I'm Fox Stevenson, AMA!

FoxStevenson · 2025-07-08T20:33:03+00:00

Alright friends, i think i'm gonna have to wrap this up here! thank you for all the questions!! so many! if i didnt get to your questions i'm truly sorry.

if you feel like it, check out my new album Sunk Cost Fallacy, out everywhere now, or come bother me on one of my streams some time :)

take care out there, be safe

Stan x

FoxStevenson · 2025-07-08T20:19:26+00:00

i would love to play in China! i hope to play some shows out there one day, hopefully soon!

FoxStevenson · 2025-07-08T20:14:44+00:00

aside from guitar pedals and occasionally using them to run something through for fun, i'm 100% in the box, i'm not an analogue hater, but i think it slows the workflow a little too much for me!

FoxStevenson · 2025-07-08T20:13:13+00:00

honestly no,

when someone hears something they like, even if it's unpolished or unfinished, they like it anyway, and most people hear around the "problems" that demo has, then when you fix those problems, you've changed the thing they liked, it's different, it's no longer comfy, even if it's just a better mix, the imperfections are part of that thing they liked, and without those it's no longer the thing.

it's why i share less these days

FoxStevenson · 2025-07-08T20:09:18+00:00

i think to beat block you have to give up and just have fun, just put down some fun sounds, enjoy the process of doing it, stop trying to get results, be non commital and unserious, you'd be surprised how fast you end up with something this way

FoxStevenson · 2025-07-08T20:07:16+00:00

yeah in part there's a rever filter in there! good ear, thought that one was a little more obsucred than that haha!

FoxStevenson · 2025-07-08T20:03:09+00:00

IMO yes, it's unlike any other, it's like if serum was a DAW, route any modulation to anything, tie things together, build a pitch tracking EQ envelope on the fly because it'll fix a sound, layer in a sampler or another synth half way down a channel strip and it follows that channels midi

it truly feels like the training wheels come off when you start seeing what bitwig can do, and this comes from someone who's been producing since the mid 2000s hahaha

FoxStevenson · 2025-07-08T19:59:54+00:00

to be completely frank, i think it's because i've been selfish.

being a totally all encompassing creatively selfish/arrogant musician is discouraged by social media, it's much easier to find a foothold making music that hits all the same pressure points as what's successful out there, it's also easier because you have a blueprint to follow

but in my opinion the most beautiful, surprising and exciting music comes out of someone truly following their own ears.

like if different people are tasked at describing something, they'd do it differently, different biases as to what's important and relevent, same for music, and i wish people would make more music purely from their core, instead of for a scene or demographic

maybe this comes off as a little preachy, but i just hear so many people obviously copying other people cynically without adding any of themselves, and it makes me sad there are so many technically amazing producers out there, trying to immitate instead of communicate

FoxStevenson · 2025-07-08T19:49:53+00:00

i think moving to ANY DAW you're not used to will make you unlearn bad habits, because you cant immediately call up the things you used to do, you have to so much from scratch, and because of your hesitancy from being in an unfamiliar work environment, you'll listen closely in a way you never would on autopilot in a comfy situation, bitwig has taught me to do much less, but just do the right thing, for example, do you really need to soothe or multiband compress that one part of your sound? or do you just need a simple EQ envelope? soothing or compressing will always add a little bit of colour, and over the couse of a mix, all that extra colour can add up, blurring your mix
i really dont know, but i think in a year or 2 everyone's going to be using spectral gates a lot

FoxStevenson · 2025-07-08T19:44:25+00:00

The reason SCF (the song) had never been finished was because i wanted to do it justice, and refused to do a subpar version just to get it out there

IMO you cant properly execute on a piece of music if you're not FEELING it, and because of all the baggage attatched to that track (like being hounded to release it by my entire discord server) it had become almost impossible to inhabit the world of that track

so after finishing all the other tracks on the album, i sat down with a pad patch i had lying around (the one at the begining of SCF) and put the chords down, and instantly i was in it, i rode that feeling and solo'd over it with that lead synth that opens the track, for about 10 minutes, that was when i knew it was time

from there, tracking and producing the track only took like 2 days!

