Sunday 4 December 2011

OUR ALBUM IS OUT!





 We're very proud and excited that our début album, "Last of Many" is now available! 

"Last of Many has the crucial edge needed for an indie band to stand out....The Foxes keep the album interesting with surprisingly complex tracks that provide fluidity while still seeming effortless."
Click here to read it all. 

"Last of Many is a perfect example of a group giving birth to their ultimate sound...this album is filled with upbeat yet grungy tracks that resemble a sort of roller-coaster made specifically for the ears."
Click here to read it all. 


You can download the album from:

iTunes
Amazon (UK)
CD artwork
Amazon (US)


You can buy the album in CD format (complete with the beautifully hand illustrated artwork and lyrics) from:

Rough Trade (£10.99)

Cargo Records (£9.49) 
Norman Records (independent store - £8.79) 
Tesco (£8.47)
Play.com (£7.99)

Zavvi (£7.95)

Amazon (£7.88)

Please don't forget to leave a review if you can, wherever you choose to buy the album from and tell your friends about it! 




SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL RECORD SHOP! 


Independent record stores stocking "Last of Many" in the UK.

  • A & A discs, Cheshire - 01260 280 778
  • Acorn, Yeovil - 01935 425 503 - Website 
  • Action Records, Preston - 0177 2258809 - Website 
  • Andy's,  Aberystwyth - 01970 624581 - Website 
  • Badlands, Huddersfield - 01484 454054
  • Barnstorm, Dumfries - 01387 267894
  • Beatdown, Newcastle - 0191 261 8894 - Website 
  • Casbah, London - 0208 858 1964
  • Crash, Leeds - 0113 2436743 - Website 
  • Dada Records, London - 0208 747 9790
  • Derricks, Swansea - 01792 654226 - Website 
  • Diverse, Newport - 01633 259661 - Website 
  • Fives, Leigh-On-Sea - 01702 711 629
  • Gatefield Sounds, Whitstable - 01227 263 337
  • Head, Bristol - 01179 297798
  • Head Records, Leamington Spa - 01926 887 870
  • Jam, Cornwall - 01326 211 722 - Website 
  • Jumbo Records, Leeds - 0113 2455570 - Website 
  • Love Music, Glasgow - 0141 332 2099
  • Music Mania, Hanley - 01782 206 000
  • One Up, Aberdeen - 01224 642662 - Website 
  • Paradiso, Liverpool - 0151 5123 699
  • Phoenix Sounds, Devon - 01626 334 942 - Website 
  • Piccadilly Records, Manchester - 0161 839 8008 - Website 
  • Probe, Liverpool - 0151 7088815 - Website 
  • Rapture, Oxford - 01993 700 567
  • Raves From The Grave, Somerset - 01373 464 666 - Website 
  • Record Collector, Sheffield - 0114 266 8493
  • Record Corner, Surrey - 01483 422 006 - Website 
  • Record Village, Scunthorpe - 01724 851048
  • Reflex, Newcastle - 0191 2603246 - Website 
  • Resident, Brighton - 01273 606312 - Website 
  • Rise, Bristol - 01179297511
  • Rise, Swindon - Website 
  • Rise, Cheltenham - 01242 228493 - Website 
  • Rough Trade East, London - 0207 392 7788 - Website 
  • Rough Trade Talbot Rd, London - 020 7229 8541 - Website 
  • Rounder, Brighton - 01273 325440 - Website 
  • Sister Ray, London - 020 7734 3297 - Website 
  • Sound It Out, Stockton on Tees - 01642 860068 - Website 
  • Sound Knowledge, Marlborough - 01675 511 106
  • Soundclash, Norwich - 01603 761004 - Website
  • Spillers, Cardiff - 02920 224905 - Website 
  • Square Records, Wimbourne - 01202 883203
  • The Drift Record Shop, Totnes - 01803 866828 - Website
  • Wall of Sound, Huddersfield - 0845 6522822 - Website

  • With more videos in the works, here's the latest home-made video from the album - "Send Me Nothing"

      

    On behalf of all the band, I just want to say a huge THANK YOU for buying our album and supporting us!

    Much love, 

    Nigel. 

    The Foxes Twitter
    The Foxes Facebook.

    My acoustic Facebook.
    My acoustic Twitter.









    Tuesday 25 October 2011

    First of Many....

    ....great album reviews for "Last of Many"!

