The Refrain Interview: Omar Feliciano

Queens, NY singer-songwriter Omar Feliciano has just released his newest album, the 12-track House Of Aragon. This intimate album as a whole dives into and reflects on topics such as systemic racism, history, the prison system, human rights, the struggling and misunderstood artist, social media, friendships, loss, and relationships.

Omar Feliciano is a singer, songwriter, and guitarist from Queens, NY. He earned a bachelor’s degree in Biology from CUNY York College and is currently a member of the Recording Academy.

We had the chance to ask Omar Feliciano a couple questions as part of The Refrain Interview Series. Check it out below.

Refrain Music Blog: Thanks for taking the time to do this interview. You have a new album out now. What’s it called?

Omar: I want to thank Refrain Music Blog for the opportunity of this feature and for offering me the chance to talk about my music. My name is Omar Feliciano, and I am a singer-songwriter from Queens, NY. The new album I released on August 1, 2022, is titled House of Aragon.

RMB: How many songs on the album?

Omar: House of Aragon is a 35-minute album composed of 12 tracks.

RMB: Is this your first album? If not tell us about your previous work and how this differs from your previous work.

Omar: This is not my first album per se. As a musician and songwriter, I am now with the release of this new album at 50 original songs that I have written, professionally recorded and self-released. Aside from this solo project I currently front a touring rock act I founded back in 2012 called The Phoenix Within. As the TPW I have released 3 full length albums and 1 EP.

What makes House of Aragon different from all my previous works is the fact that I stamped my own name on it. I used no monikers or aliases to hide behind the very intimate and at times harsh lyrical content and topics embedded within the solo album.

RMB: What’s the story on how it was recorded? The Who, When, Where etc. Was it a long process or quick? Any good stories about the recording process?

Omar: This album was recorded and produced by Robert Freeman at Audio Pilot Studio in Byram, NJ., and features the following friends and musicians on selected tracks; David Dones (Fit for Rivals), Robert Freeman (Hidden in Plain View), Nicholas Dean Narlis (The Phoenix Within), Eleftherios Taliakos (Lefty) and Juan Ismael Morocho.

The process collectively took three years but was as easy as it could possibly be. There were initially a lot of stop and goes due to side-projects, work, finances, along with the complicated schedules of musicians and studio times. Ultimately a bunch of different factors such as the death of a beloved pet (Princess Punky-Boo), the climate and current times, a string of books I dove into, and a Ted-Talk helped give me the final pushes to finalizing everything and releasing it.

RMB: Do you have a favorite song on the album? Tell us about it?

Omar: I most definitely have a few personal favorite songs on the album two that come to mind right away which happened to be the fully acoustic tracks, Befriend and No Hope Wrecks. The first is a track that refers very close friend I call B (see what I did there). He has supported and believed in my music and art since day one. He has always encouraged me to break my own limits and to continue writing even when I thought I was done with music. Even when I had sold all my music gear and thrown away an acoustic guitar in the garbage. It felt good finally being able to offer this friend recognition via an artform he’s supported for many years. No Hope Wrecks is another personal favorite it was written in the recording studio on Christmas eve just hours after I’d been dropped from an indie label I was working with at the time. The song is laced with a bunch of artist-truths, innuendos, and double-entendres.

RMB: Are there any overarching themes on the album?

Omar: House of Aragon doesn’t necessarily stick to one overall theme, but it does juggle a variety of topics such as systemic-racism, human-history, exploitation, the prison industry, human-rights, then spins to talk about friendships, loss & relationships.

RMB: Who are some of your biggest musical influences?

Omar: This is always a hard question to answer because I listen to a lot of different genre and always try to take something from what I listen to. Some of my biggest musical influences have that I’ve listened to throughout the years and who have influenced my music and my writing are the following in no particular order NOFX, Rise Against, Bob Marley, Third Eye Blind, Eminem, Residente, Daniel Santos, Romeo Santos, Rodriguez, Blink 182, Relient K, Dashboard Confessional, The Used, Everclear, Coheed and Cambria to name a few.

RMB: What’s the one thing you are most proud of in your career so far?

Omar: Creating and publishing songbooks based off my own original music is one of my proudest moments in my musical career so far.

RMB: If you had to pitch your music to a potential fan in less than 10 seconds, what would you say?

Omar: I have no idea but if you or anyone you know has something please throw it my way and I’ll send you a contract to be my personal marketing person.

RMB: What’s one piece of advice you’ve gotten that you think everyone needs to hear or that has meant the most to you?

Omar: “Music is a very complicated business but a business, nevertheless. It takes a lot of energy, creativity, hard work and non-stop dedication. Working on the music and art is the fun and easy part.”

RMB: What’s coming up next for your musical project?

Omar: The focus moving forward shifts to live performances and tours to help support the release of this album.