An Interview With: Codex
Codex's idiosyncratic world came to my attention in 2021 through his 'Knifemaw Wildstyle' EP. It's a project that has circulated my mind again and again without running out of replay value - it exudes a quality that is hard to come by; a special something that the mind has no words for.
Codex is a member of the No Agreements label - a label which has released some of the great gems of contemporary times. Established in 2018, the label is still in it's infancy. However, you get the sense that big things are on the horizon.
Outside of music Codex (Nick Felaris) is a graffiti artist and animator. You may find him in your area selling spray-paint prints and painting murals.
You can find Codex's music on all streaming platforms and, of course, on Bandcamp.
Peter: Where does your ability to create material come from? Can you recall it's roots and how you came upon this facet of creativity?
Codex: Street art and Toledo are my roots. As a teenager, I worked a lot of odd jobs, making murals and street-performing, so my artistic sensibilities were already pretty rebellious by the time I got into punk and hip-hop. Around the time that I made art within Toledo’s punk scene, I got my first turntable from Pat O’Connor of Culture Clash Records. Culture Clash has been a staple source for much of Toledo’s independent musicians to meet, and Pat was a great friend who gave me my first soul and rock records. I owe much of my identity and my influences as a turntablist to Pat, and I hope to keep making art in his legacy. Toledo’s punk scene and street art informed much of my attitude.
Peter: The No Agreements label has quickly become a blooming hotspot for off-kiltered talent. How does it feel to be a part of such a thriving, unique collective?
Codex: Punk, while incredibly important to me, felt locally limiting. The Internet has always felt “punk,” but in a more globalized way. No Agreements is unique in that awesome, Internet-ey way. Fax Gang, Naked Flames, Phonebox, Material Girl, City Light Mosaic – in regular conversation, all the members are intelligent, funny, and dedicated to their creative pursuits. Last year’s “No More NA” tour particularly astounded me, because some members were literally flying overseas to attend and perform. No Agreements confirms that punk attitude because the Internet globalizes punk’s ethos. It’s human nature to want to be rebellious and to make something cool.
Peter: What is creativity to you, and how do you unlock it?
Codex: Pretend you’re acting on a stage, and, on your shoulder, there’s a pigeon that the audience can’t see, but you can. You freeze up your lines because the pigeon is squawking crap like, “You’re stupid! You’re weird! You’re pretentious!” That invisible pigeon represents all of your doubts, so to do your scene, you need to kill the invisible pigeon. Grab that pigeon, and stomp on it.
Uniqueness is personal, and it requires as much self-understanding as much as it does hard work and practice. Some people are fearful of what others may think, but that’s natural. Don’t be afraid to read that textbook about audio production, or watch that hour-long video essay. You shouldn’t be ashamed to get a little weird.
Peter: Is there a scene in your locale that people should be aware of?
Codex: Yes! Toledo’s music scene is small, but I have a lot of hometown love. Alongside Culture Clash, Allied Exchange is another record store that I have a soft spot for. Allied is perfect for exploring sampling material and new music on a budget. Since anyone at Allied can trade records for credit, their catalog comes from a range of people and cultures in Toledo. I once got a tabla CD, a Philadelphia International record, and a harsh noise tape from Allied for $4. Toledo Noise Council is also a small Toledo scene that I think deserves recognition and embodies Toledo’s niche artsy scenes. It’s a neat, little house where the artists probably torment their neighbors with harsh noise, but their Youtube is incredible. One act, Paracusis, set up a laptop rig by the Maumee River and shrieked into a microphone around a bunch of swamp mud. It’s amazing.
For a condensed look into Toledo’s music history and its current scene, check out Art Tatum, Rob Roy’s art, WXUT 88.3, Bone Folder, The School of High Art, Los Jacks, and the amazing compilation tape, Toledo 2017 - Blame it on the Basement.
Sorry. I get nerdy about this stuff.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tjt5S0GuRew
https://theschoolofhighart.bandcamp.com/
https://toledo2017.bandcamp.com/album/toledo-2017-blame-it-on-the-basement
Peter: What keeps you going? Where do you find the inspiration to create, and has it changed over the years?
Codex: I admit to being a perfectionist. I catalog new books or art that I find either by taking pictures or writing them down on paper scraps to use later. However, I think that perfectionism is healthy because it always has a payoff for something creative, whether it shows up in the end product or not. If I hear a clip halfway through some obscure superhero movie from 1962 of a man saying “There’s a bomb!” and the word “bomb” gets my attention, I’ll timestamp and download it. Maybe it could be the inspiration for a painting about nukes, or maybe the hauntological quality of the tape could make for a spooky ambient album if I were to stretch out that last “bomb” syllable, or I could use that clip for an absolute club banger before the bass drop. Isn’t that malleability cool? Everything is ripe for transformation. I hope that I never lose that attention to detail.
Peter: Your material comes off as being untethered from structure. It must be difficult to follow where you are exactly in the process. How do you know when you're finished with a piece?
Codex: Audacity is very, very tedious. Making beats in Audacity is like old-school musique concréte tape splicing – you have to cut-and-paste snippets of sound. It’s stupidly impractical, as there aren’t any MIDI tools or synth plug-ins. However, I’m inherently a detail-oriented person who likes to get analytical, and Audacity forces me to get nitty-gritty by cut-and-pasting.
I start by crate-digging and field recording. I lurk around dingy alleys and find hours worth of records, cassettes, CDs – whatever – for sampling. After crate-digging, I lay a mix of turntable overdubs, no-input mixing, and a little tape recorder witchcraft for some spice. Once it’s mixed and mastered, it’s ready. Perfectionism is good, but as long you feel the groove, it’ll be true to you.
Peter: And finally, what can your fans expect from you in the near/distant future?
Codex: Complete craziness.
The next Codex record drops this year – a concept album about a machine world where graffiti robots control everything. It’ll be its own beast, and even more chaotic, jazzy, sampley, and explosive. More video essays are in the works, including a reading of one of my favorite album reviews, as well as a deep dive into the art of crappy production. I would also love to get into doing a full-fledged comic sometime soon, and publishing new merch and zines. Finally, I have a secret animated music video for a mystery band that I’ve been working on for the past year and a half.
I’m constantly working, but I really appreciate the following and the kind words from the fans. I don’t take the support for granted, and I want to push myself harder to make something incredible. I want to make a world out of everything.
