The British-Peruvian musician, who is now married to Lena Dunham, talks music, \u201cconscious drinking\u201d and his new relationship.<\/b>
\nLuis Felber and Lena Dunham are in love. The pair has made no secret of this fact on their Instagram accounts in recent months. And now they are married. Asked when he knew he wanted to marry Ms. Dunham, Mr. Felber responded on Monday via email: \u201cThere were lots of moments, there are lots of moments and there will be lots of moments. I\u2019m not living in a Disney film where you\u2019re certain about who you want to spend the rest of your life with in one moment. Time is fluid and when you know, you know. I love my wife, who is also my best friend.\u201d So who is Luis Felber? Born in Winchester, England, to a Peruvian mother and a British father, Mr. Felber spent his earliest years in Peru and Chile before moving back to Britain at age 7. At 17, he skipped university and began pursuing a career in music, playing guitar with several different bands. Recently, Mr. Felber,35, has been recording and performing under the name Attawalpa (his middle name, after the 16th-century Incan ruler Atahualpa). On Oct.13, he\u2019ll release a new single, \u201cPeter Gabriel\u2019s Dream.\u201d Below is an interview, edited for clarity, conducted with Mr. Felber over Zoom in early September. So how did you and Lena meet? It was a blind date. A mutual friend of ours basically set us up. The first time we hung out, we didn\u2019t stop talking for, like, eight hours. Where did you go? Just around central London because everything was shut down. So you\u2019re walking along the streets, along the Thames? Yeah and I think it was sort of incredible, you know, I walked into that. I\u2019d been on quite a few dates in the past year. As someone who\u2019s quite open, I find you hold a lot back on your first three dates. Or first 10 dates. I was just a bit fed up with that, so I just walked into the situation very myself, shall I say. And Lena liked that. And she\u2019s the same. Is it fair to say that your relationship seemed to get really intense really quickly? Or is that just our impression via Instagram? Yeah, I mean, describe \u201cintense.\u201d It feels like you\u2019re both very passionate about each other, that you\u2019re both very much in love, and that it happened very quickly. I think when you know, you know. I\u2019ve only been alive for 35 years in this lifetime, and I think it\u2019s another archaic thing for guys to hide their feelings. I\u2019m way more into the flow of getting to know the person. And I think Lena\u2019s the same, and I think \u2014 I\u2019m going to sound cheesy \u2014 but when you find your soul mate, you just know. She\u2019s very open about you on Instagram. How does that make you feel? It\u2019s very moving. I\u2019m still getting used to being shown that sort of love by someone else. I\u2019ve never shut her down, or anyone down for that. It\u2019s beautiful that she expresses herself and I love being on the other end of it. How do you like living together? It\u2019s great, we\u2019ve been living together for about four months now. We both work a lot, and every morning is a blessing. And every evening, to be able to go to bed with your best friend and chat \u2014 we find it hard to go to sleep at a decent hour. It\u2019s rarely eight hours. What kind of dates do you go on now? Oh my. She comes to my gigs. Neither of us really drink, but we go for long walks on the Heath, we see friends, we watch movies, we just watched the whole of \u201cBoJack Horseman.\u201d I could be sitting at a bus stop with her for 10 hours and it would be the best day ever. How do your parents like Lena? They love her. My mum\u2019s very shy, and she kind of builds barriers. It\u2019s a protection thing, I think from leaving a country when you\u2019re very young, not knowing the language. I think maybe it\u2019s a barrier she\u2019s had from childhood. I can kind of relate to that. But with Lena she was just, like, best friends. She was very open about her emotions and they just love each other. My dad as well. That\u2019s the thing: Both me and Lena\u2019s parents are still together, and I think that\u2019s a great example. Lena\u2019s parents are artists: Her mother is the photographer Laurie Simmons and her father is the painter Carroll Dunham. Your mother is the painter Alma Laura. Would you say you and Lena are similar? I think we\u2019ve got the same references. We were born in the same year, under a month apart, I think we have the same sense of humor. I don\u2019t know if we\u2019re similar. Lena would be able to answer that more. Do you have any of your mother\u2019s work in your home? We\u2019ve got a few paintings of hers. They make me feel really calm. Lena directed the video for your song \u201cTucked In Tight,\u201d a love song about your phone. What was it like working with her? It\u2019s the best \u2014 I love being directed by her. It\u2019s like our relationship, it just sort of flows. We don\u2019t have any arguments. She\u2019s obviously very good at what she does. Had you heard of Lena before you started dating or had you seen her work? No. Mum was a fan of \u201cGirls.\u201d I remember when I was touring in my 20s, my mum and my sister were watching that show. But I never watched it. Have you seen it now? I haven\u2019t. But I\u2019ve watched her current stuff. I watched \u201c Industry \u201d when we first started dating, and I scored her next film, \u201c Sharp Stick,\u201d which is out next year. It\u2019s a really beautiful film. When you\u2019re an artist, you\u2019re living in the present, into the future. You\u2019re looking for the next thing. Looking back is a thing we shouldn\u2019t really do too much, to be able to move forward with ease. But I will watch \u201cGirls\u201d one day, to answer your question. I can see what an impact it\u2019s had on people. I was at lunch with some old school friends and my friend\u2019s sister was really excited about Lena. I asked, \u201cWhat did \u2018Girls\u2019 make you feel?\u201d She said, \u201cI feel like it gave me a voice,\u201d and that\u2019s amazing. What a beautiful thing to hear about your partner. How would you describe your musical style to someone who hasn\u2019t heard it before? If I\u2019m feeling lazy, I say \u201calternative.\u201d If I\u2019m feeling cocky, I\u2019ll say it\u2019s between Prince and Nirvana. You\u2019ve worked as a musician for much of your adult life. How did the rock \u2019n\u2019 roll lifestyle suit you? I basically toured a lot in my 20s, playing guitar for different bands. When you\u2019re on tour, you are basically given whatever you want. Alcohol and weed were my main methods of numbing. In the U.K., alcohol is considered a normal thing to do on the weekends. But if your job entails playing every night, you are given alcohol every night. It\u2019s almost like part of your job. I wouldn\u2019t say I\u2019m sober, but I haven\u2019t had a drink since November. I just drink when I feel like it. I call it \u201cconscious drinking.\u201d I never did A.A., but I started therapy in 2017. Therapists would be like, you need to stop drinking so you can hear your thoughts, and I\u2019d be like, no. That went on for about six months. And then I did a session of five-element acupuncture, and I stopped drinking for about a year. It\u2019s kind of romanticized, isn\u2019t it \u2014 musicians and alcohol. Yeah, in my opinion, I think that\u2019s a way of controlling musicians. Most musicians aren\u2019t in charge of their business, aren\u2019t in charge of their money or even the way they look or the way they\u2019re perceived. So it\u2019s just really easy to fall into that trap and be numb to everything and expect your manager to deal with things. For me, the most punk rock thing is to be conscious. Since I\u2019ve been conscious, I\u2019ve managed to put out loads of music and be more open to who I am.<\/p>\n