    "From the early Beatles on speed wig out of Suzy all the way through to the album’s climax, the brooding meltdown of Sorry To Leave You the album’s jammed full of one classic sounding track after another......all human emotion’s on offer here folks, often wrapped up with a dash of wry wit. Musically it’s pure British pop gold."


    "The début album hands over to you almost always a rock/pop song that you've come to know so well, but can hear over and over again!! "


    Fancy getting your hands on an advance copy of the album? Fancy writing a review even if you've never written one before?! Email nigel@thefoxesband.com and tell me why you'd like to review it! Best reviews published here. 


    MUSIC VIDEO NEWS.


    The newest music video for our album is for "The Sad Thing" and is up now:



    This was filmed at Survival Studios in North Acton, without telling them about the incredible fire hazard we were going to undertake, using my little hand held digital camera (Panasonic HM-TA1 the geeks!) and I then edited the footage together using Windows Movie Maker - which isn't the most ideal program for this sort of thing, but hey ho....

    Award winning...

    I'm thrilled to tell you that the video to 'No Reply' has won a top award at the Digital Arts Festival in Somerset - with judges including part of the team who made the famous "Wallace and Gromit" animated shows, Terry Thomas came first place with the video to 'No Reply'...which was...

    ..."for his older brother's band, The Foxes, and was a technical achievement, lip synching a claymation puppet's lips and guitar strumming to the soundtrack. Terry painstakingly captured every frame with a webcam and used various other software to scrub each image to look its best."

    Read the full award details here. 

    The next music video...

    I'm working on is for 'Send Me Nothing' - a great up-beat track written by our guitarist Jon which you're going to LOVE. It'll be ready in a week or so because without wishing to spoil anything, I'm making it by sifting through over 1,700 photographs taken at the same session we filmed 'The Sad Thing' - but here's a sneak photographic preview...(click on the pictures for the big versions)





    U.S. podcast first!

    Fancy hearing the unreleased first track, 'Suzy' off our début album? It's ready to hear on this "Best of British" podcast from North America about 15 mins in. Click here to listen now.

    I've just seen that 'Run' is also featured on their latest podcast! It's at 13 mins 29 seconds in. Click here to listen now.


    And finally....

    * I'm playing an acoustic set this Saturday (29th October) at The Vesbar in Shepherd's Bush for the Shepherd's Bush Oxjam Takeover. I'm on stage at about 8.30pm and will be in full zombie gear - so come down, it's all for a great cause with over 40 live acts across six local venues.

    * I can't believe the Steps album go to number 1 in the UK album charts!! Nor can I believe that I actually quite like Noel Gallagher's latest single (let's keep this between you and I, ok?)

    * I did a little photo shoot with Rich Newman just down the road from where I live in Wandsworth. Check it out here. 

    * We'll be featuring the amazing artist Owain Thomas (no relation!) on the next blog - as well as doing the artwork for our last EP and forthcoming album, he painted the piece or the right for the album booklet, based on this photo by Tina Sheikh from Magic Photography.

    * Our big album launch party plans will be announced soon!

    Much love, 


    P.S. My solo album 'Third Movement'  had this rather lovely review.
    P.P.S. There'll be a music video to 'Third Movement' very soon, made by Fry Films - the same lovely people who made the 'Bill Hicks' and 'Lover, Killer' videos.
    P.P.P.S. I want to make a new  Facebook account and the name will be 'Nobody' so when I see stupid rubbish people post, I can Like it. And it will say 'Nobody Likes This'.


    Life is one big road with lots of signs. So when you riding through the ruts, don't complicate your mind. Flee from hate, mischief and jealousy. Don't bury your thoughts, put your vision to reality . Wake up and live!” - Bob Marley.


    "I'd like to know what all the strange ones know."- Supergrass. 

     

     





    Monday 5 September 2011

    "Last of Many" - our debut album!

    The Foxes are very proud and excited to announce that our début album, "Last of Many" will be released on December 5th 2011 on our own record label, Room 10 and distributed by Cargo Records. It was produced and mixed by John Cornfield and recorded at Sawmills Studios, Cornwall.



    A lot of people have asked about the track-listing for the album, so here it is:

    1. Suzy. 
    2. Something About You.
    3. Run. 
    4. Out of Service. 
    5. Sweet Little Wonder. 
    6. Send Me Nothing. 
    9. Too Little, Too Late. 
    10. Country Low (album version).
    11. The Sad Thing.
    12. Meet and Wine.
    13. Waiting for the Storm. 
    14. Sorry to Leave You. 


