Creative Outlet: Black Foxxes Talk 'I'm Not Well' And Future Plans

Last summer, Modern Baseball had plans. The Philadelphia pop-punk band were set to play Reading and Leeds festivals and tour Australia, both big events for a group still in its relative infancy, but scratched them from the calendar at short notice. Brendan Lukens, one of their two guitarist-vocalists, needed to take some time out to deal with long-standing anxiety and depression. “After the last few months it's evident that it's time to put everything else aside to focus on making steps towards positive mental health,” he wrote at the time.

His words struck a chord with fans, who offered support and shared their own stories. In the months since, meanwhile, musicians from across the recording spectrum have also sought to raise awareness by documenting their own experiences. Zayn Malik, star of One Direction turned solo artist, spoke with unvarnished honesty after cancelling live appearances due to anxiety. In his autobiography, Born To Run, Bruce Springsteen discussed his decades-long struggle with depression.

More recently, Help Musicians UK revealed the results of ‘Can Music Make You Sick?’, a study conducted by the University of Westminster and MusicTank that explored the mental health issues faced by musicians and those in the wider music industry. Its findings showed that 71% of 2,200 respondents believed they had experienced anxiety and panic attacks, while 65% reported they had suffered from depression.

In August, Exeter band Black Foxxes released their debut album, ‘I'm Not Well’ and became another important voice in the conversation. On the LP, guitarist and vocalist Mark Holley, bass player Tristan Jane and drummer Ant Thornton explore the emotional state of someone dealing with anxiety and depression through the lens of Holley’s own experiences. It's a powerful record that matches the weight of its subject matter with anthemic compositions.

It opens with the title track and Holley’s muted voice: “As the sun comes quickly and the moon begins to fade I keep drinking alcohol so I lose my fucking ways. The cold crept over me, this weight turns me to lead. I can't ever sleep at night, the pain is in my head. I'm not well.”

The lyrics are opaque enough to allow for personal interpretation, but with the surrounding knowledge of Holley’s viewpoint the songs’ inspirations reveal themselves. On Husk, he sings: “I'm wasting away...lost, shiver, husk.” On Whatever Lets You Cope, meanwhile, he implores: “Release your resilient mind. Come on, come on. Search for that comforting lie. Hold on, hold on. Let the warmth help this time. Go on, go on.”

The band didn’t set out to write a concept album, but on reflection its songs contained a unified theme. “We had the music and then all these lyrics sort of came out of me,” Holley said. “I think the majority came from one headspace.”

Mental health is a topic Holley feels passionately about. In future he’d like speak to children in schools about it, but he’s already doing a lot to spread awareness by speaking openly in interviews and having conversations with fans online. Emo bands have long written deeply personal songs and, as a result, held a strong connection with their listeners. But outfits like Black Foxxes and Modern Baseball differ slightly due to their desire to connect with fans directly. They are creating a new kind of support system for both band and fan.

“It makes you realise how many people are really struggling to speak out about it,” Holley said about the response to the album. “That kind of blows me away, especially in the kind of position that we are at with the band. We’re finding our feet and getting to those next stages and it’s really, really cool that people are attached to it that much.”

Music is an important outlet. For all three members of Black Foxxes the band provides a sense of focus and release, from the writing of songs to the eventual performance of them. Holley, in particular, sees the creative process as a vital tool for self expression that should be used at an early age.

“I think it’s really important to encourage creativity in kids,” he said. “Especially if they are struggling or they feel different. It doesn’t have to be music, it can be artistic, or poetic, or whatever sort of format. They can use it as an outlet to express themselves. I definitely think if I had been more encouraged at that age it would have helped.”

Thornton added: “As a kid I was really shy and I had social anxiety. My mum was pushing me to play music. I think that helped shaped me as an adult. I became more outgoing.”

“I think cathartic is the only word really to describe that kind of thing,” Jane said. “Music aside. Any kind of art. If you lose yourself in an art piece or writing or anything like that. If you get really stuck into it. Anything you are really passionate about. Everything else just melts away.”

The lifestyle of a touring musician also offers up new problems regularly. Help Musicians UK have noted the poor working conditions within the industry, including the difficulty of sustaining a living, antisocial working hours, exhaustion and the inability to plan for the future.

“There are tonnes of times when I have been depressed or anxious, where I feel like I just don’t want to do this week of shows and I just want to stay inside,” Holley said. “But nine times out of 10 you get out and do it and you’re like: ‘I’m really stoked I did that.’ But it’s harder than it sounds.”  

Black Foxxes play with an impressive professional slickness for a band who are on the road with their debut album. At Cardiff’s Sŵn Festival earlier this year, Holley performed each line with an emotional honesty, but also joked with the audience while asking them to buy t-shirts to fund his holiday. “I’m a pretty happy guy most of the time so I can be in a really good headspace but also just been in this zone for half an hour that I need to be in,” he explained.

With the ink barely dry on ‘I’m Not Well’, and a new live EP, ‘Headsick Sessions’ set for release this week, Black Foxxes are already looking to the future. Shifting focus, much as The Hotelier did between ‘Home, Like Noplace Is There’ and ‘Goodness’, Holley predicts that their new material will explore fresh stylistic avenues.

“The stuff I’m writing now is completely different,” he said. “It’s not conscious, it’s naturally going that way. I don’t think we're going to be one of those bands that stay with one type of album...don’t expect 10 emo rock tracks again.”

'I'm Not Well' is out now. ‘Headsick Sessions [Live]’ is out on December 16.

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