Interview with For The Foxes - Warped Tour Pomona 2013

I had the pleasure of speaking with For The Foxes' own Jonathan Brunner [bass] and Danny Vassallo [drums] to talk a little bit about breaking out of New Jersey, which apparently has become one of my interview specialties. It made me feel right at home (with family from New York and New Jersey) listening to their New Jersey accents and jokes.

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Did starting off in New Jersey present any special challenges?

In the location where we're from in South Jersey, there isn't much of an indie rock n roll scene, a lot of the kids down there are are into heavy metal. Me, Jimmy, and Nick all played in heavy metal bands when we were younger. So a lot of people that listened to our music to begin with weren't necessarily interested in us. So we found a new home in North Jersey and New York City, where people are a little more accepting of different music.

How do you feel like you're different from other bands in the area?

FTF at Warped Tour San Francisco, photo from Instagram

New Jersey is very small, but it's a very densely populated. There's a lot of diversity, but there's also a lot of
cliques. So you have to find the clique where you belong. We made friends with a lot of different bands from our area, like Man Overboard, and they play pop punk music. It's not necessarily the same type of music as us, but we get along with those guys great. There's a lot of local bands that come out now more than they used to, to open for us locally. We're using doing national tours, it's not that often that we're playing New Jersey.

What has been a difficulty along the way that you have overcome?

Our trailer tire blowing on the way down to our bus. Electrical went after that on the trailer, so I would flip the signal, and it would holt the break. On the way to San Antonio, two years ago on the way to SXSW, our trailer broke. The bearings exploded out of the tires. That was a mess. Other than that, we get through it. It's the daily grind, day to day, you push through it. We're used to it by now. Things that other people would find difficult, we find a little less difficult, just because we've exposed ourselves to it.

How do you feel those make you stronger as a band?

When the situation arises again, you know how to handle it. You grow. You live and you learn. I feel a little bit more manly now! Puts hair on your chest.

How do you feel about the pop label?

It is correct, and it could be incorrect. We like to think of ourselves as indie pop. Indie rock'n roll band with pop sensibility. The pop label is not necessarily incorrect, bu to consider us just a pop band, would be off.

For The Foxes, picture from Facebook

What's been a favorite moment along the way?

London, on our UK tour. Walking out and all the kids are going nuts. Even this, right now, doing this interview with you, at Warped Tour...coming off the main stage is surreal... This is one of my favorite moments. Don't get me wrong,
the UK was incredible, but being able to be here is surreal for me, because it's something I did from about 14-20. We never knew we would be at this level.

What are some touring woes?

Missing my bed, seeing  family. It's easier for us than it was for old school rock n'rollers, because we have cellphones and GPS. It's a lot easier now, we can FaceTime and video chat, and see the people you love and care about; you can get a taste of home no matter where you're at. Other than that, we've all been wanting to do this our whole lives.

What is your dream collaboration?

Jonathan: Miguel or Bono.

Danny: Well it's harder for me, since I play drums. But if I could fill in for a drummer for a day, A Wilhelm Scream would be really cool, or Decapitated.

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