Introducing... Phoxjaw


Question. First and foremost, where did Phoxjaw come from, how did the band become established?
Phoxjaw: We were all in bands before Phoxjaw and for whatever reasons they didn't work out. Josh and Danny started Phoxjaw and we then brought in Kieran on drums then after a few months we brought in Glenn as second guitar. Last year Huw joined the band on Keys and that is the story thus far.

Q. How long have you all been playing music?
P: We've all been playing pretty much since we were about 13/14 years old, Josh met Danny first at a youth organisation where both their previous bands would play at about 15 years old.

Q. Where did the band name, Phoxjaw, originate?
P: We spoke to an old wizard and he told us tales of an ancient fox older than time itself called Phox and in the the wizards cloak he possessed the jaw bone of the mystical creature hence 'Phoxjaw'.

Q. How would you describe your music to someone who had never heard it?
P: It's loud, it's heavy, emotional and I'm not sure your Nan would like it.

Q. What is one thing you’re always striving to achieve with your music?
P: Just to write music we are super proud of, music we can listen back to and vibe with. Nobody is gonna believe your music if you don't believe it yourself.

Q. What is your creative process like?
P: Usually starts with Josh and Danny writing a demo off of a riff, melody or some chords, then we'll bring in other people to add to this basic idea then take that to the rehearsal room where we'll bash it out 8 million times until we've set all our parts. This can be a really quick process or can take more time depending on the song, every time it is different.

Q. “Triceratops” is a personal favourite, what were the thoughts, ideas and meanings behind that song?
P: Triceratops for us represents the whole EP very well, it's a crooked, riff heavy song with a big chorus. As for lyrically it really leaves a lot up to the listeners interpretation, there was a theme we wrote about at the time but with our songs we always like to keep it open.

Q. How often are you writing and going into the studio?
P: We are writing all the time, that's the best part for us. It's wouldn't be unusual for some of us to meet up 3 times a week to work on demos. We are lucky to have Josh's studio where he works, where we record all our stuff. We spend a lot of time there when we are actually tracking for a release.

Q. What comes first for you, the lyrics or the music?
P: Always music, we feel once that has come together you can really get the vibe of a track and write the lyrics accordingly.

Q. Which of your songs mean the most to you, and why?
P: Dinosaur Bones comes from a dark time in our singers' life so we'd go with that, was a track that helped him unload a lot of those emotions into our music.

Q. The music scene in Somerset is reviving itself with bands like yourself, how does it feel to be a part of that?
P: Yeah feels great, there are some really wicked bands about at the moment. We always love playing shows with our mates bands even if the genres aren't exactly the same, we like to be part of those mixed bills.

Q. Who are your favourite bands coming from Bristol at the moment?
P: The Naturals, Idles, SickOnes, Dead Royalties, Sleeptalking are some of our favourites at the moment.

Q. Who inspires you most to make music?
P: I think we all inspire each other a lot, recommending music and ideas to each other. As for bands we've always loved Deftones, Biffy Clyro, QOTSA, At The Drive In. But we are influencd by so much stuff on a daily basis it'd be hard to list it all.

Q. “Goodbye Dinosaur…” was a fantastic EP, how long were you working on that?
P: Thankyou very much, 'Goodbye Dinosaur...' was very much a summary of the first two years of Phoxjaw. We are almost waving goodbye to that a little and looking towards what the next chapter of the band will be. We like to move fast in Phoxjaw we already have another 20 odd demos in our folder we will be looking to next.

Q. How did it feel to finally put it out?
P: It was a real relief when we did finally bring it out, and people were digging it. As we had heard all the songs a million times over for the last two years so we were thinking "are these tracks even any good anymore?" You know the classic thing bands do in the studio.

Q. What has been your favourite thing to come from the release?
P: We've had some great response to the EP by everyone but it has been super cool hearing people we very much look up to, in a lot bigger bands than us checking it out and really digging it.

Q. What’s next for Phoxjaw?
P: We've got some rad festivals coming up in the summer including Amplified & 2000 Trees festival. Also hoping to get back in the studio and track our next single very soon, all while working out our touring schedule for after festival season, we wanna try get out to Europe nearer the end of the year.

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