Posted: Sunday 20th July 2008

London four-piece The Foxes are on the rise and have recently completed a 30-date tour with Yeti. Formed in 2006, the band can count NME and Creation Records' founder Alan McGee amongst their biggest fans. The band are gearing up to release single Trauma Town on August 4th. We caught up with the guys to see how they've been finding life on the road, what they think is the key to their success and what we can expect from them in the future.

1. How are you all today?

We’re very very well...we had a great gig in Birmingham last night, and are looking forward to playing Nozstock Festival today.

2. Tell us about your new single ‘Trauma Town’.

We’re really excited about 'Trauma Town' - it’s one of our newest tracks and has had such a huge impact at gigs. We’ve just released the music video which was shot at The Borderline and throughout London, and I think it really captures our energy on stage and our sense of humour, so do check it out now! It’s released on 20th October on 7inch, download and very limited special edition CD.

3. What can fans expect from your debut album?

We’ve actually scheduled a series of single releases rather than a whole album at this point, as although we have plenty of material for the next few albums, it’s better for our career at this point to release a little and often! We’ve worked really hard on each release to make them musically exciting and I think that really shows...so fans can expect something fresh with each release, but still with our trademark energy and feel.

4. How would you describe your sound to some who has never heard of you?

I wouldn’t - I’d tell them to go and listen to the tracks and decide for themselves. Of course, if they get their gun out at that point, I’d say it’s melodic, guitar driven, hooky and clever indie/rock/pop.

5. Why do you think you’ve garnered influential fans such as NME, XFM and Creation Records founder Alan McGee?

Working hard and really pushing ourselves has been a major part of that, and not taking no for an answer has also helped. It’s great to have the support of people in the industry, but the best feeling is having people off the streets come up to you and tell you they enjoy your music...that’s something really special.

6. What do you think you have to offer that your contemporaries don’t?

Rather than trying to sound like something, we focus on what we enjoy playing, and making something we love without any preconceptions of what that will be or end up us. We work really hard on each track so there’s something to keep both us and the audience interested. If something sounds middle of the road we tear it apart until we’re happy.

7. You’re touring a lot this year. How important is performing live to you?

Something we were really aware of when we started The Foxes was how many bands looked bored on stage, and how few showed any passion in what they were doing - we take the opposite approach because we love music, and love performing, and I think this excitement really shows in our stage show. That’s why we tour so much – we love what we do! It excites us.

8. You’ve supported The Magic Numbers, Yeti and The Animals. Which was your favourite to support and why?

While we enjoyed all our big support slots, our tour with Yeti was really special. They’re a great bunch of guys, with a similarly childish sense of humour and we got on really well (except the odd fist fight) and had some great gigs together. It was great to join them on stage at the end of the last show and play together too, as we often jammed after gigs in the hotel or barn or wherever it was we’d be sleeping.

9. What’s on your iPods at the moment?

I don’t own an iPod as I find iTunes really frustrating. On my humble mp3 player I’ve got some Grandaddy, Cajun Dance Party, Pink Floyd, Neil Young, Elliott Smith....

10. What are your plans for the rest of 2008?

Well, as soon as 'Trauma Town' is released on 20th October, we’ll start work on getting the next single ready for early next year. We’ve also got a host of UK gigs, and a tour of Europe in the works as well as some possible dates in the U.S. so that should keep us busy!