    Thank you to everyone who has helped us get this far on our own - we really appreciate it. If you're wondering about how we did it and what we've gone through, have a read of our official biography.

    Any press/bloggers who would like to review the album and receive our press pack, please email nigel@thefoxesband.com 

    I'll leave you with our latest home-made video to "Country Low":




    Much love, 


    The Foxes. 

    P.S. Click for The Foxes Twitter and Facebook pages. 
    P.P.S. Tour details will follow over the coming weeks. 

     

    Wednesday 17 August 2011

    Videos, festivals and being drawn by strangers...

    I'm going to start with the official video to "Country Low" - made in my very amateur but wistfully creative capacity using my HD camera and a 1987 adventure game called "Space Quest II" (which I played on my Atari St when I was a wee nipper) - if you've not seen it already I'd say it's well worth your time and the song's a cracker to boot ;-)



    Please support us by buying a copy of the song from iTunes, play.com, amazon - but if you just want to listen, all our music is on Spotify


    We had a great time on the Isle of Wight playing with The Fun Lovin' Criminals at 'Legends in the Park' - I would have also seen Chesney Hawkes play earlier in the day, but I was eating at the time, and in music you have to have priorities ;-) 

    You can view several live videos of the show, including songs from our forthcoming brand new album by clicking here.

    STOP THIEF!!

    Sadly this was the last time Jon and Alex played with their respective instruments (seen left) because a couple of days after this gig we had our van broken in to and about half of our
    gear (thousands and thousands of pounds worth) was stolen. 

    Of course that doesn't cover the sentimental value of an instrument which has been with you throughout your entire career, covering all your gigs and tours, recordings etc :-(

    The only reason my own electric guitar wasn't taken was because it was at Chandlers Guitars being re-fretted - suddenly that £240 repair cost doesn't seem as bad.

    Watch these beautiful instruments (and band members) in action one last time in the video below of 'Send Me Nothing' - which will feature on the new album.


    There are also rather ace live recordings of 'The Sad Thing' and 'No Reply'.


    RANDOM FINDING MYSELF....

    While randomly googling Knightsbridge (as you do), I came across a drawing that someone had made of me while I was busking at Knightsbridge Tube Station. A good likeness, would you say?!


    THE FOXES DÉBUT ALBUM.

    One thing I've learned being in the music industry is that EVERYTHING takes at least three times as long to do as you first thought...especially when you're doing it yourself. I can, however, tell you this:

    1. We've got a name for the album.
    2. We've got the front cover artwork through. It's awesome. 
    3. The next blog WILL be an album release date announcement - or I'll get someone to video me running naked round and round the flats where I live. Promise.


    IN OTHER NEWS:

    * Did I mention we played a gig with Newtown Faulkner? What a nice guy! 


    * I might be singing in an advert for the Olympics.  

    * Did you read our fabulous new biography?! CLICK HERE IMMEDIATELY IF NOT.

    * Jon and I played an acoustic show at The Bedford in Balham for 'The Busking Project' - there's a version of 'Third Movement' on my new youtube page here.

    * You can download my entire acoustic album for free by clicking here. It contains several versions of songs later recorded on the new Foxes album. Did I mention you could get it for free?!

    * One of the songs from that album, 'Stepping Up' is featured on the brand new 'Sourmash Mixtape Vol. 1: The Walls are Not Listening' which you can also download for free - well worth it, there are some great tracks on there.
     
    That's all for now!

    Much love, 

    Nigel. 
    The Foxes. 


    P.S. I update both The Foxes twitter and my own twitter page. I am fairly amusing. 
    P.P.S. For goodness sake, download my album for free! 
    P.P.P.S. Thanks for your blog comments - they make me warm inside and I always read and reply. 
    P.PP.S. This blog was written to the sound of CD 1 of the new deluxe version of "The Sophtware Slump" by Granddaddy. It's a great album. 


    'Start living now. Stop saving the good china for that special occasion. Stop withholding your love until that special person materializes. Every day you are alive is a special occasion. Every minute, every breath, is a gift from God.' Mary Manin Morrissey.

    'The receptionist at the second interview was way hotter than the first one, but the pay on offer isn't as good. Life is full of tough choices.' Hereward Swallow. *



    * This is an exciting new feature of the blog where I take, without their permission, a Facebook status update from one of my friends and post it here as a traditional quote. The first to feature is Hereward, a talented musician and a great bloke. He asks an important question here - so which job would YOU go for? (I think the answer is basically gender dependent...)




