Interview: Melbourne Based Artist Acoustic Foxx Discusses His New Single "The Fire Is Alive"
If you had to describe your music to a stranger in three words, which ones would you select?
Raw, Dark, Thoughtful.
Congratulations on the release of your new single "The Fire is Alive"; tell us what inspired you from a songwriting perspective.
Thank you! The song-writing process usually begins with the guitar, a chord structure or riff and ‘The Fire is Alive’ is no different. I often mess around in different tunings on the guitar, I like not knowing standard chord shapes and just fumbling around trying to come up with chords and parts that sound cool. I tuned down my old Maton acoustic guitar to open C6 tuning and I wrote ‘The Fire is Alive’.
I played in hard rock/grunge bands for years and lately I’ve really been missing an aspect of that so I wanted to incorporate more of my electric guitar influence in this song. I recently brought myself a new sunburst Fender Tele and I fell in love and ended up recording heaps of extra guitar parts.
Lyrically I approached the song by recognizing I still had that fire burning inside of me to create music and succeed much like I had when I was younger. That seems to burn out over the years for a lot of people, so I’m grateful I still feel it.
So many times and moments in life that could have easily burnt me out and had me thrown in the towel. Despite all the self-loathing and disappointment I’ve thrown at myself over the years, I kept going and it was that fire burning inside of me that kept me alive. The Fire IS Alive, indeed.
I think that is more important than ever to feel connected with that during these trying times. The Fire is real, learn how to feel it, harness it and use it for whatever you are doing.
How did you connect with the song's producer, Joshua Whitehead, and what was you and his creative process musically?
The first time I worked with Joshua Whitehead I was in a band as lead guitarist called ‘Old Etiquettes’ and we were recording our debut album. The bands singer and chief songwriter James Harrison had worked with Joshua on many different projects for years. I really enjoyed working with him so I booked in to record my second album “Blustery Winter” in 2018 and I’ve recorded everything with Joshua since then.
With my latest single ‘The Fire is Alive’ it’s actually the first time I’ve had drums on any of my songs since my debut EP in 2012. A good friend of mine Luciano Alvaro picked up the sticks and couldn’t wait to get into the studio along with Hugh Heller on bass. Joshua had us record live in the big room at Crosstown Sound-studio and that was awesome. He wanted to capture that raw energy of a band playing the song and we played it over and over.
I actually recorded a ton of additional guitar tracks at home but I went a little overboard because I was having too much fun but we ended up culling what we didn’t need.
With "The Fire is Alive" now released, can we expect a music video to follow; if not, what are some of your goals for the rest of 2021?
Unfortunately here in Melbourne, we are in our 6th lockdown and it’s pretty nasty. The ideas I had for a music video are just not possible so I decided not to do one at all.
I’ve got another single half-finished that Joshua recorded and Hugh and Luciano played on so I’ll finish that and release it before the end of the year, as well as keeping on writing new material. It’s important I keep being creative.
I also run a music podcast called ‘Foxx on the Wire’ that’s been a huge blessing during all these lockdowns as I’ve been able to still connect with other musicians and talk about all things music.
How has the shutdown in Australia over the past year plus impacted you as a songwriter? Also, what do you miss most about performing live for audiences?
The lockdowns haven’t really impacted my creativity as such, but it has impacted the cycle of what being a musician is all about. Write songs – record – go out and play live and promote. Repeat cycle.
Lyrically there’s not a lot to be inspired about which is why I have a heap of music written but not a lot of lyrics. A few instrumental tracks perhaps?
I really miss playing live because it helps me connect with people and with myself. Having gigs coming up helps me keep my skills sharp and myself in good health so I’m fit enough to play gigs and test out any new songs. I didn’t really get into the whole live streaming thing but it’s cool that so many artists did.