Artist:   RocketFox

Date:   2 July 2007

Hailing from Glasgow in Scotland RocketFox are a power rock/pop trio that blow minds at every gig they do with their huge sound and lively performances.  Destined to be the next Ash we catch up with Gary and Fiona to find out more about these fun loving youngsters ...

MM - Would you like to give us a brief history on the band, how it all came about, how it’s evolved to its current membership and where you call home etc?
Gary - Fiona and I met at Perth college where we found that we were both really into songwriting so we started writing songs together and formed a band called Red Letter.  We had a drummer, Colin and another guitarist, Alyson.  However as time went on they both found that they didn’t have as much time for the band as we did so as if it was written in the stars, just as we were about to start auditioning drummers we met Neil through a friend of a friend.  We gave him a CD of about 16 songs and he came to the rehearsal the next day and played through them all as if he’d been with us for years!  So that was really when RocketFox began, about a year ago.  We all live in Glasgow now.  I think it’s important to live very close to each other if you’re a serious band.  There are opportunities such as last minute gigs that we’ve done that wouldn’t have been possible with the old lineup, simply because we’re all 5 mins away from each other.

Fiona - It all came about in June 2005. Gary and I had just finished our music degree’s and both decided that we wanted to form the most commercial band possible with some credibility! We started as a 4-piece, 2 guys and 2 girls all living in 3 different cities at the time – Perth, Edinburgh and Glasgow. Six months in however our female guitarist left to concentrate on her degree and halfway through 2006 our drummer called it a day due to the pressure of juggling too many other commitments. The following day our lives changed when we encountered drummer Neil Macougall through a friend of a friend of a friend and we’ve never looked back.

MM - How do you feel the bands sound has developed since you originally started and who do you see as your target audience?
Gary - Well when the idea of this band began about two years ago it was really just to write some simple, three chord pop songs.  Pop being the operative word.  If you could hear some of the old demo’s you’d think it was Busted and Sugababes jamming!  But as time went on and we became more confident with playing together we began to get more expressive.  Especially over the past year.  We’ve learned so much about reacting to each others playing styles that I really don’t think there’s anything we couldn’t do if you asked us to.  We’ve definitely hit our sound now tho.  To break it down I guess it’s somewhere between Biffy Clyro, Foo Fighters and Blondie! 

Fiona - We were a lot more pop when we first started out as Gary’s earlier songs were influenced by Busted and Mcfly and mine were Avril Lavigne and Michelle Branch. However when we became a 3-piece, the songs became rockier. After meeting Neil who’s a powerhouse behind the kit our sound has definitely become heavier but still remaining catchy. Our target audience is teenagers however because most of our shows are over 18’s we have found our audience varies in all age groups! It’s great to know that we appeal to a large number of age groups.

MM - There are countless numbers of alternative bands trying to get their names out there. How do you avoid being another band that someone listens to once and forgets? What do you do to stay unique and remembered?
Gary - First of all you’ve gotta have hooklines.  They’re very underrated things, hooklines!  There’s not many people who couldn’t sing along to our first single “Safe and Sound” after hearing it once.  There’s absolutely no shame in keeping it simple – 3 chords, 3 words, 3 choruses.  Also, you need to put on a show – if you’ve got it flaunt it!  Not saying you need to widdle over the whole song, but you’ve got to give the audience something to be impressed by.  Although I was actually speaking to Jim Gellatley from XFM Scotland a couple of weeks ago and he said (quote) “Gary, the band has got some great songs, but you’re a bit of a show off…it comes across a bit cheesy!”  Then again he likes The View.

Fiona - One thing that separates us from a number of bands out there is that we have songs with hook lines. So many bands struggle to captivate an audience because their songs aren’t catchy. You can be amazing musicians but without strong songs you will not be remembered. As well as having strong songs we put a lot of energy into our live performances and often get the audience involved.