    Monday 25 July 2011

    The Foxes - Biography

    With our début album announcement tantalisingly close I can think of no better way to precede this than by releasing our brand new band biography written by none other than Stephen Brolan, a very well respected and experienced writer.

    Stephen also happens to be a long-standing fan of The Foxes so we were thrilled when he agreed to write our new biography. You can read more of his work here.

    Enjoy! Some of it may just surprise you.

    Nigel. X

    P.S. I've added some pictures which you can click on for large versions. 



    THE FOXES
    BIOGRAPHY
    Written by Stephen Brolan


    "While Nigel Thomas is not a super proponent of the notion of destiny – he’s pretty keen on being in charge of his own life, thanks very much – The Foxes frontman retains a firmness of belief that insists, in the context of all things, this is where he was always meant to be. From a very early age, it seems, there has been a niggling certainty about the path his eventual life would lead him. While most of us were still deciding whether we were going to grow up to be Superman or a dalek, Thomas was already tuning in to some future broadcast and humming along to its inaudible yet somehow irresistible tune.

    “There was never any question about what I wanted to do – I’ve been singing since I was teeny-weeny,” Thomas says, the now twenty-something’s blue eyes still betraying a mischievous, childlike glimmer. “My father was a singer-songwriter and actually released a couple of singles that were recorded at Abbey Road. His career was kind of halted by meeting my mother and having two kids…” He grins rather sheepishly. “I suppose I see it as my job to not only follow in his footsteps but also make up for, well, ruining his life.”
    With such adjacent family-oriented musical heritage (his brother, “the really talented one”, is also an accomplished composer), it would be easy to interpret a certain genetic obligation was a compelling factor, but for Thomas, whose calling had always mined deeper sources than mere duty, the only constant in terms of impetus always came from within.

     
    “I don’t feel any pressure from any other source outside of myself, and even then, it’s not as if there was any question about self-motivation that way either.” He pauses for a lifetime, which actually punctuates his addendum: “Writing and performing music is just something I’ve always passionately wanted to do.” Another thought occurs, and the calmest storm passes through his bright eyes – the merest, human flicker. “I mean, sometimes there are days – dark days – when I think I never want to pick up a guitar again, but that’s really like a blasphemy.” Thomas’s obvious earnestness almost cringes on that last notion, the very thought abhorrent. “I know I could never do that – I could never not sing.”

    An amalgamation of insouciant, wide-eyed exuberance tempered by a steely determination, Nigel Thomas is perhaps something of an emblematic musician for the 21st century – a poster child for artistic self-government in an increasingly non-committal industry suffused equally by hyperbole and cynicism. His band, comprising lead guitarist Jonathan Bretman, bassist Alex Douglas, and drummer Stephen Wilde, are forged from an autonomous working ethic that typifies an indie spirit – in the truest, etymological sense – that seeks to cocoon itself from the barrage of broken promises laid on by the industry at large and focus its collective powers internally, beyond external influence.
     
    Having come together through various chance (fated?) encounters around the capital, The Foxes’ early years largely reflected that of any London-based band hussling the circuit: hold down the odious 9 to 5; gather funds for gear and maybe a clapped-out disaster on wheels; land a gig supporting the latest Camden-bound naval-gazers (“Some of them fucking need support – literally,” Thomas says: “They look half-asleep on stage”) and hope some A&Rs holes happen to share your vision and hand you the golden key to stardom. However, after a series of attempts to win the attentions of industry pedallers and pen-weilders, it soon became apparent they were banging their heads against a wall of indifference.

    “We got so sick of the fact all the people we’ve approached nobody wanted to help us,” he says, the words entangled in a sigh probably echoing a billion other bands’ sentiments. “And when that happens to you long enough, either you sit back and feel sorry for yourself or you get out there yourself and say ‘fuck it’ and start helping yourself.”

    And help themselves and sayeth the words ‘fuck it’ they did, pooling all their resources – financially, practically, artistically – into an egalitarian unit that worked indefatigably of and for itself, from designing the artwork and heading up their own publicity campaigns to booking their own tours and putting out their songs independently – a process of grit and determination Thomas believes has stood them in good stead and provided a valuable learning curve. “Between the four of us we’d probably all make pretty decent band managers,” he laughs. “We’ve learnt so much from having had to do everything ourselves…”

    Having gathered enough resources to get some recording time, the band then self-released a couple of tracks on their own Room 10 label, and soon saw the fruits of their labour reap some serious kudos dividends (if not exactly financial avalanches), with singles ‘Trauma Town’ and ‘Bill Hicks’ (Thomas’s tribute to his comedy hero) reaching numbers 9 and 6 respectively in the UK indie chart. And following on the heels of this, attention from outside sources began to spring forth – a feature on myspace reaching the ears of a festival organiser, who invited the band out to the States as part of a cancer-awareness charity gig, which would in turn thrust an ultimatum in the faces of the then office-bound nine-to-fivers…

    “We’d been thinking about quitting our day jobs for some time to focus on our music,” Thomas insists. “And when this opportunity came along, we knew we had a chance to do something about it.”

