Foxing gear up to see off the Reverence Hotel
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21.02.2019

Foxing gear up to see off the Reverence Hotel

Words by Natalie Rogers

Fresh from supporting Coheed and Cambria on their US tour, St Louis’ own Foxing are set to become part of Australian rock history. 

Playing their inaugural Australian gig at Footscray’s Reverence Hotel, the show comes just days before the owners close its doors for good.

“Wow! I didn’t know that,” says guitarist Eric Hudson when he’s filled in with the sad news. “I guess we’re going to have to really bring the rock then, right?” he laughs. “I’m excited, this will be the maiden voyage for all of us to Australia, and that’s really cool to be part of the venue’s history in that way. Hopefully we can see it [the Rev] off well.

“As soon as we land in Australia we’re going to a wildlife reserve to hold a koala and see kangaroos,” he smiles. “For me it will be the first time ever seeing those animals let alone getting to hold one. I’ve seen them on Planet Earth and that’s about it.”

Hudson is in particularly good spirits during our chat but he wasn’t afraid to open up about some of the band’s darker days.

“After we put out our second record [Dealer, 2015] we were all feeling pretty burnt out. We were all wondering if we wanted to continue on as a band,” he says. “And although our second record was received fairly well we felt a lot of negativity around touring and constantly being away from home, and our gear getting stolen.

“All these things kind of amounted to us just feeling generally burnt out, and that’s the reason we took three years to release Nearer My God.

Released in August last year, Nearer My God is Foxing’s third and most critically acclaimed album to date. As well as sharing songwriting responsibilities with the band’s frontman Conor Murphy, Hudson also earned a co-producer credit alongside the legendary Chris Walla.

“This time around we wanted to take our time with it and not feel pressure to release something just for the sake of it,” Hudson says. “I think while making our second record we kind of rushed it a little bit and it wasn’t everything we wanted it to be, and it didn’t say everything we wanted it to say, and of course, for this album I had the help of a great friend.

“Chris [Walla] is absolutely amazing,” Hudson adds. “Working with him was great for me because I’m not an experienced producer so he took me under his wing. I learned a lot from him and he always treated me as a peer. He never treated me like I was beneath him in any way. He was always very respectful and he is also a wizard when it comes to his work.

“I mean all of the Death Cab [For Cutie] records sound really good and of course he’s worked with Tegan & Sara and The Decemberists; he’s worked with some massive bands that I love.”

Walla helped Foxing in more ways than one, advising them when they were going astray and when innovation ran dry.

“His influence and his experience was totally invaluable to me and to the process,” Hudson continues. “He was really good at honing in on our strengths and being able to tell us when something we were doing wasn’t good. If we were doing something that wasn’t so good he’d be like ‘C’mon guys I think you should take another look at this,’ in a way that the band was able to receive it – which would sometimes be difficult because we’re definitely a mix of crazy personalities,” he laughs. “Chris taught us – if it’s safe, it’s boring, you might as well just go for it every time, even if you fail.”

Foxing perform at The Reverence Hotel on Wednesday February 27. They’ll also be playing Wollongong’s Farmer & The Owl on Saturday March 2. Head to respective venue and festival websites for lineup and ticket information.