Musical Chairs: Fox

BY GEORGIA MCDONALD

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Welcome back to musical chairs! This week we sat down with Fox to talk about finding her feet in the Whitsundays music scene and bringing pop-punk to Airlie Beach.

Seeing Fox commanding a stage, it’s hard to believe she spent much of her childhood too shy to audition for a leading role. But sometimes all it takes is a little push from your friends - and one very unexpected performance - to change everything.

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For Fox, that moment came in her twenties when friends signed her up to sing Kelly Clarkson’s Since U Been Gone at karaoke. They discovered the talent she’d been hiding and gave her a ‘forceful push’ to an open mic night. Before she knew it, Fox got the itch for performing and never looked back.

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Originally from Brighton, England, Fox first came to Australia as a teen to visit family, returning on a working holiday in her early twenties, and determined to do things her own way.  

Fox arrived in the Whitsundays and handed in her CD at the music shop, asking the shop assistant if he might know of any guitarists she could support with.  

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“He called me, I think a few days later, and was like, I found a guitarist for you. It's me.” Fox said.

It wasn't long before the duo were playing gigs and from there Fox formed her first band, TheFox.  

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She played with TheFox for 13 or 14 years, before dissolving the band earlier this year. She now performs with her close friends in a band called Golden.

“We call it Golden because it's like golden retriever energy. It's so energetic. It's so chaotic. It's so loyal. It's super sparkly. This is the most fun I've ever had in my whole life,” Fox says of the new band.

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That energy is infectious during their performances, with the band putting its own spin on an eclectic mix of nostalgic tunes from pop to punk.

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The repertoire is unique, with some of the suggestions brought to rehearsal proving divisive. Fox wasn't keen on guitarist Scotty’s push to perform Chumbawamba's Tubthumping, while he wasn't too impressed with her choice of Steps' 5, 6, 7, 8. Eventually, they struck a deal: he'd play Steps if she agreed to Tubthumping.

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Now, both songs are crowd favourites, and Fox says 5, 6, 7, 8 is one of the band’s favourite songs to perform.

Despite now seeming so comfortable on stage, Fox says confidence doesn't necessarily come naturally to her.  

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She describes how artists like Avril Lavigne helped her find her persona and embrace who she was as a teenager.

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“I was like, oh my gosh, there's this girl out there representing everything that I am, the long hair, the baggy clothes, the things everyone think are weird - but then she's so cool.

"I really dipped into it at that point, and it became a persona on stage.”

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Now, her persona is more Hayley Williams than Avril Lavigne.  

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“As soon as I have to get on stage and I'm terrified, I just kind of lock in to this other person.

“She's awesome. I see videos of me performing. I'm like, that's so cool. Why can't I just be that person all the time when I'm walking around, like head down?” Fox laughed.  

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“You just have to get out your head as much as possible. Focus on that one person that's dancing and having fun.”

She says having supportive bandmates around her also makes a huge difference, as well as crowds that are ready to fill the dancefloor.

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“The more fun people are having, the more fun we're having.”

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Song Recommendation For The Week: Ain’t It Fun - Paramore

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