MM - Some people sit around and wish for things but nothing happens; however, you guys seem to be a motivated band. What do you really think you will be doing in 5 years time?
Gary - Sipping down margaritas in the south of France.  We’ll never stop making music tho.  I feel sometimes like my life isn’t long enough to make all the music I want to make before I die.  That’s why I never sleep.  Drive my flatmates mad with drum loops and guitar tracks at 4am!

Fiona - In 5 years time we hope to be a household name!

MM - The band released their first EP in April 2006, what can you tell us about the songs on that release and are there still copies of the EP available?  If so where can our readers get a copy?
Gary - The first one was “The Lauchpad EP” which contained the classic RocketFox anthem “Safe and Sound” along with our live opener “Truth Or Dare”, “Don’t Kiss Me Goodbye” and the swirly acoustic “Bombshell”.  Our second EP came out in April 07.  It’s a 3 track affair with the New Found Glory - style “Start All Over”, the epic-ly emo “A Song For Abi” and fan favourite and seriously rocking live show finale “Revenge”.  Unless you want to wait till we’re back in Newcastle you can download both EPs from itunes by searching for RocketFox.  We’ve also got a brand new site at www.indiestore.com/rocketfox where you can download exclusive acoustic and live tracks.

Fiona - Yep, our first EP included 4 tracks: Safe And Sound, Truth or Dare, Bombshell and Don’t Kiss me Goodbye.  You can get hold of this on Itunes, Napster, etc and at gigs!

MM - Are there any plans to release a full length album by the band or is it still early days?
Gary - There’s nothing we’d like more than to release an album, but it’s not just financial reasons that are stopping us.  We’ve got so many songs kicking about just now that we want to wear them all in and see which ones we’re comfortable with and slot into the live set.  Maybe by the end of the year we’ll be in a better position to pick 12 songs to call a RocketFox album, but for the time being we’re recording a new single for release in August.  At the moment we’re in talks with Will Jackson (Top 10 producer – Kaiser Chiefs/Pigeon Detectives) planning to record “Moomin” and “Tired of Dreaming” and add an acoustic version of “Sarah” (pre-release download of this track available now at  www.indiestore.com/rocketfox), but we had an awesome jam last week and came up with something really special so even we don’t know what the next release will be yet!

Fiona - Yes we would love to release a full album.  It’s just a matter of being able to afford top quality recording.  We’re hanging off as long as possible and hopefully we’ll get signed soon and we won’t need to fund it ourselves!

MM - At what age did you become interested in being a performer and what/who inspired you to join a band?
Gary - When I first heard Wonderwall by Oasis on the radio I was about 14.  I picked up my dad’s guitar and thought “if I learn that song, I’ll be happy and I’ll leave it there”, however my Dad gave me a chord and lyrics book for all these old motown and soul tunes.  Turns out the first song I ever learned was Diana Ross “I Second That Emotion”.  I love Tamla Motown music!  I don’t listen to it often tho, I like to leave it for when I’m feeling quite down.  It’s the most uplifting music to listen to when you’re down.  Apart from blues!  I love BB King, Robert Johnson and Clapton.  If you’re really pissed off or heartbroken the best thing you can do is stick some blues on and crank your amp to 11!  It’s the best medicine for anything!

Fiona - I have  been interested in music since about the age of 6 where my first musical experiences were singing with my friends in front of our class.  I particularly got into music in my early teens when I met a girl who was a multi-instrumentalist.  She really inspired to me to take up the keyboard and flute.  Later I became interested in playing guitar and it was then that I really became passionate about song writing.  It wasn’t until I started my degree however at Perth College where I met Gary that I really had the drive to be in a band.   The fact that there has always been so much rubbish in the charts has really given me the urge to be in a band and write songs that actually mean something and are memorable!

