Tommy Interviews Red Fox Grey Fox

Tommy of Small Towns Burns A Little Slower did an interview with his friends Red Fox Grey Fox. If you haven't checked out this band do so immediately after you read this.

Tommy: Describe your band to a new, curious listener in the form of a haiku.

Red Fox Grey Fox:

Four pleasant fellows

Play different instruments

Musical Fusion

What are the advantages of mittens compared to gloves?

The wearing of mittens in the 21^st century is catastrophically more advantageous than the wearing of gloves for the meandering soul that is our pop culture. Our peers have found it extremely difficult to find any solace in the compartmentalized world of gloves. Mittens offer a reconciling and unifying environment for all of our fingers. In world so full of separation and social angst, who doesn’t need a little bit of reconciliation and unification?

Studies have revealed correlation between the wearing of mittens and attraction of the desired other (person and/or creature). 99% of all mitten-wearers find themselves in the caring arms of a desired other (again, person and/or creature). This is a startling statistic considering that mittens are so closely related to the boxing glove (odd, indeed, that they call it a boxing “glove” and not a boxing mitten).

In conclusion, mittens have shown to be the most advantageous way for the weathering of Minnesota winters, not only in the area of physical warmth, but in emotional and spiritual warmth as well.

Are the red fox and grey fox friends, adversaries, or do they have misguided adventures or anything? I imagine they must avoid the fox hunters.

They are hopelessly in love, but are cleaved from one another because of a separatist, discriminatory social environment that is American Fox culture.

Your new demo/EP was produced by Jon B. from Cue The Doves. That is interesting considering they play really heavy spacerock and you play really pretty, mellow stuff. what did he bring to the table and how did he work with you?

Jonny helped a lot with making sure our song arrangements made sense and flowed well. He also kept a close ear on the recording process to make sure things sounded top notch. It must be said that Jonny is a guitar tone guru. And he made us all really happy just by being around.

What is the proper outdoor attire for a Minnesota winter day? Explain each item and its purpose.

Mittens…enough said. We really aren’t obsessed with mittens…well sort of…it’s a long story.

You have a most peculiar stage setup. There's stuff everywhere and members are leap-frogging between instruments at regular intervals. The drums aren't stuck at the back of the stage either. Explain this stage set-up and how you think it enhances performances.

I think the first reason for such a strange set up is for practicality. In one song, Pete would have to switch from piano to drums and it would have been a bit more difficult if the drums were in the back.
Also, we wanted to set up in a way that was different than conventional set ups. And, it is fun that everyone can see each other on stage really well, so we can look at each other and smile.
We think that the set up being a bit different is more enticing for an audience and seems a bit more personal. Those two things seem to be good things.

Please compose a short, '80s style rap about why people should listen to Red Fox Grey Fox (just lyrics. anyone w/ imagination should be able to hear it in their head to an old-school beat).

If you be lookin’ for a song to chill to
Or maybe a tune to climb a hill to
Just open up that little box
And jam to a lil’ Red Fox Grey Fox

You can gaze at clouds
Or shout out loud
You can kiss your love
As you sing like a dove.

You can crank it up
Or turn it down
Whatever the case
You can’t frown.

Come out to a show
And check us out
If you don’t know how
Give us a shout.

(Shamelessly and wonderfully composed by Stephen Lindquist)

Who's the new guy? What instrument(s) does he play and what is your hazing process like for newbies?

Stephen is our new guy, and boy he’s fantastic. He plays drums and percussion, keys, saxophone, and vocals. Hazing processes are incredibly brutal. We pooped on his chest.

Say you got into a big fight w/ another Minneapolis band, let's set up the scenario: both bands may have weapons (fictional even better), super powers, etc. What band would you fight with, what would be the setting, what band would have which powers/weapons, and what would instigate the whole ordeal?

We would get in a fight with the notorious alien-core band CUE THE DOVES. We would simply provide a proof for why Aliens don’t exist and they would dress up in dark black robes and drink Hemlock.

You're Bethel boys. Are you a Christian band or Christians in a band? Is the hit song about Jesus or a chick? hahaha! Have fun w/ this one.

Jeremiah, Stephen, and Ben love Jesus. Peter doesn’t.