Pygmalion Local Focus: Interview with Old Fox Road
With Pygmalion fast approaching, Dylan Chupp of Old Fox Road took some time out of his day to answer some questions about his folk punk trio that will be opening up the show at Error Records this Friday.
1. What first inspired to pick up a guitar and play some good ol' folk punk?
Well, I believe it was when my friend Steven Hopkins left his acoustic at my house. I picked it up and taught myself power chords and started playing a bunch of Blink -182 covers. One day I sat down and convinced myself I would write a song. I wasn't sure what style of music I wanted to play at that time, I just wanted to play. As I kept writing originals, I noticed they were fast-paced punk songs with some essence of a folk background. At that point I decided that folk punk would be the genre I would pursue.
2. Give us a little history behind the band. Did it start out as a solo project? What kind of setup can we expect at Error this Friday?
I started out as a solo artist, but that quickly turned into a three-piece named Silence The Storm. It consisted of my friends Sarah Foster on the piano, Stevie Ray on lead guitar, and myself on vox/guitar. We had mild success, but the band slowly deteriorated. I continued writing more songs and recorded a four song EP under the name of Old Fox Road. For a while I wasn't pleased with my songs and I gave up completely. Two years later I had the urge to write again, and here I am responding to these questions. This Friday it'll be Dylan Decker on bass, myself (Dylan Chupp) on guitar/vocals, and Stevie Ray on guitar. Just a simple three-piece.
3. Tell us about the music, who are some of your influences?
The music is all based around my struggles, relationships, feeling pathetic. I tend to write about a girl I'll never get. I try to write in a way hoping that someone might have the same connection as myself, and maybe one day they can discuss their problems with me, or vice versa. My main influences are Chris Burrows and Pat the Bunny. Every project they've ever had I fell in love with. Their style has transformed the way I write and play.
4. You just put out an EP last week, tell us a little about that; what are the songs about?
The release of Pathetic and Dumb has been pretty successful. We've been getting a lot of great feedback, and more people are downloading it for free on our Bandcamp. "Pathetic and Dumb" has six songs dealing with love stories I've dreamed about, feeling pathetic, being contempt with myself, finding peace, enjoying life, and dealing with past relationships. You can find some angst in there along with some catchy jams.
5. You guys come from Arthur, do you find yourself in the C-U area a lot for shows and the like?
As far as attending shows, I've attended a few, but with having a van and driving 80 miles round trip it can be tough to get out to C-U shows. Old Fox Road just started playing shows a few weeks ago and we'd like to come to C-U more. We will see how well we do this Friday.
6. Word on the street (Facebook page) is you're planning a tour?
Yes! Spring is when we plan on doing our bigger tour, but for now we are doing "mini tours." We try to set up two or three out of state shows a month if we aren't playing any local shows. The spring tour is mainly going to hit the Midwest as hard as we can.
7. Are any of you in other projects?
Our guitarist Stevie Ray has an instrumental project that's incredible. I really can't describe it, but he is a genius on the "guit-fiddle". Dylan Decker and I are in Oblivion Oasis. We are a punk/metal band that is in need of a drummer. You can find our music on Bandcamp.
8. What are you most looking forward to about Pygmalion? As in what bands, what shows, anything else about the festival in general?
Honestly, we will be playing other shows throughout the festival. Sadly, we will be missing Larry And His Flask and WarPaint at the Canopy Club, though!
Check out Old Fox Road's music and download their free EP hereVisit the Facebook event page for this Friday night's show here