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Cold, grey, and snowing. Eric Hudson paints a bleak picture of the American midwest winter, a bleaker tone as he speaks that matches his feelings toward his surrounds. Pretty easy to turn the Foxing guitarist’s frown upside down, mind you, by telling him all about the disgustingly hot Australian summer and reminding him that very soon the Missouri indie rockers will be breaking out the boardies and enjoying it for themselves for the first time when they tour here in March.
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“Is it very humid over there?” Hudson asks cautiously. “I really don’t know how to pack for that! We’re in the thick of one of the worst winters we’ve had in a while!” Before offering Hudson some fashion advice, there’s an elephant in the room that needs to be addressed. So far this year, indeed, since mid-December, Foxing have been relatively quiet across their social media despite a huge reception to their third studio album, Nearer My God, released last August. Are Foxing still in holiday mode? “I think in general we just kind of had a barrage of a lot of stuff, a lot of tours, around the time the record came out and thereafter,” Hudson says reasonably. “We just wanted to take a break, let it all simmer. We didn’t want to overload anyone with constant self-promotion. Coming up there will be a lot of things we’ll be announcing.
“Whenever there is communication on social media we really want it to be like, ‘Hey we have something to say here,’ and not just like a bunch of, I don’t know, off the cuff tweets about nothing!”
It’s been a raucous 18 months for Foxing and the extended break has been much needed. In 2019 they’re back at it and they’ll be going out on tour for seven months. “It’s gonna be wild!” Hudson says excitedly. It seems like for the last few months Foxing were activated online, every post was about a tour–Spain, Australia–you name it, these boys will be jet setting everywhere and of course, all this movement is happening off the back of Nearer My God.
We’ve always wanted to be eclectic in our influences and sound, always wanted a song and a record to sound different from the previous.
[ Eric Hudson ]
It’s been said that for many bands, the third album is make or break in terms of solidifying their sound, style, character and indeed, in gaining momentum in the industry–for Foxing, in some ways, all that is true. “I think the record we just put out is sort of a grand experiment for our band,” says Hudson, “We’ve always wanted to be eclectic in our influences and sound, always wanted a song and a record to sound different from the previous.”
“I feel like at least to this point, Nearer My God is us really at the top of figuring out how to put all those influences together in a way that is cohesive but still possible for someone to consume all in the same listen.
“It’s been a balance we worked hard to figure out and I’m very proud of this record for that reason. Each track is its own world, but as each track goes by, you’re transported to a different place–I really like that about this record.”
“It’s really cool–never been to Spain, never been to Australia,” Hudson muses, his thoughts back on all the upcoming travel. “We’re going to Poland for the first time … I don’t know, for me, I love travelling, that’s one of the biggest perks of this job we have–although it doesn’t feel like a job sometimes–and getting to go places I never thought I would ever go.
“I never thought I’d go to Australia, if I’m honest. But I’m very excited to, I’m very excited to hold a koala! I’m excited to hang out in Sydney, see the Opera House!”
A lot of firsts for Foxing, all afforded because of the success of their music and the perseverance of the band. “For sure,” Hudson begins steadily. “It’s really cool and nice to reflect because I … I don’t know, while we worked very hard and tried to push ourselves creatively and as people, even still it’s pretty shocking when you get offered a big tour, like in Australia. Not only to get offered it but you can afford to do it.
“Same places with all these places around the world, like Spain. The privilege of it is not lost on me, and I don’t think it’s lost on any of us, and we are very excited.”
Catch Foxing at the following dates:
Wednesday 27th February // The Reverence Hotel // Melbourne
Friday 1st March // Factory Floor // Sydney
Saturday 2nd March // Farmer & The Owl Festival at McCabe Park // Wollongong
Sunday 3rd March // Crowbar // Brisbane