MM - Your sound and lyrics have a strong identity to them. Is this something you've strived to achieve or something more organic?
Gary - I think it was Bob Dylan who said “All you need is three chords and the truth!”  It’s a good job, cos I only know three chords and I’m a crap liar!  I sometimes like to sit down and write about situations I make up in my head, (like just for fun I wrote a song where I was Justin Timberlake and I was driving these two supermodels home to my condo in New Orleans)… but good old Bob’s right tho, because the best songs we have are the ones that are actually about a real situation and emotions that we were actually experiencing. 

Like “A Song For Abi” I wrote (in true emo fashion) on a teary notepad on a bus about 10 mins after we broke up.  That was a couple of years ago now.  New tune “Moomin” is quite an emotionally probing tune about how by falling really really deep in love, it’s 90% definite you’re just setting yourself up for a bigger and bigger fall, but in the end, I guess the message in that song is that it’s better to have loved and lost than never to have loved!

Fiona - I think that it is very important to have strong lyrics to do great melodies justice.  All of our songs tell stories.  I don’t know if this is something we’ve necessarily strived to achieve but something that has naturally come about.  If I have something I want to say, I write a song about it.

MM - Where did the bands name come from and what does it represent to you?  Can you remember any of the other names that were considered at the time?
Gary - Oh man we were called Red Letter for about 2 months till we realised it was a bit rubbish.  Then we printed off pages of band names.  It wasn’t that we couldn’t agree on any, it’s just that they actually were all rubbish…

Then one day outside our rehearsal room, an actually fox was sitting on the bonnet of my car, then it saw us and ran!  Fiona just went “Oh it just shot off like a rocket!”

If you really wanna hear some of the rejects…“End Zone”, “The Red Letter Society”, “Drive”, “Tomorrow Never Ends”…I think we made the right choice with “RocketFox”. 

MM - How does the song writing process work within the band?  Is it down to one particular person or do you all get involved?
Gary - Some bands will go into the rehearsal room and write a song, riffs and solo’s etc, then go back over it and write words and melody.  We’re the opposite.  I think we’ve learned quite quickly that if the song isn’t catchy when it’s played on just an acoustic guitar, then there’s no way of fixing it by layering solos, drum fills and bass effects over it.  You’ve gotta have solid foundations if it’s gonna be a hit.

I think RocketFox is as good as it is because all three of us have a very balanced view on what we want the band to sound like.  There’s no such thing as artistic differences with RocketFox, because we all seem to agree on absolutely everything.  That’s not to say we all like the same bands, cos I don’t think that any of us own a CD that either of the other two also own, but when we get in the practice room it all just comes together and when we’re writing a new song which has happened a lot recently, you can gradually see all of our influences making their way into the track through sounds, melodies and rhythms. 

A really new song we have called “Jealously” was especially fun to write because I basically just had lyrics and chords for the first minute of the song, and within about 45 mins, it was a behemoth of an anthem with huge riffs, gorgeous harmonies and a killer bass riff in the mid section.  That’s when you know you’ve hit the spot!

Fiona - Gary and I tend to write songs separately and then present them to the band. The song is then worked on in the rehearsal room adding and changing bits structurally. Gary and I write the songs and Neil helps make them more interesting!  I think it is very important to have the song written before you start to throw in other ideas.  So many bands will jam bits and pieces and then throw a few vocals in here and there.  Personally I don’t believe that this song writing process produces great songs.

MM - RocketFox are an impressive band to watch perform live, but who was the first band you saw in concert?
Gary - Haha mine was the Fun Lovin Criminals at the Sands Centre in Carlisle.  Great fun.  I wanted to be a gangster after that gig.  Can’t say I’m too influenced by them, I like running about like an idiot on stage, but that still is one of my all time favourite gigs!

Fiona - The first band I saw in concert was the Human League with my dad at Shepherds Bush Empire!  I was at primary school at the time.

