Trailers, tours and menageries!

CANDLESTICK

First of all I'm very excited to announce that the official trailer for my feature film 'Candlestick' has finally been unleashed to the world! Have a look:

From TV Bomb: 'Candlestick is a stylish retro thriller taking its cues from Alfred Hitchcock’s classics Rope and Dial M for Murder. Director Christopher Presswell’s second feature sees a social gathering take a dark turn when the host suggests that his best friend’s wife may have been unfaithful. However, as the allegations start flying, it soon becomes clear that something far more sinister is at play. Watch the preview below then see the film as part of the Aberdeen Film Festival on Wednesday 8^th October.' 

I'll be up in Aberdeen for the Film Festival on 8th October with plenty more screenings to come (including the Marbella Film Festival AND I've heard rumours of New York too). 

It really is a great little film of which I'm really proud to have been a part - keep up to date with screenings and exclusive updates on the Candlestick Twitter page. 


THE MUSIC HALL MENAGERIE

 

 
There's just ONE WEEK left to see my current production, The Music Hall Menagerie at the Leicester Square Theatre in central London, directed by Stuart Saint. It's a show full of laughter, songs, variety, fun and a touch of dance, do come and see it if you can (use the code WOW10 for special discount but keep it to yourself!).  

ALBUM AND TOUR

Finally, I can announce that I'll be embarking on a mini UK tour in November in advance of the release of my new solo album. I'll be joined on the tour with Cara Mitchell, a hugely talented singer/songwriter from Aberdeen. The tour so far (with huge thanks to Ross Calder of AGP Aberdeen)

Thur 20th Nov - GLASGOW, Nice 'n' Sleazy
Fri 21st Nov - EDINBURGH, Sneaky Pete's
Sat 22nd Nov - ABERDEEN, Cellar 35
Sun 23rd Nov - INVERNESS, Hootananny's
Mon 24th Nov - NOTTINGHAM, Acoustic Rooms
Tue 25th Nov - NORWICH, The Blueberry Music House
Wed 26th Nov - LONDON, Death2Disco
Thur 27th Nov - BRIGHTON, Chequers

I'll have more album news soon where lots of music videos are already in the works - I'll leave you with the full band video to Third Movement (a completely new remake of the acoustic video) by the fabulous Infinite Pictures, who made The Foxes music videos 'Bill Hicks' and 'Lover, Killer'.

That's all for now! Thanks for taking the time to read this blog - if you enjoyed it I'd be very grateful if you'd help it spread by emailing it to a friend or sharing on Facebook or Twitter. 

Plus I'd love to hear your thoughts on the trailer - so if you have 30 seconds, leave me a little comment below! 

Much love, 

Nigel. X


P.S. Death2Disco is back (in Camden) P.P.S. I'm not one to preach to the Scottish people about why they should vote NO in the forthcoming campaign to leave the UK (apart from saying 'Stay with us Scotland, we love you!')- so I'll let a Scotsman give you some interesting food for thought.
P.P.P.S. You may follow me on Twitter if you wish - where 8.5% of active Twitter users aren't human. 
P.P.P.P.S.  Love is better than a warm trombone.

• “The ear is the avenue to the heart.” Voltaire.

   

  "All Englishmen like dresses. It's something in their genes. Everyone knows it, they just don't talk about it."  David Bowie.

   

  

   

Recording update

Hello!

The initial recording session for my new album is now complete. It was intense but really enjoyable due to working with such great musicians and of course, Luke who engineered the sessions at Tilehouse Studios. 

The tracks we worked on are:

1. Anne - a dedication to Anne Frank (here's the acoustic demo). 
2. Fever - a dark, quite heavy track (an early live version here).
3. Destiny - this has a lovely, quite funky change in it! (here's a live acoustic version).
4. Que Sera - a delicate little gem is all I can say.
5. Ghost Hunter - another dark track, inspired by Derren Brown. This one is full of surprises...
6. Third Movement - an older track which now is full band. Here's the official video to the acoustic version.
7. Travelling Man - inspired by a tour of Europe with guitarist Jon which started this whole blog off as you can see.

Other tracks which may or may not grace the final album may or may not include: Let It Go, Dark Passenger, 5476 Miles, Stepping Up, Dancing. 

Here's a little 90 second video of the session to give you a tiny taster! 

The tracks are being mixed by Luke right now, I think they're really quite special and I'm excited to release them to the world. 

Huge thanks to Tali Trow, Jon Bretman, Pat Kenneally, Dave Holland, Luke Oldfield, Chris Preswell and not forgetting Gemma Corker for the amazing catering.

I'll leave now with some more photos for your delectation (click to make big).

Much love,

Nigel. X

New recordings, acting and a bit of both.

NEW ALBUM

I'm very pleased to announce I'll be recording my first proper solo album at Tilehouse Studios in January with a group of some of the best session musicians in the country. 

Here's a little sample of what we've done already (this one recorded at Bowerman Studios) and yes, it contains real harp, violin and cello.



There are live videos for 'Fever' and 'Travelling Man' both of which will appear on the album if you fancy other, very different tasters!

