For The Foxes
Only four years into its young life as a band, For The Foxes has never known what it means to move slow. Everything has moved at a breakneck speed for the Barnegat, NJ natives since their inception in 2008, and the group’s latest EP, The Revolution, is another catalyst in the process.
Nicholas Dungo (vocals/keyboard/bass), Jimmy Brindley (guitar), and Danny Vassallo (drums) began writing songs together right out of high school and before they knew it, they were playing local shows and developing a repertoire of songs. Dungo, in school for a degree in music business, asked the others if they would leave school with him to pursue For The Foxes as a full-time project.
"I realized performing and writing music constantly was my favorite part of the day," Dungo reminisces. "We booked our own first two tours begging for any gas money and had the time of our lives.
"After getting a little taste of freedom, we decided we needed to be doing this every night. We never looked back."
After extensive touring and experimenting with their sound, For The Foxes recruited Mikey Ballou (guitar) and Jonathan Brunner (bass) to complete the band’s current status as a five-piece in live settings.
Signing to Hopeless Records in 2011 was an easy decision. "We knew that it was the right choice for us because we weren't sure where we wanted to take our sound," Dungo says.
"Hopeless is amazing at developing artists and really diving into the creative side of things and that’s exactly what we needed."
The band took about a year to write music and figure out the direction of its sound, then recorded The Revolution EP for an April 2012 release in the US. The Revolution is six tracks of high-octane pop-rock that highlights Dungo’s unique voice and For The Foxes’ instantly infectious melodies.
The band premiered a live music video for 'The Revolution' on MTV’s Buzzworthy blog, with MTV writing that the song 'rises from lullaby-hushed verses to a full-on scream-a-long chorus.'
The song’s indie-infused, ’80s-influenced feel is indicative of a wide range of styles on the EP. When the band again teamed up with Buzzworthy for a full EP stream, MTV was more to the point: "The first time's the charm for For The Foxes. [The Revolution] is six tracks of totally iPod-worthy pop-rock, full of big hooks and speeding-bullet guitars."
Swaying from intimate, piano-led moments to soaring choruses, The Revolution holds its own weight in the shuffle of today’s pop-rock scene.
Dungo says the band draws influences from pop pioneers like The Format to rock-and-roll legends like Bruce Springsteen, and the EP shows it. There are as many shades of modern pop bands like fun. and Hellogoodbye as there are tips of the hat to the stars of yesteryear.
"This is where I want to be," says Dungo of the band’s sound and creative mindset. "Hopeless truly gave us the time and freedom we needed to explore ourselves and that’s how The Revolution formed. If I’ve realized anything through this process so far, it’s that you can't rush honesty, and you can't rush good music."
With no sign of the momentum stopping anytime soon, Dungo says he’s looking forward to the cycle of touring that will follow The Revolution’s Oct 15th release. "We want to play for new live audiences, we want to tour with bands we love and learn from them," he says. "We want to show people what’s inside the true heart of For The Foxes."
UK Tour Dates:
10/2 - Academy 2 - Oxford
10/3 - Sugarmill - Stoke
10/4 - Electric Ballroom - London
10/5 - The Peel - Kingston
10/6 - Academy 2 - Manchester
10/7 - Garage - Glasgow
10/8 - Cockpit - Leeds
10/9 - Academy 2 - Liverpool
10/10 - Library @ Institute - Birmingham
10/11 - Waterfront - Norwich
10/12 - Old Fire Station - Bournemouth
10/13 - Great Hall 2 - Cardiff