MM - What song is your personal favourite to play live and which one(s) really get the crowds going wild?
Gary - That’s a hard one, because I know that the new songs we’ve been writing are among the best things we’ve ever done, but we’ll wait to see if we can play them live before I pick one haha! I think Moomin or Tired Of Dreaming is my favourite to play live at the moment cos I spent a long long time on all the guitar parts.  Cheers to Chris from Anavris and Gill from The Hedrons for showing me how to two hand tap by the way haha.  Yeh Moomin is a total mind bender it really makes people listen because the mid section has some weird polyrhythm in it (thanks Neil…) and it took us ages to work out, none of us did advanced higher maths in school, but its my favourite to play now.

However, without a doubt, Revenge is one of the most incredibly rocking songs of all time.  Three chords, about three words, and three hundred gallons of adrenaline!  You can’t help but sing along to it!  I almost wish I wasn’t in RocketFox so I could join the mosh pit for that tune.  It’s not the “best song” but it’s certainly a serious crowd pleaser! 

Fiona - My favourite song to play live at the moment is “Tired of Dreaming”.  The song is in drop D and I get to use my bass distortion pedal!  The combination off these two factors gives the song so much beef! Mmm beef?  Is that a technical term?  It is also the only song in our set that has a half time chorus so it’s a bit different too.   A particular crowd pleaser is “Revenge”.  Towards the end of this song we have the crowd eating out the palm of Gary’s hand!

MM - What kind of emotions and ideas do you want to create to the listener through your music?
Gary - That’s a really hard question.  I guess it relates mostly to the lyrics.  With my lyrics I just write about what I’m feeling.  I don’t like making it too cryptic.  I like imagery tho –

“Seeing green lights far behind me, past the moon and the midnight sky…”  (Safe and Sound)

I like thinking that if someone’s listening to that with their eyes closed, they’d see exactly what I was seeing when I wrote it.  I feel like I’ve gotten better at writing lyrics.  A song which is about something real that you’re passionate about just writes itself, because you’re not looking for the words to use, they’re already there in your head. 

“All you need to know you always will…you already do.  I’ll never feel this way again, for just a thought time stands still…” (All You Need To Know)

Fiona - We want the listener to be able to relate to the lyrics in our songs as well as enjoy the overall energetic feel of our material.  The lyrics in our songs are very clear so the listener should be able to pick up what’s going on and get an idea of what we are about!

MM - What one ingredient is the most important and vital of them all when making good music according to you?
Gary - Listen to the band, not just your own instrument. 

Sometimes you need to just take a step back and listen to what’s going on around you, fair enough you might be widdling away like Van Halen, but are you really aware of what chords you’re widdling over?  Are you feeling the engine room’s pushes and dynamics?  You have to be ultra critical!  Don’t ever settle for “Oh we’ll jam it on stage!” If you want to be a tight band you have to know each others parts inside out! 

Sorry didn’t mean to rant there haha.

Fiona - I agree with Gary here.  It is all about listening to the musicians around you.  I was once told that silence was a key instrument in music, in other words, let the song breathe.  Let instruments drop in and drop out.  A lot of the time less is definitely more.  So many musicians in bands are too busy all the time.  Everyone is playing all at once the whole way through the song and as a result there are no dynamics therefore the music gets dull to listen too.

MM - Who, in your opinion, is the greatest genius of all time in the music business and why?
Gary - Simon Fuller is a genius.  He created the Spice Girls.  If you don’t agree, fair enough but he’s the one sitting on a squillion quid.  Did he sing one note – nope.  Did he cash in on their hard work and hype?  Cha Ching!

Also, Dave Grohl.  The man is timeless class.  And Noel Gallagher, Angus Young, Eminem, Clapton, Simon Cowell, Madonna, John McGlaughan, Hendrix, Jay-Z, Steven Tyler & Joe Perry, TOO MANY!!!

MM - Name your favourite 5 albums of all time and what they have meant to you personally.
Gary - Ooh I love this question. 

Number 1 – Easily “What’s the Story Morning Glory”.  The fact that it single-handedly taught me how to play guitar means I owe a lot to the songs on it.

