Attawalpa: London's Own Peruvian King

Luis Felber, known for his time with Jamie T and as one of the founders of renowned label, Young Turks, is embarking on his first solo project; Attawalpa. Deriving the name of his new venture from the Incan King that he was named in homage of, the London-based Peruvian admits he’s as mischievous as his namesake.

"I was trying to think of a name for this project and I had a few that I tried out, but this really stuck," Luis begins. "I connect with it and there’s a big part of culture in it. I have travelled around Peru, but I would like to go there more and record out there. I have only dipped my toe in the world out there in Lima. It's just a positive thing, and after being in so many punk bands, with stupid fucking names, I just wanted a name that is powerful to me. A band name can be like a spell, a big connection with the artist."

Luis explains that his mother give him the middle-name Atahualpa, and his brother, Tupaq. They were the names of the last two rulers of the Incan empire; a draconian-yet-peaceful kingdom that existed hundreds of years ago in what is now modern-day Peru.

“They’re both old Peruvian kings. Atahualpa was the mischievous, rebellious one,” he laughs. “He was like the last Incan king, so he was basically ruling the empire and trying to fight his brother at the same time.”

This brotherly dispute, however, paled in comparison for what was about to come. The Spanish Amadorès, also known as the Conquistadors, invaded in the 1500s with the backing of an army; the Inca’s were overrun and the Spanish brought with them religion and plague to the empire, or ‘white problems’, as Luis jokingly calls them.

Image: Tom Beard

In a last ditch attempt to save his people and land, King Atahualpa tried to bribe the Spanish with Incan gold because the natives didn’t possess weaponry; they preferred peaceful assimilation over physical confrontation. In response, King Atahualpa gave up the precious metal in the hope the Spanish would return to home with their ill-gotten gains, but instead, the Conquistadors sent the gold back to Spain for it to be melted down and sold on.

“That’s why there aren’t a lot of Incan museums or anything like that because it all got destroyed,” he explains before adding: “Once Atahualpa realised that the Spanish were fucking him over, he ran away, and according to the books, they found him in a bar in the mountains, in a drinking cavern or whatever; they hung him on the spot.”

Being the namesake of the last Incan king is something that Luis carries with a certain pride; it reminds him of who he is and where he’s from. After moving around a lot when he was younger, becoming part of the wide diaspora of Peruvians around the globe, and having to assimilate quickly in a too-often cruel primary school setting, Luis almost became a stranger within himself.

“Most of my school life was in this country and I felt a bit kind of pressured to hide that side of me. I don’t know if that’s something to do with me or society, but I didn’t really embrace it until recently,” he begins. “It’s part of me. It influences me a lot. It influences me in what I eat, like every day. I’ve tasted Peruvian food and it’s the bomb. I feel like it’s a different world over there, you know. The culture’s different and reflects the past and what the country is like. So like, I’m blessed I’ve had that experience and I’m blessed I can speak Spanish as well as English.”

He’s clearly proud of his ancestry and talks very fondly of his family. When I ask if his South American heritage influences his musical output, I had just about finished the sentence when Luis excitedly jumped in.

“Like yeah, it is guitar music and I’ve been doing that for a while now, but I feel like keeping my mind open to evolving as an artist. Sonically as well as visually. I just feel like there is a whole world there that I can dive into. I’m not fully tapped into it yet because I’ve been in London most of my life. Hopefully that is something I can look forward to, it’s a big part of me,” he explains.

Luis reveals, humorously, that he learnt how to play guitar by watching MTV; sitting in front the TV and playing along with the music videos, even the adverts on occasion. Something that seems to crop up a lot is the role that MTV had in the 1990’s in terms of influencing youth culture – they grew up on music videos.

“I read that Captain Sensible book and that’s how learned to play along with jingles. We also had MTV, which is all the culture you need,” he laughs. “I don’t think I’d know about bands like Sonic Youth or the Clean, or the Breeders, even Pixies, if it wasn’t for MTV. Listening to records is very different to seeing a video.”

Music videos and visuals in particular are topics of intense discussion for Luis, he believes the video is as ‘important as the track itself’, and in an age of resurgence for music videos spearheaded by the wonderful and weird, he’s not wrong. You only have to gaze your eyes upon the surrealist dystopia created by Fontaines D.C. in their latest video for ‘A Hero’s Death’ and the proof is in the viewing. It’s got everything a 1990’s music video would; band members present, a celebrity involved (Aidan Gillen) and heaps of production that arguably make it a cinematic masterpiece.

“A band like Fontaines D.C., they’re really real, they’re not trying to be like Keith Richards on stage. They give a shit about the art and it totally makes sense that they make cool videos too. It shows their sense of humour: quite dry, pretty hilarious as well,” he pauses. “A sense of humour is really important to me. A song has to be sexy or funny or I’m not really bothered by it.”

He utilises The Breeders as an example of what makes a fantastic music video: “That tune ‘Cannonball’ is wicked when you hear it for the first time. But with the video you get a whole personality and the band’s personality; kind of like the fact that they don’t really care. They’re quite quirky,” he laughs, before digressing. “Like serious guitar music – it’s like what is that? I mean, I don’t know. When I first picked up a guitar, I was 16 or 17, and started writing songs because I wanted to be alongside my heroes. I thought that’s what it was all about, I didn’t really understand music in the studio – I don’t think anyone even in the music industry does.”

