FOXY – The Punk Invasion
Interview with Lisa Parker-Meredith
1. What do you remember of the first days of the band?
I remember Greg, John and I all being really excited about our new collaboration. Our musical tastes and backgrounds are similar, and although John had Social Distortion, Greg had Joyride, and I had my all girl band 4-Gazm, we were all very excited about the formation of FOXY. Even more so as we began to write together. Not everybody can write together, but we just locked into formation from the start, complimenting each other’s styles. FOXY was forged from lots of love and long friendships.
2. The original lineup of the band included longtime Social Distortion bassist John Maurer. Is there any unreleased material including Maurer’s work?
No, there’s nothing unreleased from John. Everything we wrote together appears on either 1999’s self-titled FOXY EP or 2001’s Stay Foxy Por Vida album. While Por Vida was being recorded, Mike Ness was winding down his solo stuff and Social Distortion began to get busy again. So, John signed us to the label he was working for, Loud Energy, and he took on the role of musician/producer for Por Vida. After the sessions wrapped, he continued to support FOXY however he could.
3. What is the current lineup of the band and are there any additional players for the upcoming tour?
Ever since the release of Stay Foxy Por Vida, FOXY has been myself, Greg Antista (Joyride, Greg Antista & the Lonely Streets), Stu West (The Damned, English Dogs) and Richie Mendez (The Pushers). The four of us toured the heck out of that record for years together in the U.S. and abroad before taking our 15-year break for marriage and kids. Although we started with John Maurer and Kip Dabbs as members. and have had a few other friends play with us here and there, we consider ourselves the original members. While Greg, Richie and I raised our families, Stu spent those 15 years off from FOXY playing and touring as bassist for The Damned. We all stayed tight with each other as we always will be FOXY Family. Then, in 2017, when the opportunity came for us to support X on one of their 40th Anniversary concerts, we jumped at the chance. It was so unbelievably fun we had to do more! Playing together again felt like we’d never stopped. The timing was right for all four of us. Next thing you know we were writing a new EP and going back out on tour in 2018. Yes, I’m excited to say that the upcoming “Oh Bondage!” tour of the UK and Europe will feature the band’s longtime lineup.
4. You have a new EU tour coming up, please tell us all the details?
Yes, we have a three-week UK/European tour which runs mid-September through early October. It starts in Czech Republic on September 20, then goes through Germany, Belgium, France, and the UK. You can find exact dates and details at www.foxybandusa.com. We can’t wait! Last year was an absolute blast! We have so many friends old and new over there that we can’t wait to see.
5. How cost effective is for a US band to tour Europe?
That depends on how many shows you can book, the size of your guarantees, how much merchandise you sell, etc. Many things are similar to the U.S. when we tour — paying for transportation, a driver, gas, gear, road crew, food and lodging, daily per diems for everyone, and so forth. Also, these days it doesn’t feel like there’s too much difference in commerce between the Euro, Pound & USD. Plane fares and luggage costs have gone way up, so instead of taking all of our gear with us, we now have to rent a backline and have some stuff made prior to our arrival. On a positive note, smartphones, the internet, and social media have made things a million times easier. We used to have to rely on landlines, fax machines, and a lot of trust! The technology boom has made the world a smaller place for bands, bringing like minds and interests more easily together, which I think is good for our scene.
6. Do you have other plans for US tour dates or elsewhere?
Not at the moment. Stu lives in England, Greg has his full-time band Greg Antista & The Lonely Streets, and both Richie and I are very busy with our families and projects at home. Because of our schedules, we have to be very selective about what we do. At the same time, we are all thrilled to be doing the band again.
7. You also have two new EPs coming up before your EU tour. So, please let me know about the “X-Ray Spex Tribute”EP.
Yes, we have our new Can’t Stop Us EP as well as our X-Ray Spex Tribute EP being released on September 13. The X-Ray Spex Tribute is being pressed on both blue and pink 10″ vinyl. X-Ray Spex Tribute was a really fun collaboration with UK producer Mike Bennett. I’ve been listening to X-Ray Spex since my early teens. Poly Styrene is a heroine of mine.
8. The second EP is called Can’t Stop Us. Tell me about it.
I think if you’re from our Southern California punk scene, then the the title Can’t Stop Us speaks for itself. Generally, we all discovered and took part in our scene because we see and feel things differently then the mainstream. Punk isn’t a fad or a fashion trend, we are a community that’s been going since the mid-70s and we’re not going anywhere. Our music and ideas go beyond any age barriers and therefore you “Can’t Stop Us.”
9. Although Can’t Stop Us was available only at merch tables during FOXY’s 2018 European tour, there was never an “official release”, right? How did you decide it?
Since we are D.I.Y. punks, we had a lot of updating and publishing to sort out before the official release of the new EP. That’s done now so we can officially release next month.
10. Do you find any differences between the EU and US Punk scenes?
Maybe a few differences in the types of food we’re used to eating, but to the contrary, we see many more similarities. We are the same. Punks lead with our hearts and our minds, not our countries or languages. Our punk music is a strong tie that binds us together.
11. What is the inspiration for your lyrics?
We are inspired by our personal experiences and the world around us. A FOXY song could start with a feeling or a thought or an idea or a specific incident, which then inspires us to write song lyrics. Any given song could mean something else to our listener and that’s cool too; music is a thing that helps us to feel and process. A song or lyric that does that from us has done what we intended.
12. What is your next musical step?
First up, it’s rocking our audiences as hard as we can on our three-week “Oh Bondage!” tour. Then we plan on continuing discussions regarding a long-awaited new album for 2020.
Information
Website: http://foxybandusa.com
Facebook: foxybandusa
Twitter: @foxybandusa
Instagram: @foxybandusa