Number 2 – “The Colour and the Shape” – Foo Fighters.  Dave Grohl pretty much wrote and recorded most of this himself!  This album showed me that there’s more to guitar than open G chords and pentatonics.  I don’t expect many folk would have this at number two but there you go.

Number 3 – “Rage Against The Machine” – RATM.  Holy crap!  How can guitar, bass and drums sound like this?  This album taught me how to get my anger out with a guitar and an amp instead of a hammer and some expensive vases!  My mum is entirely grateful to Rage for making this album.

Number 4 – “From the Cradle” – Eric Clapton.  This album is a compilation of 14 old blues tunes which Clapton covered with his band in the studio.  Most of them are Robert Johnson songs.  I was once driving to Newcastle in the middle of the night and “Someday After A While” came on.  I had to just pull over and soak up the energy pounding out of the stereo.  I sat there in silence for about 5 mins afterwards.  That was a special moment for me.  Made me realise how much I’m in love with playing guitar and how fortunate that I am that I can.

Number 5 – I can’t decide between “Recovering the Satellites” by Counting Crows and “Enema of the State” by Blink 182.  That’s a bit weird isn’t it…

Fiona - Number 1 - “The Roads Don’t Love You” – Gemma Hayes. Gemma Hayes is my favourite female vocalist and one of my favourite songwriters. Her voice has such a raw feel to it and her songs are so heart rendering. This is an album that I could listen to several times in one day.

Number 2 - “Off The Wall” – Michael Jackson. My best friend is the biggest fan of this artist and so I could not escape getting into his music. I used to listen to this album a lot before a night out because it’s just so feel-good and funky!

Number 3 -  “The Immaculate Collection” – Madonna. This was one of the first albums I ever listened to. I used to dance around the living room to all the songs on the album while my mum did her ironing! I love this album because every song on it is a hit.

Number 4 -  “Legend” – Bob Marley. I got into Bob Marley when I studied music performance at Perth College. I spent half a semester in a reggae band. It was this album that got me really interested in playing bass guitar! This is also a great album to listen to driving in the car on country roads on a hot summer’s day!

Number 5 -  “Grand unification” – Fightstar. I love this album because it is so energy fuelled. The album has helped me experiment writing slightly heavier songs in the band. The drop D song “Tired of Dreaming” was very much influenced by Fightstar.

MM - Tell us something that most people don't know, never have known, and probably never would know about you if they don't read this.
Gary - I’ve watched Disney’s “The Lion King” over 100 times.

Fiona - I have a slightly deformed left ear!  It’s not that noticeable but if you were to look carefully it looks like the top of it has been chewed away!

MM - Now’s the time to sell yourselves, what can our readers expect from a live Rocketfox show and why should they come along to one of your shows and check you out?
Gary - Cos all the cool kids love RocketFox and if you don’t like us you’re not cool!  Lol just kidding, we’re not My Chemical Romance.

Some people hate metal bands, some people hate pop, but I honestly believe that whether you are into metal, pop, punk, rock, funk or blues, there’s going to be a RocketFox song that you will want to have played at your wedding and/or funeral.  Because these are just brilliant songs, played brilliantly by three honest, infinitely hard working individuals who will do anything for the chance to do those things in front of lots more people.

We defy you not to wake up the day after a RocketFox show wondering what that song is you’ve been humming to yourself all the morning.  Might be Safe and Sound, might be Sarah or Revenge, but the only thing for sure is you won’t be happy till you hear it again… at full volume!

MM - Finally is there anything we haven’t covered in the interview that you would like to share with our readers, or any final messages you’d like to pass to all our readers out there?
Gary - I’m just glad I got through the interview without swearing!  Remember, we’re only a click away at www.myspace.com/rocketfoxrock where our tour dates and blogs are updated daily.  You can also preview future releases at www.indiestore.com/rocketfox.

Both our EP’s are available from itunes as will our forthcoming single.  Thanks very much for having us hope to see you at a show again very soon!

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