One thing Luis does know about for sure is music videos, and he’s not long finished shooting his own. Filmed around central London, Piccadilly Circus to be precise, the video is as intense in its nature as it was to film.

“I literally had to be able to go to Piccadilly Circus for three days, really pissing off all the commuters,” he jokes. “It was really fun but I’m looking forward to planning the next five singles at the moment which is going to be the next EP. They’re going to be really cool; setting the bar now.”

Currently planning his next five videos in a constantly-changing world that sees artists and creatives considerably worse-off financially, Luis isn’t planning on letting any monetary constraints hinder his creative process. “I’m not like from money or anything” he honestly comments. “I see money as an energy. It’s weird. If I’m broke, the universe will hand me something.”

Luis is never short of proposals either, recently being offered a position working within an A&R department; but having never desired to join the white-collar side of the music industry, he elected instead to focus on his own burgeoning solo career.

“I appreciate what that side of the industry does, but I’d rather do something else,” he opens. “I’ve been signed to labels before, and had a bunch of money. They’ll say ‘make something with this’ and that’s really cool, and I did, but then they’re allowed to dabble in it and I really like the sort of DIY, out on the street, aspect of making things. Especially with videos, I get to collaborate and evolve with really cool directors and people I’ve been wanting to work with for ages.”

You can hear the excitement in Luis’ voice when he talks about his upcoming projects and the potential collaborations that lay in-store when lockdown eases entirely. He’s worked hard to get to this point and is very self-reflective; an important trait to possess as a DIY artist devoid of a label figurehead steering the process in a definitive direction.

“I mean financially and artistically, without me, it just wouldn’t happen. I think I have incredible people around me, incredible friends and collaborators, advisors and whatever, but I think I work pretty hard,” he laughs, before quickly retorting: “But I don’t think of it as work. I was talking to someone who wanted to manage me, and she said there’s so much to take in. I’m doing four other projects as well. I produce and write.”

The latter, Luis says, helped him through the tougher times in his life, when his mental health wasn’t at its best. Like many people who suffer from mental illness, routine and creativity can bring about a lot of positivity.

“I use it kind of as therapy,” he starts. “Back then, I didn’t know I was a depressive. Making music made me feel so good even if it was rubbish, if I didn’t have any words or anything and it was just a melody and guitar line or whatever, it just makes you feel so good. I could literally do that this morning, come up with a new idea and only I’ve heard it; that’s a cool space to be in.”

Describing himself as ‘a sponge’, Luis admits honestly that he’s constantly learning, subscribing to the same view as his friend and fellow musician, Baxter Dury, that ‘if you think you’ve made it, you’re so over’ – he adds that every experience he shares with musicians and artists have ‘positive outcomes’, even if they aren’t clear to see at the time. He recalls some time he spent recently in a studio that had seen better days; recording with London-based Shame.

“The studio was really… it wasn’t shit, but it didn’t have any amps. For a rock band who have really beautiful equipment and outboards and blah blah blah, we had to have everyone wearing headphones,” he sighs. “I recorded a song with them that I think ended up on their record, but we just demoed it. I spent a day with those guys; I knew them from the Windmill. I used to play with Jamie T and this guy called Ben Bones; me and Ben produced them for a couple of days. It was nice hanging out with those guys.”

Despite having a reputation of working with the best DIY and underground artists, Luis has also made a name for himself on the small screen. He penned a song with Mick Jagger that was later featured on the 2016 series, Vinyl; created by Jagger himself, along with greats Martin Scorsese and Terence Winter.

“At the time I was playing in a punk band and Mick’s show asked for us to have three songs included and Mick ended up co-writing one of them. It was basically like a phone call talking about lyrics and guitars, and that was really it, then back and forth with emails. I think that’s the fun bit about creating stuff. I don’t think everyone has this, but I feel like I could pretty much go into a room with pretty much anyone,” he pauses. “Unless they’re like neo-Nazi or something.”

One place you won’t be finding any neo-Nazis is at one of Luis’ gigs. Bringing together electrifying guitars, introspective lyricism and expansive vocals, his shows are a melting pot of cultures coming together under one roof to appreciate music in its purest form. Live music is something he holds close to his heart, and with the pandemic putting touring on hold for the foreseeable future, Luis is longing for those late nights more than ever.

“I love it so much. The last couple of years I haven’t been doing much. We have been playing shows in London, sort of getting the sound together. I’ve never had a band in the room at the same time, it’s always me bringing in a drummer or me and the producer, Matt Allchin, just playing the instruments basically,” he explains.

Luis says that a lot of time has been spent over the last couple of years devoted to improving the sound, creating textures and messing around with the production; one thing he isn’t doing, is settling.

“At first, I was confident wanting a six-piece band to sound exactly like the record. Before covid, it was really getting exciting. I was getting so good and now, it’s like ugh, Instagram live.”

Luis’ next release under the Attawalpa moniker arrives on July 24th. ‘Done Hanging On’ will be the first offering from his forthcoming five-track EP ‘Patterns’, expected for release later in the year.