Underground Legend Fox Stevenson To Make NYC Debut [WRR Exclusive Interview]

Fox Stevenson focuses heavily on the electro-pop vibe, but includes creative hooks, melodic choruses, and other unique music theory principles. How did this style develop and what kind of emotional themes are you conveying to your audience?

I’ve always been a huge fan of melody, a good melody can transcend whatever song or scene it started in, “Somebody I Used To Know” by Gotye is a brilliant example of that, in the current musical landscape there wasn’t any room for that kind of sound, but the melodies in that song are so memorable that it didn’t matter at all, and we all know how huge a hit that song was. Lyrically my tracks tend to be optimistic with a bit of self doubt thrown in there for good measure, because that’s me, I’m a bit of a strange jumble of hubris and insecurity. on the melodic front though, I love nothing more than a good feel good sounding chorus or hook to get you wanting to lose your mind in a dark room full of like minded strangers, lights and sub woofers.

Did being raised by artistic parents influence your musicianship? Were there certain turning points during childhood lead to the artist you are today?

Yeah I think so, not totally directly, I was never forced into doing music, but the choice was always there and I was able to experiment on different instruments and feel it out as a medium. I didn’t find myself fully as a musician until about 7 years ago, my family and I moved cities and I formed a pop punk band with 2 of my new neighbours / schoolmates, that was my first experience of songwriting in a practical sense, I played bass and shared lead vocals with the guitarist. This was going on that the same time as me starting to get really obsessed with music production and gaining a fan base with my first upload on liquidity; Cloud Head, which had cemented my faith production being something i could legitimately pursue, it was around that time that i fused both these worlds and made my first vocal track, I was 15/16 at the time. Since then I feel I’ve just been evolving naturally as an artist / producer.

Including your own vocals in your tracks is a bold move! When did you start including your voice in your own productions? Was is hard to make these two personal elements fit?

This was the song that changed everything for me:

 
It seemed natural to me to let my musical day job and night job collide and create something more than just instrumentals, it has been met with resistance, there are a lot of people who seem to hold this ideal that only female vocals can be allowed over dance music, which is dumb. the actual act of making a vocal work over a track was never too hard for me, you just treat it like you would a lead synth, just make it really important in the mix.

2014 is set to be huge for you, 2 EPs releasing on multiple labels! I’m sure you working with lots of folks to make this happen. What’s direction are you taking your EPs and what who are you working with?

The 2 EPs currently planned this year, I have one set for April on my own label “Cloudhead Records!” There will be 4 previously unreleased tracks, ones that most labels won’t want to touch, mostly because the EDM labels don’t take too kindly to self-vocal-dance-pop-oriented Bass music! Then later on there will be my follow up EP with Firepower Records, which will have my more “scene friendly” tracks on it, I’m looking forward to that one a lot too. Currently I have no collaborations planned for release, but i do have plans to work with a few different people, but nothing solid yet!

Who have you worked with in the past?

My collaboration list is a little bit diminutive, I’ve worked with Candyland, Tokyo, Ruqal and of course, I’m always working with Feint, because he’s my bro and he knows it.

What are some advantageous tactics you focus on that you find key to growth and success in the EDM industry?

In all honesty, I’m terrible at all this, all I’ve ever done is just honestly put forward my music to the people I can and hope they like it and support it! I was lucky I had the start I did with “Liquicity,” it put me in a good position for when Dubstep went crazy in America, it meant I wasn’t washed away in the flood of new producers it seemed to spawn. The best tip I can give is to make your music available, but not so available that they are able to just take your tracks and forget about where they can find more!

What are the similarities and differences between Fox Stevenson and Stan SB, why switch focus toward Fox in 2014?

I need to set the record straight on this one: The only difference is the name. The name change came about for lots of reasons, one of them being the name feeling stale, I’d used it since I was around 13, I’m a 21 year old man now, and it just seems like a childish name to me now! Another is the strong ties that the name had to being just a liquid drum and bass artist, which is only part of what I do, I love composing in different tempos and soundscapes and levels of aggression, but with Stan SB it was always “Where’s the DnB bro?”.

With Fox I feel genuinely free, I’m making tones of different styles of music that I still feel represent me well and the people who have stuck with it seem to have realized that, and to the new ones they’re joining a community that’s already very strong, because it’s been tested.

My sound didn’t change when my name did, my first release, “Lightspeed” was one I had been working on as Stan SB for about 2 months before the name change was even an idea, the same went for “Sandblast.” I think a lot of people took it as a chance to reassess whether they still liked the artist I was becoming, and a fair few dropped off. But I welcome that, I wouldn’t want contempt between me and people I’m pushing my music to, that’d be a creative nightmare. As of about a month ago, I made more Facebook fans as Fox Stevenson than I did as Stan SB

What turned you on to electronic music?

I wish I could pinpoint the moment I actually got into electronic music, I used to listen to the Prodigy as a kid, I loved Pendulum when they first came about, but I think my earliest exposure was actually the soundtrack to the playstation 1 game “Ape Escape” totally awesome ahahha!

What do think will separate the 2014 Fox Stevenson from the 2013 Fox Stevenson?

My production skills are the best they’ve ever been and following some dumb luck and support from the right people I’ve made some connections this year that could do really well for me over the coming months! I’ve got that best management team for me that I’ve ever had and I’m hoping to really hit America hard towards the second half of 2014! I have a lot of tracks – both unfinished and finished – that I’m very proud of and can’t wait to release. There’s definitely a spring in my step right now, I’m flying high. More music, shows, and fun. that’s 2014 for Fox. Hope you’ll stick around!

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