A Short History Of Feeltrip S Diy Venue

• Leor Galil
• FeelTrip’s cat head

Local label and multimedia collective FeelTrip has steadily been gathering steam since its inception in 2011, but it hit a slight snag during New Year’s Eve: that’s when local cops busted up a party at FeelTrip’s South Loop headquarters. “Inside the place there was probably 300 people,” says FeelTrip cofounder David Beltran, aka producer Starfoxxx. “When the cops came I was almost somewhat relieved because it was too out of control.”

Beltran started FeelTrip with Daniel Perzan and Adam Gil after their band, electro-pop outfit Yawn, had trouble finding a label for its full-length debut; the three pooled their funds and worked hard to get FeelTrip off the ground and release Yawn’s Open Season in August 2011. (They released the album in conjunction with local imprint Englophile Records.) FeelTrip has since gone on to drop an array of material such as an EP by poppy shoegaze duo Sister Crystals, a slew of projects by Beltran, and an album of harsh, jittery electro ringtones by Telegraph Cables. Though FeelTrip started as a label, it has begun to function as a home for people who work outside of music, like videographers, visual artists, and performance artists.