Project Description

Interview with

FOXTON KINGS

Interviewer – Isabelle Haubrich

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Photo – Peter Heathcote

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Perth’s Foxton Kings write the kind of riffs that kick you in the face. And, while you’re recovering, they hit you with barrage after barrage of searing vocal hooks. Relentless is a good word for it all. We recently sat down with Joel (vocals), Chris (guitar) and Alex (drums) to check the vibe of the band ahead of their Evil Goodness NSW tour. Read about their writing process, their desert island albums and Joel’s alter ego below. 

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What can we expect from a Foxton Kings live show?
(Alex): Harrryyyyy. Harry Foxton. And sweaty, uncontrollable vibes.

Who is Harry Foxton?
(Joel): Harry is an electric, old school gentlemen who is declaring a war on the idea that chivalry is dead.
(Alex): Joel is Harry Foxton and we are his kings.
(Joel): Naaaa….Harry is my alter ego. He comes out for a boogie when the drinks are flowing.

What is the vibe like between you guys offstage?
(Chris): Nuclear.
(Joel): Relentless.
(Chris): You realise that, I think our faces hurt from laughing.
(Alex): Go to sleep laughing, wake up and the first thing someone says is…
(Joel): …is the stupidest shit that we just can’t stop laughing at, then we roll into the showers & back into the van & then onto the next gig.
(Joel): The only time we’re not laughing is…
(Chris): …in our sleep. And then we’re probably still laughing…
(Chris + Joel): …is in our dreams.

Describe your sound.
(Joel): Our sound is honest, forward electric Rock & Roll. There is an underlying sinister sexiness to our style that we hint at but never really ‘unmask’.
(Alex): I think that’s how we get branded with the ‘Alt Rock’ thing sometimes.
(Joel): Hundred percent. But really I think we’re just Rock & Roll. We come onstage swinging & leave it all up there. That’s our main priority.

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Photo – Isabelle Haubrich

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Tell us about your songwriting process?
(Alex): We really just spent the last 6 months rehearsing, tightening up, partying and bromancing before heading down to Nannup, which is about 3 hours south of Perth, for a song writing sesh about a month ago. We hired a house 8 minutes out of town on land with roo’s & a fireplace, set up our gear and jammed…
(Chris): It was very organic, we’d jam and if we weren’t feeling it we’d jam anyway and be like “eh fuck it”. We’ve all been in situations where it was hard, like drawing water from a stone & it was refreshing to just jam & throw it all at the wall for three days.
(Alex): Hundred percent. And the plan now is to fine-tune the ideas from Nannup & create our next release ASAP.

What are you plans for 2019 looking like?
(Alex): We’re gearing up for the Evil Goodness Tour which is kicking off officially on July 25th at one of our favourite venues ‘Frankies Pizza’ with Cigars Of The Pharaoh. Then we’re shooting through to Thirroul, Manly and Canberra with Ruby Tuesdays and The Fossicks.
(Joel): Material-wise, we’ll be picking a few tunes from our current inventory for our next release and aim to be in the studio in the next couple of months.
(Chris): We’ll be building up them velocity points.
(Joel): Haha yes, we’ll be touring again later in the year but we can’t say where yet
(Alex): It’ll be a surprise.
(Chris): Surprise mofo’s – we’ll just rock up.
(Joel): “Here we are!” – Doesn’t matter, we’re here. Fuck it.

Who were you inspirations growing up?
(Chris): I grew up on Wham, George Michael & Bon Jovi. That’s the only way to do it.
(Alex): Mmmm..
(Chris): But when I started playing guitar I went straight to blues music. I’d be like “Put BB King ‘Live At The Regal’ on” and my dad would be like “Shut up Chris”. Haha…also Muddy Waters, and then further back to like the Robert Johnson era. Heaps of other blues stuff too. But you can hear it in my playing, I’m just copying them…at least those guys can’t sue me now.

