Foxygen is Sam France and Jonathan Rado. They are 22 years old and they are about to explode. Will they be capable of appreciating the greatness of their journey? Are they really bi-coastal? Read on to learn more about their finger-sniffing ways and the origins of the name. Then, catch them at The Independent on Wednesday opening for Moonface.
SF: Great, except Portland, the Doug Fir Lounge, nobody was there.
JR: We’ve been playing a lot of new stuff. Only one song from Take the Kids Off Broadway. So I think the audience reaction has been amazing
considering the fact that this is the first time they’ve heard these songs.
JR: We formed in high school. Sam doesn’t live in Olympia anymore. We’re both in Los Angeles right now and we are going to try and be in roughly the same place from now.
Is the songwriting equally split between the two of you? Obviously you both are fans of early rock and roll and have a flare for the dramatic – was this a conscious decision or was it more an organic and instantaneous product?
JR: It’s really hard to say who actually writes the songs in Foxygen. One of us will have an idea and the other will take it in a new direction. It’s really a collaborative project – completely. Sam writes all of the lyrics. I’ll occasionally throw in a line.
What were you doing before you formed Foxygen? Were you both involved in other projects? Where does the name come from?
JR: I don’t think we were doing very much before foxygen. We were about 14 when we formed the band. I was doing a lot of, like, smelling my fingers and homework and stuff.
SF: The name was something my friend said on AIM about a hot guy. “He’s my foxygen.” She remembers it differently but this is my recollection. Her name is Libby and she’s writing a movie about a space jungle.
about that process now, looking back?
JR: The album took about a year to record.
SF: Off and on because I was working and Rado was going to school.
JR: We recorded it all in our apartment in Queens on 4-track machines and laptops. There are about two hundred or more overdubs on most of the songs. It was a really crazy process and I don’t recommend it to anybody.
JR: I really really love Moonface’s Organ Music record. I think it’s
really amazing.
What are your plans for the coming year?
SF: Our new record is coming out and it’s gunna blow minds. And of course we will keep recording constantly.
Foxygen open for Moonface at The independent on Wednesday, September 12. Doors are at 7:30, the show starts at 8 and tickets are $15.
Press photos by Angel Ceballos