How laid-back indie-folk collective Phox stumbled into a career
A few years back at South by Southwest, Matt Holmen from Wisconsin indie-folk-pop group Phox recalls feeling a lot of anxiety. It wasn’t anything related to the performance. It’s what happened after.
Labels, managers and lawyers came up to them, wanting to make deals with the group. The members had only formed the band the year before, and had never even been outside of the Midwest before. They’d gone to SXSW precisely for this kind of attention, of course, but were taken back when it actually worked out how they had hoped.
“It was overwhelming. It was a job fair for us. That’s how I always describe it to people. It’s funny, so cliché,” Holmen says. “Being on stage was easy. What happened after, that was more harrowing, just dealing with people that work in music—which I’ve grown accustomed to. I even enjoy it now. At that point it really scared me.”
They did make some deals, though, and leapt into a heavy touring schedule, which they’ve pretty much kept up since—it’s taken them all over the U.S., Europe and Australia, opening up for groups like the Lumineers and Blitzen Trapper. But they didn’t make a deal with Partisan Records, who had emailed them less than a week after the show, for almost a year.
“We had just self-released our EP. We were like, ‘let’s just sit on this and think about things,’” Holmen explains.
They released their self-titled debut on Partisan Records last June. The melding of folk, mellow indie rock and pop is familiar territory for bands these days, but Phox’s approach is much more low-key than most of the current indie-folk bands. Rather than anthemic choruses, polished recordings, overt Appalachian throwback aesthetic or heart-on-the-sleeve lyrical phrases, Phox keeps everything easy-going, with a prominent free-form jazz element. The melodies are catchy, but the group seems in no rush to get anyone to sing along with them. It’s just there for people to enjoy if they feel so inclined.
“There’s not a huge design to it. [Vocalist] Monica starts off with a melody, a chord progression and where she wants it to go,” Holmen says. “We’re like, ‘hey let’s try something, whatever works.’ There’s no pressure on ourselves to be utterly groundbreaking, just to make something that’s honest and interesting to us.”
Everybody in the band knew each other from high school in Baraboo, Wisconsin, and some have been friends since childhood. After graduation, the six members moved to a single house in Madison, where they stayed for three years and formed Phox. Their initial EP was recorded at home, along with music videos for each song, and several videos documenting their communal band life. By the time they were ready to record their album, they re-recorded a lot of the same material, sprinkling in a few new songs. They did it in a single session at the home studio of Justin Vernon (Bon Iver) in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, but they didn’t fret about transforming the material into a high-level production.
“We just figured, ‘hey this is what it is,’ rather than laboring over every detail. We didn’t want to sculpt everything down and try to be real concise. ‘Let’s just put this out. Let’s not edit it too far,’” Holmen says. “It’s a balance between being good and sounding fresh. It’s like painting. Sometimes you can’t get every line exactly right. You try and figure out something you’re comfortable with.”
There’s a nonchalance to the record that nearly disguises the personal and emotive quality of the songs. A particular highlight is vocalist Monica Martin, who evokes a golden-age jazz vocalist element, seemingly making up a lot of her melodies on the spot.
They have plans to tour into the summer this year, but after that want to take some time off and reassess the band, write some new songs, and work on their next record.
“We definitely have aspirations,” Holmen says. “This has been my favorite band I’ve ever played in. I didn’t know what to expect exactly.”
INFO: 9 p.m., Monday, April 13, Don Quixote, 6275, Hwy 9, Felton. $18/Adv, $20/Door. 335-2800.
