XYZ: Hello guys, how are you doing this evening?
All: Bonsoir madame!
Alex: Love your accent! I went to France once.
So, are you the four original members of The Foxes?
Nigel: I went to Uni with Alex, Alex knew Geve from Junior school and we had a guitarist called Rory who tragically died in a car accident. Jonno joined after that…
I’m sorry to hear about that guys…
Nigel: The important thing is Rory had a really good influence on the band at the time, and he still does today!
Alex: But we weren’t called The Foxes then, we were called Rush Hour Soul, which is funny as our guitarist’s name was called Rory H Sills, same initials! After it happened we renamed ourselves The Foxes.
Nigel: We had a list of names, like about a hundred, which we reduced to 5. And we went out for a drink and on our way back there was this massive stapled red box with a metal sign on the back wall with The Foxes written on it! We had The Foxes on our list, so…
Do you guys still have day jobs?
Jonno: No we quit our jobs nearly a year ago to give it everything. We thought sod it, let’s do it!
Nigel: We’d been saving up coz we’d figured we’d rather do what we love, perform full time and be poor than be rich and do a 9 to 5 job.
The reviews describe your music as a breath of fresh air, lively rock’n’roll….
Alex: A breath of rock-air maybe?
Jonno: Our music is definitely different and original; we don’t sound like anything else that’s out at the moment.
What makes you unique?
Nigel: Before we started we noticed loads of bands out there that looked so miserable playing live on-stage and we just hated that. The one thing we always do, whenever we play live, is have the best time of our lives.
Geve: We make sure before every performance, it’s going to be the best one ever.
Nigel: We’re also aware of our weaknesses and we talk about them, make sure we listen to any critics and take them into consideration.
Alex: We talk about every performance afterwards and make sure we improve on whatever needs improving. We’re honest with each other, that’s the only way to work really.
If there were a radio station called “The Foxes FM”, what music would get played on there?
Nigel: The Foxes
Alex: The Foxes as well.
Geve: The Kooks.
Alex: And The Foxes maybe?
Jonno: Pink Floyd, Nirvana, Eric Clapton, the Doors, The Beatles…
Alex:The Foxes. And the Super Foxes.
Is there a famous song you wish you’d written?
Nigel: Lover Killer
All: **Laughs** (that’s their song. They then argue about which song it should be.
Nigel: Every song is a difficult birthing process because we disagree continuously as you might have noticed.
Alex: I agree with that!
You played in the US for a charity gig recently, how did it go?
Alex: It went well. They’ve got a different accent there…and lot more guns!
Jonno: It felt like there is much less competition between bands there, they’re a lot friendlier to you. If you’re doing a gig all the bands playing are really friendly with each other, they wanna know how you’re doing etc.
Nigel: The crowd is not shy there, when they like you they’re very vocal about it!
Geve: And we sold a lot more CDs there in gigs that were poorly attended than here in full venues!
Are you going back there soon?
Nigel: Well we’ve actually just recorded “Hey baby” which is a rocky pop song. Basically we’ve got this deal coming up in the America so we’re going to record another 4 or 5 songs, put them all together and release that in America and tour out there. Then see what happens in England really.
So you’re doing better there than here?
Nigel: Well we’re progressing in a different way over there. It’s a different market.
Geve: Their reaction can be quite exaggerated there really, if they really like something they can be quite over the top, which is to us exciting and fun.
Alex: In America it feels that they really want you to do well, it’s like the American dream really. It’s a bit different here.
So you guys are just about to go on a UK tour with Yeti…
Nigel: Yes, we’ll be playing in Brighton on the 11th of February at the Pressure Point.
Alex: We’ve played with The Yeti before in London. They’re really cool.
What are the Foxes New Year resolutions?
Alex: I’d like to see if I can learn to play the drums so we can get rid of Geve.
**At that point the DJ put on the CD Geve gave him and The Foxes start playing in the background…**
Alex: Mmm, what’s that playing?
Nigel: It’s pretty good…I’m not sure who it is though…
The Fortune of War is my favorite pub in Brighton – What’s yours?
Nigel:Alley Cats
Alex: Fortune of war too
Geve: My favorite pub in Brighton is The Pressure point on the 11th of February 2008. I’d really like to go there, it’s the best place ever, in the whole…millennium!
After another round at the Fortune of War we were turfed out because of a power failure. So we went to the Globe for a round and then on to the Hop Poles on Middle street. When we got there Geve decided to show-case his climbing skills. As we watched him climb onto the roof of the beer garden, disappear through a window on the second floor and shut it behind him, I decided to ask one last question so I could put away my Dictaphone and drink!:
Have you any odd experiences to share:
Geve: I sharted on a train once!
Oh.
Words by Leo Rahban, pics by David Tatnell
