com, visit the Get in Touch page, or submit the form at the bottom of this page.
2022 RELEASES
THE COMET ALBUMS
PART ONE | ‘as the comet entered our atmosphere, we moved closer together’
PART TWO | ‘one evening with the world collapsing’
PART THREE | ‘afterwards, oblivion’
sitting calmly atop a hill, with birds singing their evening chorus.
you look over the vibrant city and rolling hills that stretch far
into the distance.
the sun is setting gently over the horizon
and you take it all in, as the comet enters.
leaving a trail of flame that scatters across the evening sky.
nothing matters but the last few moments.
you gaze, at a loss for words,
as it hurtles towards the earth.
such a perfect, beautiful moment.
the last one there will be.
this is it.
“The Wellington, NZ based artist has created a piece of ambient bliss with the track. Mournful pads are met with an even more mournful guitar line that seems to hang in the air like the last rays of sun once it’s set behind a hill. Beautiful music for watching the earth in it’s final few seconds before destruction…”
Review of ‘As the comet…’ | Tome to the Weather Machine
ALBUM | THE TERRITORIES WEST
With new, 12-track album, THE TERRITORIES WEST, the listener is invited on a journey through the wide, evocative landscapes of the Midwest. The guitar is the primary instrument, and the mood switches from wistful melancholy to pure joy and back again. The haunting ‘Heartlands’ tells a story of a lover left behind. A rhythmic thrum in ‘Nowhere Left to Run’ recalls the gallop of horses across the desert, and the defiant amble of ‘By His Father’s Grave’ becomes the stroll of an outlaw down a main street, telling a tale of revenge. Other soundscapes evoke arid plains and sweeping ranges where wolves roam, where lonely cowboys ride under a stream of bright stars, where spells are cast over crackling campfires, and where nothing is quite as it seems.
In ‘Heartlands’, ‘By His Father’s Grave’ and ‘Bang Bang’ (a cover of the original by Sonny Bono and Cher), vocalists Nicole Obren and Kayla McGee weave stories through the album to elevate and enhance the western theme.
a moment that seems so long ago to you now…
Four special ambient tracks, extra long to take you far away.
Moonscapes II
A second dose of moon-related ambient tracks. Dreamy and otherworldly, made for late night chilling…
A Trio of Rock
Sneaking back into rock/metal, these three tracks are a collaboration with my drummer brother, Hector, who also did the cool artwork for ‘colussus/he who lives behind the moon’.
- submerged man
- we were not meant to know of it
- colossus (from the ‘he who lives behind the moon’ release)
We created ‘Submerged Man’ a couple of years ago with Julian Brady and debuted it at Far North Summer Sounds festival, back in the good old days when festivals were a thing. It feels good to have it finally recorded.
- Drums: Hector Danilo
- Guitar and Bass: Felix Danilo
- Written by: Felix, Hector and Julian Brady (Friday Night Special)
EBE
A (thinly-disguised) X-Files tribute album! Spookiness galore, with the tracks ‘Don’t Look’, ‘Up in the Above’ ‘WITCH’ and ‘X’.
2021 RELEASES
Moonscapes I
A dreamy five-track EP for late night chilling.
Bow Your Head… And Transmit to the Sky
Brother and sister ambient EPs, available separately on Spotify or together on Bandcamp.
2020 RELEASES
Habibti (Beloved) | THIRD ALBUM
Three ten-minute tracks to take you far away… The song ‘Habibti’ was composed for Janine Snowling, with love ❤️
the place where you fall down
A journey through a strange landscape in 8 tracks … headphones essential.
someplace/else
An award-winning multi-layered 7:30 intrumental piece composed for Showquest 2020. Intricate, grungey & atmospheric.
The SKELETONCREW Project
‘SkeletonCrew’ are Felix Danilo and Nicole Obren; good friends who took joint guitar lessons from an early age, and have been playing music together in a band called Friday Night Special for years, with Hector Danilo and Julian Brady.
Reviews of IT’S BETTER I DON’T KNOW | SkeletonCrew
“SkeletonCrew are definitely a band to watch out for. Felix Danilo’s inventive compositions are fabulous examples of how to use some fairly ‘out-there’ harmonic ideas to enhance the music and overall effectiveness of the songs. He seems to effortlessly transfer jazz and classical theory over to the pop/rock world. Nicole Obren has a fantastic command over her voice and uses it as an expressive instrument vital to the mood and essence of the album. She is also a highly talented, rhythmic lyricist.
It’s Better I Don’t Know is a creative and articulate album channelling the brilliance of Tool, Billie Eilish, INXS and Mac DeMarco all rolled into one. A stunning debut and introduction to a band who although only at the beginning of their career, are already showing world class skills and extraordinary creative vision.”
Muzic.net.nz (Debut Album Review April 2020)
“Obren’s vocal work is commanding here, while Danilo’s guitar work and composing is captivating. At times sensual and playful, at other times ethereal and vulnerable with spaced out chill effects, SkeletonCrew’s It’s Better I Don’t Know… is a gorgeous layered journey of sounds, a parade of musical elements that enliven the ears and go beyond the conventional structures of music.”
DIVIDE & CONQUER (Debut Album Review – July 2020)
‘in.d.tv have been going on a journey with @askeletoncrew all day listening to their ethereal floating warm vibes definitely a laxing in the summer sun album! And Synthia .. such a jam !!! Makes us want to dance down a city alley in the depths of night!!! Great work skeletoncrew.’
(IN.D.TV – Instagram)
From the Debut Album… ‘Synthia’ and ‘Stay’
BANG BANG (My Baby Shot Me Down)
SkeletonCrew’s cover of the classic ‘Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down)’ (Sonny Bono/Cher), released on 24.06.20 and out across all streaming platforms.
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Photo credits: Flash Gordon Photography | Artwork by Felix Danilo
Felix Danilo 