What made ‘Not For Sale’ the natural fit for Thunder Fox to come out the gate with, as an insight to the new album?
We felt that “Not For Sale” was a great introduction to the record as we were able to inject some of the new sounds we’ve been leaning into whilst maintaining Thunder Fox’s signature groove. Consider “Not For Sale” a tantalised little toe dipped in the chocolate river that is “Sanctuary” and, if it’s warm enough, everybody will wanna dive in.
What were your inspirations for the music we’re about to hear on the full album?
I think one of Thunder Fox’s biggest drawcards is the eclecticism we try to maintain throughout all of our projects. It can be a blessing and a curse that the five of us come from such a myriad of musical backgrounds and influences so, with Sanctuary, we wanted to try our best to create a cohesive record whilst holding on to our eclectic magic. Instead of drawing so much from musical influences, we aimed to paint a picture conceptually, touching on topics that were prevalent in our lives at the time and trying to hold on to it for the most part of the album.
Describe how this record captures the vibe of the band moving forward into 2022?
This record is a display of our metamorphosis after a number of line-up changes and a ton of development over the last couple of years. With our sound maturing, we’re also becoming more confident on the production side of things and enjoying being more creative in the box rather than just trying to excel at our instruments. Don’t get me wrong, it’s still a wild ride but, when I listen to Sanctuary, it sounds like Thunder Fox is all grown up. I think it can only be yet another milestone towards our eventual world domination.
What have you been enjoying the most about creating music with Thunder Fox?
When I think of the benefits of music creation in the band, I could go on for hours about how cathartic and life-altering it all can be. With that said, a couple of things really stand out. Firstly, there’s a magnetic kind of fulfilment that I always chase when I try to sing better, play better or write better lyrics. I can never quite reach the end goal but soldiering on towards it every day is my dream come true. I always want to outdo whatever I did last time. With that said, when it all comes down to it, even if the music sucked it would all be worth it for the camaraderie and friendship I’ve found with my bandmates and Dan, our engineer/producer wizard. I love the guys with all of my heart and had the time of my life writing and recording in our little Nambucca Air BnB over a couple of weeks. It was pure bliss.
It’s been a bizarre time for musicians to stay creative – how has Thunder Fox managed to keep it together over the last year and a half?
There’s no doubt the past couple of years have been incredibly taxing and, it would be easy to say all of the drama just gives us more fuel to write and record awesome songs about how fucked life is but, it ain’t always that easy. I think being in such a state of limbo, isolated and bored can often lead me, personally, to a place of genuine languishing. In that state I can lose motivation so quickly and I feel I can’t write beautiful things when I’m in such a potato state. It comes and goes in waves though and, if anything, I’m just so proud to have achieved or created anything at all during all this craziness, let alone the best album of all time.
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