Forward Fox

by the partae
Where are you currently based? Sydney, having recently relocated from Melbourne just prior to lockdown. How did you first start playing music? Growing up, my parents made me learn classical piano (which I hated), but in retrospect I’m grateful to have that foundation and understanding of music. I ended up completing AMEB 8th Grade piano, however my heart has always been in contemporary music. It wasn't until I was a teenager that I started to write my own songs, around the same time I became obsessed with pop punk music (e.g. Avril Lavigne and Blink-182). That’s when I bought my first guitar and naturally started writing and singing my own songs. For many years I just kept these songs to myself. It wasn't until I went to uni that I first performed live at an open mic night in Melbourne.  What's been happening recently? I've been busy launching my brand new project FORWARD FOX, with the first track 'Retrograde' coming out last Friday :) Other than that, I've been keeping busy writing and producing music for my own project as well as for other artists and also for film/screen.  You've shifted from your existing project FLUIR (dance-pop) to this new project FORWARD FOX (melodic techno & house) what prompted the shift in projects and genre? Shortly after relocating, I enrolled in Ableton’s Music Production Course at the Liveschool education facility in Sydney. Through completion of this course, it widened my musical theory and curiosity for composition outside the electronic dance-pop genres (i.e. outside my existing project FLUIR). Naturally, I started writing and producing music to explore these new avenues and to further develop my own songwriting and production skill sets. During this stage of personal development and growth musically, I wrote a handful of ambient melodic house compositions including 'Retrograde'. Given the contrasting genres when comparing my existing project FLUIR (dance indie-pop) to the melodic tracks I wrote during lockdown, this led me to launch my new project FORWARD FOX. Your debut single under FORWARD FOX 'Retrograde' is out now, what influenced the sound and songwriting? Whilst I love all genres of music, in my spare time I enjoy mostly listening to techno, electronic and house music. Naturally, this has influenced my own personal development in sound design and songwriting. FORWARD FOX is a natural step in providing an outlet for me to share and develop new sounds and compositions that genuinely inspire me.  How did you go about writing Retrograde? It wasn't until the initial lockdown period that I found I had more free time on my hands. I started playing around on my midi keyboard and remember coming up with the piano lead that is introduced in the second half of the track. From there I built everything around that lead melody. The overall songwriting process was really enjoyable and easy. I ended up writing the overall track within a couple of hours. It then took several months to refine and finish the track! Where and when did you record/produce/master and who did you work with? I produced 'Retrograde' on my own at home on my laptop during the initial covid lockdown. I don't own any hardware so everything was created in the box. The majority of synth sound design was created using my favourite plugin UVI Falcon.  Doug Wright (Fishing, Body Promise, Ten Brains etc) mixed and Brendan Zacharias mastered the track at Cirrus Audio in Sydney.  How did you approach the recording/production process? I usually start by listening to a whole bunch of music to ignite an idea or direction to take. I try not to think too much or put too much pressure on myself to come up with an idea that's 'good enough', as this internal pressure kills the creative process. Generally, I start by looping a kick drum and then play piano or a bassline over the top to try to find an idea I like. I then build the track from there. I try to add as much as I can during the initial writing process before refining and deleting elements later during the arrangement and mixes stages.  Who are you listening to at the moment? My favourite artists I have on rotation at the moment are Roy Blues, Juno Mamba and Made in Paris. Go check them out if you haven't done so already! What do you like to do away from music? I like to exercise, read, listen to podcasts and go out to see live music.  What's planned for 2021? I have a handful of new releases coming out that will take me all the way through to the end of 2021. I also have a few live shows coming up that I will be announcing soon.  Favourite food and place to hangout?  My local kebab shop. Please include links to socials and website. Instagram Facebook Bandcamp SoundCloud Twitter
Where are you currently based?
Sydney, having recently relocated from Melbourne just prior to lockdown.

How did you first start playing music?

Growing up, my parents made me learn classical piano (which I hated), but in retrospect I’m grateful to have that foundation and understanding of music. I ended up completing AMEB 8th Grade piano, however my heart has always been in contemporary music. It wasn’t until I was a teenager that I started to write my own songs, around the same time I became obsessed with pop punk music (e.g. Avril Lavigne and Blink-182). That’s when I bought my first guitar and naturally started writing and singing my own songs. For many years I just kept these songs to myself. It wasn’t until I went to uni that I first performed live at an open mic night in Melbourne.

What’s been happening recently?
I’ve been busy launching my brand new project FORWARD FOX, with the first track ‘Retrograde’ coming out last Friday 🙂 Other than that, I’ve been keeping busy writing and producing music for my own project as well as for other artists and also for film/screen.
 
You’ve shifted from your existing project FLUIR (dance-pop) to this new project FORWARD FOX (melodic techno & house) what prompted the shift in projects and genre?

Shortly after relocating, I enrolled in Ableton’s Music Production Course at the Liveschool education facility in Sydney. Through completion of this course, it widened my musical theory and curiosity for composition outside the electronic dance-pop genres (i.e. outside my existing project FLUIR). Naturally, I started writing and producing music to explore these new avenues and to further develop my own songwriting and production skill sets. During this stage of personal development and growth musically, I wrote a handful of ambient melodic house compositions including ‘Retrograde’. Given the contrasting genres when comparing my existing project FLUIR (dance indie-pop) to the melodic tracks I wrote during lockdown, this led me to launch my new project FORWARD FOX.

 Your debut single under FORWARD FOX ‘Retrograde’ is out now, what influenced the sound and songwriting?
Whilst I love all genres of music, in my spare time I enjoy mostly listening to techno, electronic and house music. Naturally, this has influenced my own personal development in sound design and songwriting. FORWARD FOX is a natural step in providing an outlet for me to share and develop new sounds and compositions that genuinely inspire me.
 
How did you go about writing Retrograde?
It wasn’t until the initial lockdown period that I found I had more free time on my hands. I started playing around on my midi keyboard and remember coming up with the piano lead that is introduced in the second half of the track. From there I built everything around that lead melody. The overall songwriting process was really enjoyable and easy. I ended up writing the overall track within a couple of hours. It then took several months to refine and finish the track!
 
Where and when did you record/produce/master and who did you work with?
I produced ‘Retrograde’ on my own at home on my laptop during the initial covid lockdown. I don’t own any hardware so everything was created in the box. The majority of synth sound design was created using my favourite plugin UVI Falcon.
Doug Wright (Fishing, Body Promise, Ten Brains etc) mixed and Brendan Zacharias mastered the track at Cirrus Audio in Sydney.
 
How did you approach the recording/production process?
I usually start by listening to a whole bunch of music to ignite an idea or direction to take. I try not to think too much or put too much pressure on myself to come up with an idea that’s ‘good enough’, as this internal pressure kills the creative process. Generally, I start by looping a kick drum and then play piano or a bassline over the top to try to find an idea I like. I then build the track from there. I try to add as much as I can during the initial writing process before refining and deleting elements later during the arrangement and mixes stages.

Who are you listening to at the moment?
My favourite artists I have on rotation at the moment are Roy Blues, Juno Mamba and Made in Paris. Go check them out if you haven’t done so already!
 
What do you like to do away from music?
I like to exercise, read, listen to podcasts and go out to see live music.
 
What’s planned for 2021?
I have a handful of new releases coming out that will take me all the way through to the end of 2021. I also have a few live shows coming up that I will be announcing soon.
 
Favourite food and place to hangout?
 My local kebab shop.
 
 

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