Stonefox On Recording In Isolation, Growth & The Road Ahead
{interview by Bridey Ellis}
Stonefox champion electronic indie- pop music through introspective lyricism and smooth vocals that entrance listeners. Recently released EP, ‘As You Fall In’, is both haunting and hopeful as the members of Stonefox grow up and experience both the good and the bad in life. The storytelling is top notch, along with the production by Jean-Paul Fung who has worked with Last Dinosaurs and Client Liaison. Tim, Jenna and Mon had a chat to us about the new EP, recording in isolation and the future after isolation.
Bridey: Firstly, congratulations on your new EP ‘As You Fall In’, could you describe the creative process behind making this new EP?
Tim: Why thanks! We’re very excited to finally share this one. We really took some time to work on the new songs and fit them together into a collection. We didn't give ourselves a deadline and just worked on them until we felt they were done. We started pre-production out in a secluded country cabin in Heathcote, Victoria. Where we pushed away the living room furniture of an Airbnb and setup by the woodfire – doing writing tasks with the producer to delve into the inner meaning of the songs collectively and fleshing out the bones of the record on a laptop. Then we flew to Sydney to paste in the final takes at JP’s place in Mosman and at The Grove Studios, in Somersby. It was a bit of a journey and even after we finished tracking, we had a lot of late-night Skype calls to tweak and put the finishing touches on every tiny ambient flourish.
Could you talk about the inspiration behind the EP? How much of it is drawn from reality or fiction?
Jenna: There wasn’t one specific event that inspired the five tracks of ‘As You Fall In’; the EP turned out to be a collection of songs about the various relationships that consume you. It tells of different moments you might fall in to when you're hypnotised by someone - whether the relationship is healthy or toxic; romantic or otherwise. Even in the closing track ‘Never Fight’, I talk about experiencing love for someone greater than yourself, to the point where you are no longer central in your own life - in this case the birth of my young nieces and nephews. So, the EP is definitely drawn from reality, more than maybe I’d like it to be when listening back to songs like ‘Lightning’. In the years leading up to this record I felt like I changed and grew a lot - we all did - and I think that growth is transparent in the EP
How do you see this EP being different from your previous EP ‘Surface’?
Jenna: Our first EP (2015) was a collection of songs that in hindsight were naive and perhaps even juvenile. This doesn't mean the songs were any less true, but I think ‘As You Fall In’ comes from a much more mature place. Although I realise it was the innocence and lack of expectation of ourselves that made songs from our first EP like ‘All I Want’ so easy to resonate with. I think that no matter how much we might try now, it'll always be hard to tap back into that young intuitive notion of writing songs like no one has heard the same four chords strung together before. ‘As you Fall In’ is an honest expression of what Stonefox has grown to become.
I love the new song ‘White Caps’, how did that song come about?
Jenna: White Caps was the title of a demo I had sent to Tim in 2013 when we first met. The version on the EP however is unrecognisable from that first demo. We rewrote every melody, lyric, progression and changed the structure what genuinely felt like 100 times. I remember getting to the final takes and having to work really hard to remember what the ‘most recent’ melody that we were going with was. The song is about being so in love with someone that you couldn’t possibly do anything more for them than what you’re already doing, but they don’t notice, or perhaps don’t care. When we wrote ‘White Caps’, I was falling in love with a girl who had a boyfriend. I did everything I possibly could to show her how I felt, but she had no idea. I accepted that I was so enthralled, that even though I knew I’d probably get hurt, I wasn’t going to give up. We enjoyed testing ourselves with this song, putting it in a blender with everything we knew that could work and see what happens. I think it worked because the meaning behind the song was so strong to us.
What was it like working with producer Jean-Paul Fung?
Monica: JP is such a crazy talented guy! Working with him just completely helped mould the songs into what they are today. He got us to do a lot of creative exercises which neither Tim, Jen or myself had done before which set us up for uncovering new ideas we’d never really think of on our own, be that lyrical or instrumental. He was so invested every step of the way, which made the process so easy, we literally could let our walls down and get the most out of our time together. And not to mention he’s just an all-round legend!
What was it like to write and record in secluded cabin environment?
Monica: Oh man, it was the best thing we could have done for the creative process of the EP. All the distractions were gone, and it was this completely stripped and vulnerable process of breaking down every idea of each of the songs and almost building them back up again. Because of this, there was so much more intention behind the meanings we were trying to convey. And not to mention the fact that we could crank the heck out of our instruments and just get lost in the music we were creating into the wee hours of the morning.
What are your plans for the next several weeks in isolation? Does isolation help you be creative?
Tim: Being in lockdown in the middle of Melbourne has been an interesting experience to say the least – it can be pretty tough on the mind. But it’s been a bit of a reflective time and a good chance to focus on what energy I want to bring post iso. To be honest I haven’t been writing a lot but have picked up the guitar to learn a few big pieces that I otherwise wouldn’t have time to sit down with. For now, I’m focusing on staying active, eating well, keeping in touch with loved ones and making extra time for myself. And being thankful that we have time and space to still enjoy creative things like the EP release. We’re also about to put out a stack of very funky remixes in the coming weeks and a deluxe version of ‘As You Fall In’ with live recordings and acoustic cuts is not too far away.
Where do you see Stonefox in the future?
Monica: A big personal goal of ours has always been to get overseas to play some shows/festivals, that would be such an incredible experience, especially thinking back to where it all started in Jenna’s shed so many years ago! Obviously right now that’s not possible with everything happening in the world so we will just have to keep working towards that. It would also be so awesome to record an album at some point down the track and to keep writing music that reflects the three of us in the best way possible. We’ve been lucky to get to where we are and really excited to see what the future holds.
Stream the EP here.