Foxes Faux
| Foxes Faux | |
|---|---|
| Origin | Keighley, West Yorkshire, UK |
| Genres | Folk, Punk, Rock |
| Years active | 2009–present |
| Associated acts | Sounds of Swami |
| Website | Official Website Facebook Bandcamp |
Foxes Faux are an English acoustic band that play a mix of folk, punk and country tinged music. They formed in Keighley, West Yorkshire, England and played their first gig at Victoria Hall in their home town in January 2009. The band often choose to busk or play acoustically over traditional gigs. They have become well known for playing additional acoustic set's after their typical PA gigs have finished.
In September 2012, the band released their debut self-titled EP. Foxes Faux will release their debut album 'Fox Tales' in February 2015 supported by singles 'Rioters Queue Here' (2014) and 'Isabella' (2015).
History
The band was initially formed in 2006 as a side project by Keighley punk rock band Sounds of Swami. The four members wrote some new acoustic-based songs and performed acoustic cover versions of their own songs. They did this to fill lengthy Pub gig slot's whilst raising money to record their debut EP Vent. After sporadic writing and gigging, the band finally detached itself from the Sounds of Swami name and added additional instrumentation to build on its already burgeoning folk and country sound. Enter Tim Rickaby on Bouzouki/Glockenspiel. The band named themselves Foxes Faux, wrote brand new songs and played their first performance at a charity gig in January 2009.
The band released their debut double A single 'Rioters Queue Here' / 'Su Hermoso' on 10 September 2011 as a free digital download. The release was to coincide with their first play on BBC Radio York. BBC Presenter Jenny Eells praised 'Rioters Queue Here' and their live show having seen them perform at the Beat-Herder Festival. The band released 'Hey Ya' with 'Intranjo / Banountro' as the B-Side in December 2011 again as a free download.
The band have become regulars at the Working Men's Tent at the renown Beat-Herder Festival; performing the same slot before Captain Hotknives in 2008 (as Sounds of Swami Acoustic), 2009, 2010 and 2011. Their performance has become a Sunday evening tradition and the band performed to a packed out tent in 2011. Their 2010 performance is memorable for mandolin player / singer Kurt Wood crowd surfing from the stage to the bar (to order a can of lager) and back whilst the band performed their Banjo-led song 'Intranjo/Banjountro'. The crowd was set the challenge of getting him to the bar and back before the band finished the song; a feat they achieved to roaring applause. A picture of the event taken by Danny Payne made it to No. 3 in the NME's 'Top 10 Independent Festival Photos' competition.
In late 2010, percussionist and founding member Matthew Wade left the band to move to Brighton, East Sussex. He was replaced by drummer Luke Parker. Since the line-up change, the band have exclusively used a full drum kit rather than percussion drums. However, percussion instruments are still used frequently in the studio.
Their third digital download double A single 'Isabella / Mountains' was released in August 2012.
Foxes Faux have supported noteworthy acts such as Franz Nicolay, Babar Luck, Ghost Mice, The Skints and Johnny Foreigner.
The band performed at the Aire Do Festival and Strummercamp Festival over the 2012 Summer period. To coincide with these appearances, the compiled their previously released free digital download singles into their debut self-titled CD EP. The 'Foxes Faux EP' was remastered and can be downloaded for free from their website. It was described by the West Yorkshire Music Collective as "excellent".
They also performed at the 40,000 capacity festival Bingley Music Live in September 2011, receiving rave reviews for their performance being described as a "country style punk folk band, great set, there is one part with the violinist on top of a straw bale playing like a man possessed that is absolutely fantastic. A lot of people gathered for this one and plenty of clapping along and toe tapping"[1] by Yorkshire Music Collective and "uptempo band specialising in barn-dance type music. There were a few people up to dance but more should have been to their fast-paced, catchy, great sounds (6.5/10)" by Wavgoodbye.[2]
A demo version of 'Liars' was circulated across popular social network Facebook which led to mass interest. Mike Harding, presenter of the Radio 2 Folk show shared the song commenting it's "a cracking track in my opinion".[3]
The band announced the release of their debut album 'Fox Tales' for February 2015 preceded by the 'Rioters Queue Here' single. The second single from the album will be 'Isabella'.
Discography
Albums
- Fox Tales (2015)
EP's
- Liars (2015)
- Foxes Faux (2012)
Members
- Kurt Wood – Vocals, Mandolin, Acoustic Guitar, Electric Guitar, Banjo, Drums
- Will Quinn - Vocals, 12 String Acoustic Guitar, Banjo
- Tim Rickaby - Bouzouki, Glockenspiel, Melodica, Guitar
- Ben Snowden - Electric Bass, Harmonica (2012–present)
- Luke Parker - Drum Kit, Percussion, Guitar, Backing Vocals (2010–present
