Preparing to embark on a tour supporting Lower Than Atlantis and fresh off the stage after their set at Warped Tour UK, we catch up with Black Foxxes vocalist and guitarist Mark Holley. After releasing their debut E.P., ‘Pines’, Black Foxxes have had an exciting year signing to Universal Music Group and grabbing festival slots at Reading & Leeds and Boardmasters. Mark tells us about the exciting year the three-piece have had, how excited they are to party with Lower Than Atlantis, and their country-influenced debut album being recorded later in the year.
How are you enjoying the festival and how do you think your set went?
Mark: Yeah it’s cool! I mean, anything to be established with Warped in any shape or form is always a really good thing. We had a few technical issues, but it was awesome that everyone came down to see us. Onto bigger and better things next year I guess.
You’ve been around for a couple years now, does being put on a line-up like Warped Tour make you feel like you’re going in the right direction?
Mark: Oh yeah, definitely, specially coming off the back of Reading & Leeds. I think you’ve got to put yourself into a direction where you can progress and always put different benchmarks on things, we’ve always done that as a band and we’re ticking off the bucket list one day at a time.
Are there any bands that you really want to see today?
Mark: There’s one but they’re on right now! The Rocket Summer, he is the king of hooks. Also Moose Blood and Frank Carter, those’ll be great.
How was the festival season for you guys?
Mark: It was cool man, Reading was unbelievable.
You guys had a packed out tent.
Mark: Especially at 11:30 in the morning, it was unbelievable. We did Boardmasters as well which is a really cool little festival. It’s been great man. Considering we’ve been a band like you said for a couple years. I mean we’ve had an E.P. out for not even a year and that’s been nuts.
You guys got signed to Search And Destroy / Universal Music Group earlier this year, that’s amazing. How have things changed since then?
Mark: Just more work. Being able to semi-live off just the music is a huge thing and we’re going to record the album this year. We can’t wait to get it out, its going to be great.
You guys are going on tour with Lower Than Atlantis later this year, that’s going to be amazing. How does that feel for you?
Mark: I think for us that’s a huge one, that’s Roundhouse and that’s always been one as kids we’ve just been like “Oh man, if we could ever play Roundhouse”. Again, one off the bucket list. That’s going to be so much fun, I’ve had a lot of mates that have worked with Lower Than Atlantis.
They seem like good dudes.
Mark: Yeah, they’re party animals, we’ll see what they’ve got.
Your EP Pines has your singles ‘You Gotta Grow’ and ‘River’ in there, both quite different sounds. It’s obvious there’s a blues influence along with a knack for fast-paced punk. For your album are you going for a more defined sound or keeping things open?
Mark: When we wrote that EP we’d only been a three-piece for three months, so we were quite naive to record as a three-piece because it was the first time any of us had done that. When you start a band, you always want to sound like someone, because that’s why you get into music, “If we could be like Brand New or Manchester Orchestra”. But then the more time you spend together, your natural influences come through. Our influences all stem from country; 70s, 80s and 90s. Those are our influences, so we’ve been able to naturally write what’s comfortable. We don’t rush things and we don’t spend too long on certain parts, so the albums going to be completely natural and raw. We’ve got an awesome producer who we’re going to work with and I’m super excited for it.
MAX GAYLER