    And so, in true fatalistic fashion and in sight of higher auspices, the four Foxmen fled the Apocalypse of their respective jobs and, using the springboard of the charity festival as a starting point, hurled themselves at the States with a series of tour dates that took in New York, LA and New Orleans, all fuelled by benevolent omens, a healthy ‘fuck it’ attitude, and a cashpot of ­golden handshakes. A month later, a return home with broader horizons would provide greater perspective and the ultimate catalyst that would shape their immediate destinies.

    “When we got back, we thought, ‘well we could go back into our jobs’…” The uttering of these words, and the accompanying grimace, suggests this was never a real consideration. “Or,” he emphasises, “we could quit and get tighter as a band, and the best way to do that – earn money while honing our playing – was to do covers gigs.”

    A poisonous word for much of the indier-than-thou purist Camden clergy, covers have nevertheless provided The Foxes with a niche that, while not their ideal situation, has allowed them to eschew the soul-sapping day jobs and self-sustain themselves on the way to their ultimate goal. After all, nothing worth striving for comes without its costs.

     “It hasn’t been easy – it’s one of those things where you think it’s a bit like selling out and a bit soul destroying to be playing other people’s songs,” he says regretfully but without apology. “But it’s also enabled us to do everything we’ve done so far – and we’re a better band because of it. And however you look at it, we’re doing music for a living, and that’s what we’re totally absorbed in…” He trails off, grappling for the crux. “The main thing that frustrates me – when you see people get excited about songs you haven’t written – you just think it’s a shame people don’t go to many gigs of unknown bands and try to seek out new music for themselves instead of having everything force-fed to them in such a commercial, passive way. People want to be spoon-fed familiar things they know rather than seek things out for themselves, which I guess is just the way of the world, and you sometimes have to accept that.” 


    On this last point, Thomas is visibly choking on the words, as if the very notion of accepting anything other than what’s right and good would be tantamount to surrendering of the will – something for which The Foxes are clearly not accustomed. For a band still unsigned, who have given up their jobs and sacrificed the trappings of complacency to mine the chasm of their ambition, to achieve what they already have is testament to the strength of their collective will and character. Having gained the attentions of John Cornfield, after the mega-producer saw the band’s incendiary live show at – of all places – The Orange Box in Yeovil, The Foxes blagged, busked and covered-versioned their arses off for over a year to pool together the money to record their debut album with Cornfield at his famed Sawmills Studios – the results of which speak for themselves.

    “Whatever happens, we’ve made the best album we could and we’ve done everything we can to make that happen,” he reasons, a distant look seeming to recall an abundance of chased rainbows. “After all we’ve been through, there’s not really much more we could’ve done…”
     
    An entity unto themselves, The Foxes, as their moniker entails, is a sleek, nightstalking creature determinedly and surreptitiously surviving on its own terms, making familiar territory of blind alleys and, while retaining a true sense of kismet, charting their own course. For Thomas himself, fiercely proud as he is of he and his band’s achievements, the endeavour is far from over. Having come this far on a wing, a prayer, and sheer self-belief – via a wilderness of industry indifference – the crumbs of comfort are not commodities he is about to hang around for.


    “Sometimes I might not have enough money to get something to eat, so I’ll have to go out and play music to people who throw coins at me, and I’ve got enough for lunch that day. But because all time and money is invested in creating something I love, it makes everything worth it. It would have been so easy just to go for a job in the city – but I wasn’t being who I think I should be, and you’re never going to be happy doing something that’s not you…” He stops, head cocked, as if hearing the distant hum of destiny’s broadcast to which he remains devoutly attuned. “Even if nothing comes of what I’m doing, I can at least look back and say I gave it my best shot…”

    Armed with such unerring conviction and focus, aligned with the truest sense of purpose, Thomas’s aim could hardly be more keenly focused on its target. For some, things are meant to be. Others mean it so much, it’s destiny that has to fall into line…"