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Photo – Isabelle Haubrich

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…imagine the four of you are marooned on a desert island. You can each bring one album:
(Joel): Dans will be Slipknot’s Greatest Hits.
(Isabelle): It cannot be a greatest hits.
(Chris): You can only bring one? And all four of us are on the island? 
(Alex): So obviously ‘Appetite For Destruction’ will be there.
(Joel): That can be Dans default choice ‘cos he’s not here.
(Chris): I’ll take the hit and take Meatloaf – ‘Bat Out Of Hell’. The whole thing is a Greatest Hits. Now you’re up shit creek.
(Joel): I think we gotta have a lull as well.
(Alex): For the lull, I’ll take Carole King ‘Tapestry’.
(Chris): Aww, big album.
(Joel): Or ‘Rumours’.
(Chris): Na, who are we kidding? We’ll be going a hundred miles an hour all the time. Fuck it – ‘Appetite For Destruction’; ‘Rumours’; ‘Bat Out Of Hell’… come on give us another humungous album.
(Joel): Thriller.
(Chris): Boom.
(Alex): Ya dun know.

If you could play with any artists, living or dead, who would you pick?
(Joel): It’d be huge to play with one of the greats, like Gunners, Jack White, Black Keys…
(Alex): Jimi Hendrix.
(Joel): Led Zepp.
(Chris): Yeah man, Robert Plant… Phil Collins? YES! “One more night…” but then you could go way back and play with Muddy Waters.
(Joel): Open for Queen…
(Chris): Just go nuclear hey. Open for Whitney.
(Alex): Ok, so we say Jimi, Led Zeppelin, Whitney Houston…
(Joel): And Fleetwood Mac.
(Chris): Man, Marvin Gaye. Or eighties Axle.
(Joel): Alright – Jimmy; Led Zepp; Guns N Roses…who would Dan pick?
(Chris): Slipknot.
(Alex): Haha.
(Joel): Dans default is always Slipknot.

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Photo – Isabelle Haubrich

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You guys have a lot of nicknames. Can you please clarify all of these for me:
(Joel): Apart from my alias ‘Harry’, our nicknames are call-signs from the movie Top Gun: Maverick, Goose, Iceman & Slider. We perform on the…basis…of these names, which give us a certain identity… to the task at hand…and allow us to move forward…with the mission of…
(Alex): Of injustice.
(Joel): Of injustice, quite often.
(Chris): What a great answer.
(Joel): Next.

What song would you recommend to someone who hasn’t heard Foxton Kings before?
(Joel): “Money, Money” from our latest EP ‘With Love’.

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Photo – Isabelle Haubrich

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Quick answer questions:
(Isabelle): It’s gotta be quick, guys.

Favourite album: 
(Dan): Slipknot
(Chris): Bat Out Of Hell

Favourite Artist:
(Joel): Billy Joel
(Chris): That’s a good answer! BB King.
(Alex): Biggie Smalls

Favourite move?
(Joel): Shrek
(Alex): Secrets & Lies
(Chris): Shawshank Redemption

Favourite place to visit?
(Chris): Banff – Canada
(Alex): New Orleans
(Joel): This is hard for me…probably England, but in saying that, probably somewhere I can be in a lodge.
(Chris): Banff! Like snowcap mountains, writing and fishing during the day, cosy dinners at night.
(Joel): Yeah!

Venue to play?
(Chris): Royal Albert Hall. Actually, Maddison Square Garden.
(Joel): I’d like to play somewhere on the strip…the Viper Room or Whiskey A Go-Go.
(Alex): The Troubadour.

Favourite food?
(Alex): Pizza.
(Chris): What about something you could eat everyday and not get sick of it?
(Alex): Mmhmm. Pizza.
(Chris): Man, my mums lasagne. It’s even better the second day.
(Joel): I don’t mind just a good ham & cheese toasted sandwich.

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Check out FOXTON KINGS below
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AMNPLIFY – DB