You can still currently download my acoustic album, 'Third Movement' for free from here. It'll be deleted at the end of the year, so get it while you can. 

MUSIC VIDEOS

I'm featured in the new Rizzle Kicks music video 'Skip to the Good Bit' which samples the famous EMF song. Here it is:

 Earlier this year I was also lucky enough to feature in the music video to 'Footsteps' from The Jar Family which you can see here. They're a great band, well worth checking out. 

My penchant for making low-fi music videos for The Foxes album tracks continue with this latest offering for "Sweet Little Wonder".  It features all of us in the bath, which will both delight and shock in (un)equal measure.

Other humbly home made videos include:

The Sad Thing.

Get Me. 

Send Me Nothing. 

Country Low.

No Reply (made by my brother Terry).

Candlestick director Chris Presswell who helped with filming this also made a very special little stop-motion/layered video test called 'Nigel Gets What He Deserves' which is both spiritually correct and rather amusing.

Chris was also responsible for taking the photo of me which was featured in the final episode of one of my all time favourite TV comedies, The IT Crowd on Channel 4. 

To quote Chris himself: "The episode is currently available on 4oD."


THE FILM

The new feature film I'm in, Candlestick, is 'a stylish Hitchcock style thriller'. The production team have just finished recording the score with the City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra (which provided the music to such films as The Sixth Sense, District 9 and Mullholland Drive) and it'll be out in 2014. 

Follow the Candlestick facebook page for exclusive photos and regular updates. 

 

THE ADVERTS

Never one to turn down the chance to wear a bright green full body jumpsuit, I'm the 'game head' in this Stride advert for Gumulon. I also have a beard in this, which I quite like.

Using my geeky acting side to its extreme, I play Francis in this comedy viral ad. It's fine, I want to hit myself quite a bit in this too. 

Do check out the out-takes video too. 

AND FINALLY....

Thank you to everyone who came to see me in Saucy Jack and the Space Vixens at the Leicester Square Theatre this summer, directed by Stuart Saint. It was glittery, challenging and a lot of fun. 

Until next time....

Much love, 

Nigel. 

P.S. I found this: 'Hit or Miss' by Odetta Holmes. It's great. 
P.P.S. You can still find me dj'ing Death2Disco every week at Notting Hill Arts Club. I book the bands too, feel free to make suggestions. 
P.P.P.S. Real or not, this video has completely cured me. 
P.P.P.P.S. Pub quiz? 

• “While we look to the dramatist to give romance to realism, we ask of the actor to give realism to romance.” Oscar Wilde.

   

  "I got tiger blood, man. My brain...fires in a way that is - I don't know, maybe not from this particular terrestrial realm."  Charlie Sheen.

While we look to the dramatist to give romance to realism, we ask of the actor to give realism to romance.

Oscar Wilde

Read more at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/o/oscarwilde396809.html#UEb1bOcoMw6rsC5A.99

All good things...

Today in 1969, The Beatles' last public performance took place, on the roof of Apple Records in London. 

With that in mind...

 

It's oh so quiet....

.....quiet that is unless you've got our début album (or more especially, our early singles) cranked up to 11. Which is one louder. Speaking of which, did you read our review in Q Magazine?! 

THOUGHTFUL WORDS ALERT.

Things have been undeniably quiet on The Foxes front of late - after all the effort and excitement of releasing 'Last of Many' a little break to breathe and relax was much needed. It goes without saying, though I'm going to say it anyway, that financing, recording and releasing music to the kind of standard we want is an incredible amount of (highly rewarding) effort. It's much regrettable that we didn't get anywhere near the kind of industry support we thought we would for the album and I still feel personally that, with the right push and support, it could have been far more successful and have had a greater reach than it has.  
Our stark refusal to follow trends, add keyboards, wear skinny jeans and so forth has undoubtedly contributed to this situation - but then, we've always just done what we wanted and made the music we've wanted to make. Hence, we are extremely proud of what we've done and are happy that we continue to gain new listeners and fans through word of mouth and people simply enjoying the music. 

I'll be honest - I don't know if/when we're going to play or record again as The Foxes. We're still friends and see and play together all the time as our money-making covers playing side project, "The Hound Dogs" - the set up which funded EVERYTHING we did together and every note of music you can hear which includes the words "The Foxes".


One thing I WILL be doing is continuing to make music videos for the tracks from the album, the next one being 'Sweet Little Wonder' - a live version of which you can watch here!

So, what's everyone in the band up to while not doing The Foxes? 

* First off, huge congratulations to our drummer, Steve, who recently got engaged to the very lovely Tania. They really are the most lovely couple.

* Among other things our bassist Alex has been running some amazingly successful pub quizzes which he writes from scratch - and I've even been helping out doing quiz master duties 
so will be at The Cock Tavern in Fulham every Sunday from 7.30pm if you want to pop down!

* Our guitarist Jon has been busy doing advanced computery stuff making phone apps as well as working on getting a degree (he's been coming first in everything so far - clever cloggs!)

