Interview: FOXTRAX

The indie and alternative scene has been blowing up with new acts and artists recently to look out for. Up and coming is the band FOXTRAX, who recently toured with Barns Courtney. FOXTRAX has been breaking barriers with their sound and music, having been supported so far by Sirius XM’s Alt Nation, being featured on multiple Spotify playlists, and more. FOXTRAX’s sophmore EP, “Nothing Last Forever,” is slated for an early 2018.

The Young Folks: What is your favorite part about the music making process? The songwriting, producing, a mixture, or something else?

FOXTRAX: It’s definitely a combination of the writing and recording! It’s such a magical process to take a song that maybe started out on acoustic guitar and watch it blossom into a full-fledged tune. It’s quite an unbelievable thing to see!

TYF: Are there any artists you’ve been particularly influenced by and why?

FOXTRAX: This is always the toughest question to answer because there are so many artists who come to mind. We all love the Beatles the most because they have the best combination of amazing songwriting and incredible production! On the live front, I’d say we are more inspired by Coldplay, U2, and Springsteen!

TYF: If you could pick any decade to travel back to and experience the music and culture in the moment, which would you choose and why?

FOXTRAX: Definitely the 60’s! I think this generation more than any other had music that acted as social commentary. It’s amazing to look back at that time and see how politically charged so many of the songs were. Most importantly, this actually affected people and their thinking which is truly a special thing. I’d like to think that music is starting to take on that role again now with how tumultuous the political climate is in America today.  I can only hope that FOXTRAX could make music that can have such a profound impact on people, like the music of our heroes from the 60’s!

TYF: What do you think makes FOXTRAX unique? What characteristics do you find in the band or yourselves that set you apart?

FOXTRAX: I think it is the fact that we are a 3-piece rock and roll band makes us different in todays music. That was once really common, but it is really rare today. What’s more is that so many of the bands we love are not 3-piece, but tend to have at least 4 pieces. So when we formed and started to emulate our favorite bands, it always turned out different because we had to do more with less. At first this was really challenging, but that limitation became really huge in the development of the band!

TYF: I heard that the band has toured the country with Barns Courtney recently and is continuing to tour now. What is the experience like? Have there been any particular times that you’ve enjoyed most together?

FOXTRAX: Touring is something that is really freaking strange and awesome! We found ourselves making a lot of random friends in random cities, sleeping on their floors and then waking up at 6am to do morning TV slots. It was definitely a new experience for us and one that is unique to touring bands. We are beyond stoked to get touring again in November!

TYF: You all have recently finished a project, your new EP, releasing your single “Grey Morning.” The cover art for this is quite interesting – do you have a specific reasoning for what’s featured? If not, what is your take, or interpretation, on it?

FOXTRAX: The art was made by an artist whom we really love named Kavan the Kid. His art is really provocative and different and we were immediately drawn to it! To us it represents the rebellion against the tradition 9-5 life.

TYF: Some artists don’t like to limit themselves by putting themselves into one musical genre. Do you consider yourselves “alternative rock” or “indie” only, or do you have other categories you match with?

FOXTRAX: I think broadly people call us alternative or indie, but I think those genre’s are so vague. Personally I don’t think we spend too much time thinking about what our music is and how it could be described. We play what we feel and we consider it to be rock and roll.