Fox N’ Vead: An Interview With The Band Crafting North Carolina's Next Big Sound
Making waves in the current alternative country scene, Fox N’ Vead has found themselves developing quite a following with their unique style of alternative rock-infused country. The group was founded by frontmen Christian Vead and Logan Fox, in addition to bassist Landon Almond and drummer Ashton Redd.
Fox N’ Vead’s 2023 album, Coulda Been Something has launched the band into the eyes of the media, with the title track having over 400,000 listens on Spotify. The group dropped their latest single, “All In” on April 12th, and it is the perfect mix of a charming guitar-led melody, catchy lyrics, and an infectious rhythm that together create a perfectly composed song that I can almost guarantee will be stuck in your head for days on end.
The band’s impressive synergy highlights both their individual talents, and their ability to create a captivating sound that is not only unique, but true to their roots. In addition to the band’s musical talent, I have the pleasure of being able to say that this band’s live performance is nothing but exceptional, click here to check out Fox N’ Vead’s upcoming shows.
I had the pleasure of interviewing Fox N’ Vead about their songwriting process, touring habits, and what the future of the band looks like to them (that includes new music coming soon!)
What is the origin of the band and how does it reflect your music or identity as a group?
The way we started was we all played in this cover band group that one of us would leave and one would join until Logan and Christian were there together then they left and started writing together then brought in other ppl. We all 4 didn't agree on anything to play we all wanted to play something different when we started. We all meshed all of our sounds into one so I guess the origins of the music come from what we love. Ashton listens to a lot of punk rock and hard rock, Landon listens to hard rock, and Christian and Logan listen to country. We started to come together to create something unique.
What genres or styles of music influence your sound the most, and how do you incorporate those influences into your songs?
For, “All In”, me [Logan] and Christian wrote that as a piano ballad and we brought it to practice and it turned into a punk Rock song Ashton said let’s speed it up as we write.
Our formula is to write a country song on acoustic and write a rock song with the full band. Sometimes they don’t work out and they’re just country songs. “Cashin’ In” is a straight honky tonkin country song, but “Coulda Been Something” is a rock song. it’s more about a vibe than anything, we like to ride the line of being a nonconforming genre band. We love blues, we love hard rock, we love it all. These days genre-based music is going away.
Are there any particular artists or bands that have significantly influenced your music or inspired you along the way?
We all have our favorite but I listen to Motley Crue and Nirvana, and a lot of punk rock but Christian and Logan love Willie Nelson and Stevie Ray and all the older country.
Can you walk me through your songwriting process? How do you typically collaborate on creating music?
Me [Logan] and Christian sit out and jam a lot in Christian’s basement and throw around ideas and bounce them off each other then we kinda just hone in and when we think we have something we stop writing then take it into practice, but it has to pass all four checks before we move forward with it.
How has the band evolved since its formation, both musically and personally?
When we first started the band the first practice our egos were still in it. We had some crazy music in our live setlists, from Jimi Hendrix to country to yhatt rock to the Eagles. As we kept playing and recognized we were all super talented. In the past, we have been through some terrible things so when we got together and talked we all needed to do this.
We were all pretty stubborn and stuck in our ways. We threw things around and found a more clear direction, as a band we have become much tighter. Evolving and creating something that has made us happy. We also practice a ton.
How do you approach live performances, and what do you hope your audience takes away from your shows?
I feel like we take a lot of pride in our live performances. We want to make sure the audience leaves knowing we put on a great show. It will get them to listen to your music more. We also practice 2 or 3 times per week and stay as tight as possible in order to play all of these shows.
Our philosophy we like to say is we want to kick everyone right in the teeth as soon as we come out, we want to have so much energy that you can’t not look up and listen. It’s hard for us to work in slow songs since we try to keep the energy up so much. I want everyone to be like that was one of the greatest shows I've ever seen.
What has been the most memorable or rewarding moment in Fox N’ Vead’s journey so far?
For me, it's been playing with Kameron Marlowe at the Ritz and when we played the Swanee. The first time we played it sold out and we sold 350 tickets. When you write a song and you hear even just 100 people singing it back to you you know you did something.
We had one show on the Pecos and The Rooftops tour in Virginia. Something was in the air and we playing the greatest show to the greatest crowd we have ever seen. We got off stage and we knew we got something good going on here.
Any upcoming projects or releases that fans can look forward to?
We are trying to put out a project next year, either an EP or another album. “Through Those Eyes” coming soon. We went in and didn’t really know how it was going to turn out. Shout out to Kinny our producer.
What does success look like for Fox N Vead, and what are your long-term goals as a band?
Fox N’ Vead world tour would be a great long-term goal. I would love to play at Red Rocks before I’m 24, in the next 3 years. I want to be able to do some headlining tours and stuff. We enjoy our growth right now, we are trying to create a good fan base for ourselves. And the best live experiences.
