Canadian quintet Foxwarren discuss Toronto, hindsight, and the making and meaning of their new record, 2.
The brainchild of acclaimed artist Andy Shauf and his creative counterpart Darryl Kissick, the returning presence of Canadian quintet Foxwarren has been long awaited. Their self-titled 2018 debut was a melting pot of mood and a sonic odyssey, and now the band are back with a follow up, seven years later, sounding more mature, cohesive and yet explorative.
Across the new ANTI-released opus, the band find now solid sonic marker, instead remaining fluid across a variety of styles, deft in their emotionality and compulsive in their creative enterprise. Made via long distance with each of the five members of the group offering input from their respective home studios, amalgamating a project that brings together a multitude of perspectives into a web of unity.
Talking 2, origins and sonic development, below Foxwarren’s Shauf and Kissick reveal all to Wonderland.
Listen to the new album…
Where do the origins of Foxwarren stem from?
Darryl Kissick: I met Andy through the Regina music scene. Without really knowing each other, we decided to try jamming and see what we could come up with. Avery, my brother, was the obvious choice for a drummer and then Andy brought Dallas into the fold. We got along really well and have just kept at it through the years.
Andy Shauf: Yeah, when we started Foxwarren we actually wanted it to be a loud rock band, which was foreign to both Darryl and I as songwriters… Eventually we settled on taking a more gentle approach, which was more familiar to us both.
How does Canada/Toronto and its music scene impact the way Foxwarren create their music and approach the escapade of artistry?
D: We are spread out across Canada (Andy is in Toronto; Colin is outside Halifax; Dallas is in Manitoba; Avery and I are in Regina), so we each have exposure to different music scenes. Speaking for myself, I find that the music scene in Regina is really strong and supportive. There are some excellent songwriters here, but no one has an ego. The long winters make it easy to focus on writing and recording.
And, with hindsight, how do you reflect on your 2018 self-titled debut?
D: I think we all remain proud of it. It took a lot of time and work to get that one completed, and so it’s just really gratifying to see that it’s resonated with some people.
How has the Foxwarren sound developed in the past seven years since?
D: We really made an effort to push ourselves out of our comfort zone and try creating an album that deviated from what we’d done in the past. Ultimately, the songs may not be a huge departure stylistically, but we tried using some new tricks, such as sampling, to push our sound in a new direction.
Congratulations on the new album! How are you feeling about its release?
D: Thank you! We’re excited to finally get it out there after working on it for so many years. I think everyone is proud of what we put together.
Talk us through the creative process of putting 2 together?
D: We started by trying to make a record live off the floor. We wanted to write and record an album really quickly, but we just weren’t happy with the results. We all went back to our home provinces and were trying to figure out how to continue collaborating. Andy had just bought a sampler and suggested we try uploading song ideas and loops that we could then assemble into full songs. It was a really slow process with a ton of trial and error.
A: Yeah, the idea was to make a sort of collage record. We decided that the song ideas we would upload should be taken as far as we could take them on our own. That way the ideas would have drums, pianos, or whatever other elements to work with as a starting point. Maybe the whole song idea would then go into the sampler, or maybe just the drums/piano would inspire a new direction.
When you set out to make the project, what did you set out to achieve? Do you feel that you achieved what you first aspired to?
D: We didn’t know what sound we wanted to land on, but we knew that we didn’t want to repeat ourselves. There was so much exploration that took place while making this album, and I don’t think anyone had any sense of where it was headed. That made it pretty exciting.
A: I think our goal was essentially to make a ‘cool sounding record’, and I think we did achieve that! Though, I suppose ‘cool’ is subjective.
Andy, how have your solo endeavours informed the new album? How do you decide what might be a Foxwarren song and what might be a song for a solo record?
A: Well, Foxwarren songs are just songs that we all work on together, but I guess I differentiate Foxwarren songs and my songs by their lyrical focus. I try to leave the concept based narrative attempts out of the Foxwarren world, as they can get pretty tedious… I think all of our solo endeavours bring a lot to the Foxwarren table. We all tinker away with songs in our respective home studios and that leads us to each having a unique musical voice.
2 is stylistically bold and varied, was that intentional or just the way the process unfolded?
D: We like a lot of different styles of music and we each bring in different sensibilities. All five of us contributed ideas, so I think that that is part of the reason that you hear a lot of variety.
A: Yeah I think we were really striving for ‘bold’ on this one.
What lies at the core of the thematic meaning of the new record?
A: When we started to make this record I wanted to write love songs… and then as time went on the idea evolved more to being little snapshots of a relationship at different points in time. We decided to call the record 2 not just because it’s our second LP, but also because each song involves 2 people. The songs don’t explore both perspectives, but there is always the idea of the ‘other’ in each song… and then with the addition of vocal samples there was another duality to play with in what each type of ‘communication’ (vocals or dialogue) offered to the ‘story’. It’s a very loose concept but I think whatever themes lie within are up to the listener to find or interpret.
The five of you have been making music together for nearly two decades – what works so well about the five of you together as musicians?
D: I think it’s because we are friends first and foremost. I’m happy that we’ve continued to make music together, because it means that we have a reason to stay in touch. We enjoy one another, so the music comes easily. We also share a lot of common tastes musically, so we gel pretty easily on that front.
A: Yeah, however difficult it is to make these records logistically, etc. it’s very easy to want to continue making music with your best friends.
What’s to come from Foxwarren?
D: We are gearing up to tour for a while in support of this album. After that, hard to say!