* As for me - I'm currently performing in a new West End musical called "Toxic Bankers" - which runs at the Leicester Square Theatre until 14th April when we'll be going on tour, including Manchester. We've had loads of great reviews including The Telegraph, The Stage, and this BBC report! We even got a mention in the New York Times yesterday.

I'll also be recording a lot of exciting new music this summer - and most recently made a music video to "Third Movement" which you can watch by clicking here and download for FREE by clicking here!

I'm going to leave you by posting all our music videos below - simply because I'm biased and think that they're great and deserve to be seen. Have a flick through!! Don't forget they're all on iTunes and other (better) music sites if you like them.




TRAUMA TOWN (first single)



First up we've got "Trauma Town" - filmed at The Borderline just off Charing Cross Road in London and also, without permission, on the London Underground. I wrote the song about the small minority of people who make everyone else's life a nightmare in public, especially on public transport. Including zombies. There's behind the scenes footage here.

 BILL HICKS (second single)


Next up we have "Bill Hicks" - a song dedicated to the great great comedian who died far before his time. I wrote to Bill's family who were 100% supporting of the song and video and whom I've been fortunate enough to meet several times. If you look on the Youtube for this you'll see more hits and more abuse than for anything else we've ever done. People have actually wished death on us for dedicating a song to one of our heroes. It's quite funny really, in a sad sad way.

LOVER, KILLER (third single)  

Our third single was for one of our favourite songs, "Lover, Killer" - which I wrote based on a). the character Nicola Six from the novel 'London Fields' by Martin Amis and b). beautiful and stuck up girls in and around High Street Kensington. It was filmed in my home town of Brighton on the seafront and at The Grand Hotel. Although it's just featuring yours truly, Jon was actually there for the shoot and was one of the people pouring freezing cold water on me.

GET ME (EP/album track)  


Although "Get Me" is on 'Last of Many' it was also the first track from our EP 'Depression, Joy and a Moment of Fame.'  I made this video entirely from footage filmed on my phone at Sawmills Studio in Cornwall where we recorded the album. It was pieced together on Windows Movie Maker. A lot of people have said this is their favourite video as it just shows the band relaxed and having fun making music.

NO REPLY (EP/album track) 

Another track from the EP and album, "No Reply" is stop motion clay modelling made entirely by my brother, Terry Thomas at home in Somerset in his bedroom (when he was 16!). I think it's amazing, I love it. He also did a test run the year before to a b-side, "Headlock".

COUNTRY LOW (EP/album track) 

"Country Low" was made using a game I used to love playing on my Atari ST when I was little called "Space Quest". It was one of those parser games where you'd move the character with the cursor keys and type in what you wanted him to do, i.e. "look around" etc. I thought this was ideal for including lyrics, so set up my little HD camera in front of the screen and filmed it from different parts of the game. It took HOURS and HOURS to get right and probably could be more slick, but then the rough edges give it a home-made charm! 

THE SAD THING (album track) 

Challenged again to make a music video from a budget of exactly zero pounds and zero pence, I decided  for "The Sad Thing" to make use of a huge bag of candles I had at the bottom of my drawer since uni and we filmed this at our rehearsal studio, 'Survival' in North Acton without a fire extinguisher or permission. I really enjoyed making this video to one of my favourite songs from the album. It's amazing how hot it got when sitting in the middle of the candles.  I love the fact you can see the plugs in the video too.

SEND ME NOTHING (album track) 

This album track, "Send Me Nothing"  was also filmed at Survival Studios on the same day as we did "The Sad Thing". It was filmed using Steve's camera which took bursts of photos in quick succession - so I had to piece this together from literally thousands of photographs. I remember I'd read a particularly lazy review of 'Last of Many' the day I filmed the...er....smashing of the album bit with the hammer, so it not only fits the song lyrics rather well but also represents lazy music journalism where you might as well just destroy an album rather than listen to it or try to provide constructive criticism. We'd only JUST got the album delivered that day, so the first many people saw of the new album (including Alex!) was me destroying it.

I love and appreciate your comments and thoughts, as always.


Much love, 


Nigel.


P.S. discount tickets to see me in TOXIC BANKERS here!

P.P.S. I play three acoustic songs (including "Suzy" from our début album) and chat from 24.36 - straight after the Alan McGee interview on Gia's "Independent Session" show.

P.P.P..S. The soundtrack to this blog was Queen's of the Stone Age - "Era Vulgaris" and Sparklehorse - "It's a Wonderful Life". 

P.P.P.P.S. Thank you so much for reading my blog.

"But this rough magic
I here abjure; and, when I have requir'd
Some heavenly music — which even now I do, —
To work mine end upon their senses that
This airy charm is for, I'll break my staff,
Bury it certain fathoms in the earth,
And, deeper than did ever plummet sound,
I'll drown my book."

The Tempest, Act V, Scene 1. 

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.

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."

Read the full review from "The Hearing Aid" here.

"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!! "

Read the full review from "Tigers, Lions & Bears" here.

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, 

Nigel. X

Twitter
The Foxes Facebook.
My acoustic Facebook.

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.