At the top of Foxing‘s a Bandcamp page is the cryptic and, at the same time, obvious statement, ‘Foxing is a band, Someday Foxing won’t be a band’.
The band are often grouped into the recent ’emo-revival’ that features confessional lyrics, sweeping, reverb laced guitars and soft, loud vocals, but to simply group Foxing into this category does the band a disservice. Their self-awareness and range of sound gives a complexity to songs that makes you revisit them over and over.
Much like the candid approach to their lyrics and performance, guitarist and vocalist, Eric Hudson’s, responses are incredibly honest. He talks about the toll touring has taken on them as a band and how they feel when they look back on their music once it’s been released.
Your UK/European Tour kicks off in March, is there anywhere that you’ve played before and are excited to return too? Or anywhere new you’re looking forward to playing?
Looking forward to Italy because I’ve never been there. It’s a country I’ve always wanted to visit.
Your last full length album was 2015’s The Dealer and at the end of 2016 you released the EP TWO. Are you currently working on any new material?
We are working on our third record right now.
Typically, what’s the process when you guys go into the writing phase of an album?
Usually Conor and I write a lot full songs together and then bring them to the full band to polish. Rick sometimes throws some of his songs in and Jon elaborates on the rhythmic ideas we bring to him. For this record Conor, Rick and I have been tackling the lyrics and so far it has worked out really well.
A few years ago you re-released you first album, The Albatross, and your recently released TWO EP, has new recordings of Redwoods and Indica. Do you enjoy revisiting your tracks from a studio and writing perspective or do you find it difficult, as a group, to say that an album or a song is ‘finished’ even after it’s released?
I enjoyed revisiting these tracks because they were an opportunity to change aspects of the song that I wasn’t happy with. Redwoods in particular was a song that changed for the worse from the demoing process to the final product. That’s why I specifically chose that song to redo. Our songs are always changing somewhat, even older songs. I think we just eventually find better or more interesting ways to play the same songs so that they stay fresh.
I read that the name of the band comes from the chemical process where paper begins to age over time and turn yellow; how much you do consider how your music will age? Similarly, do you want your listeners to consider this?
We don’t consider it at all. And already, there are things in our music from prior releases that I don’t think have aged well even to now. I don’t know that its possible to avoid that unless you’re creating music that is timeless, which few bands are able to achieve. Our band will end someday, maybe after the next record, maybe the one after that or maybe before our next record; but for now our band exists and our listeners have that while it lasts.
When you were touring with Balance and Composure last year, you were involved in a serious van accident. Has this effected the band, either personally or musically?
I think it affected us in that it made all of us question whether what we are doing is worth it. I remember when that happened, the band wasn’t in a good place, we weren’t getting along at all on that tour and then we had the accident and it just felt like it wasn’t worth doing anymore. Once your safety is threatened, on top of not enjoying what you’re supposed to love, your morale goes down the drain. I still don’t think we know if it’s worth it or not, we only will know that once it’s over I suppose.
With your musical and lyrical style, do you ever feel like you’ve infused too much of your life into your work or that it would be difficult to perform them on a nightly basis?
Honestly, we don’t think about that too much. The subject matter of the songs is deeply personal in some cases, which during the writing is an emotional experience, but once you’ve seen the first reviews of your record (positive or negative) it immediately feels like its not yours anymore. The difficult part, I think, is the grind of touring and the minefield that is maintaining a band relationship and somehow having a career in an industry that is conniving.
Have you ever taken something out of a song because how people might perceive it?
Yes. It was mostly a product of getting in our own heads I think.
Lastly, what’s your favorite part of touring apart from playing?
Besides playing, most things about tour aren’t fun. I would say going to Europe is a little different because I enjoy being in foreign countries and meeting people in those countries. Touring the U.S has become very taxing.
Foxing play The Exchange on Sunday 19th March. Check out ‘Indica’ below.