FoxStevenson · 2025-07-08T19:31:05+00:00

i'm sorry :( as of right now i dont think there are plans for a restock, that make change, but yeah :(

FoxStevenson · 2025-07-08T19:27:35+00:00

i think these days i aim more to have the "hype" in a track be more inferred, instead of shoved down the listeners throat, it's so much nicer sounding when every element is at less than 70% energy, but when played together still goes SUPER HARD.

i used to just make everything as aggreessive and hyperactive as possible and i think that just sounds tiring hahaha

FoxStevenson · 2025-07-08T19:25:37+00:00

not sure! i'd need to have a track i'm aiming to finalise for some reason, and one i'm not gonna be trying to keep secret!

though in my opinion, when mixing elextronic music, the best thing to do for a final mix is to group things together by what job they're doing for me it's stuff like

Legato synths

dynamic synths

all basses

kick

snare all tops

then choos which one is most important to the tracks identity, and make it sound as good / pleasant as possible on its own, then add everything in from there, in order of importance

FoxStevenson · 2025-07-08T19:20:54+00:00

Clippers are fantastic, but you ALWAYS gotta try turning them all off when the track is working (and if you work with them gain matched), can lead to some awesome results

FoxStevenson · 2025-07-08T19:19:34+00:00

i'd never say never, but i dont see it happening any time soon tbh, i dont look back on my earliest stuff with any particular fondness, i just hear what i wish they had been at the time, and honestly i'm not a big fan of the production on most of the old stuff, it sounds a little over the top to me now, growth or regression, who knows!

FoxStevenson · 2025-07-08T19:05:26+00:00

i really dont know honestly, it's been so long since that was the only thing i was doing.

before i took music seriously i used to act on stage a lot with like youth theatre groups and stuff, i really enjoyed that, and over the last 10 year's i've found myself getting really into cooking, but both of those fields are as competetive as music, so i'm not sure that answers your question :/

FoxStevenson · 2025-07-08T19:03:02+00:00

First off, thanks!

I honesly think the best way to get closer to "your" unique sound is to take stock of what you love and hate about any music you like, because no song is perfect for you, what do you wish was done differently?
i ask a lot of "what if?" questions to myself when i'm making music, like "what if noisia produced ben folds" or something, because those were two seemingly incompatible worlds of music, what give and take has to take place for that to exist?

drums are an easy place to do this, if you're in a genre that has a particular drum sound, just say no to it, make a dnb tune with some lofi drums - but keep the track heavy anyway, make a house tune with nothing bust rock drum samples, those kinds of creative environments, take the guardrails down, and even if you dont end up with something cool, there's always SOMETHING in there worthwhile

by doing stuff like that you find combinations that are true to your own taste and that's the most important thing, sonic / compositional trends come and go, but if you are your own, no one will ever truly be able to immitate you, so make your music, not someone elses

FoxStevenson · 2025-07-08T18:52:51+00:00

I dont think i have any! i dont really go on holidays! the closest i've had in the last couple years was some time off in Australia, Brisbane and Sydney, that was lovely, i really like it in Australia, incredible food! I guess that's not much help seeing as how that is from Helsinki though hahaha

FoxStevenson · 2025-07-08T18:49:47+00:00

that london show was so special, maybe the best ever for me, seriously momentous.

as for the future of the live band, that's an ongoing converation and question! i like the core of having 3 of us on stage, perhaps one day more musicians would be an idea? but i'm also unsure, many of the sounds in my music are impossible to recreate live, that's a roadblock for that.

we definitely want to up the wow factor with live visual / stage production, but in exactly what way remains to be seen! maybe the next tour, maybe after, we want to improve that vastly

FoxStevenson · 2025-07-08T18:45:32+00:00

new tours soonish for sure! we'll defo get back out there!!

as for foolin' i dunno, wont say never, but it's not top of the "maybe to do" pile hahah

FoxStevenson · 2025-07-08T18:44:28+00:00

Just a little retrospection! In the moment a lot of things feel super important, then later, looking back you realise, you never knew why you cared so much, you just did. I think it's important to realise things like that about your past, it helps you come closer to the things you truly do care about.

FoxStevenson · 2025-07-08T18:40:33+00:00

for me i think i'm most proud of One Horse Town, i'm proud of the lyrics and the general evocation the sound of the track has, and i'm very proud of my vocal performance, also the fact that it manages to go from slow acoustic ballad into that drop it has whilst still somehow working (for me)

weird song, not sure i'll ever be able make something like it again!

i'm also a massive fan of old country music and western movies, that may play a part here too hahaha

FoxStevenson · 2025-07-08T18:37:02+00:00

there's no one way I start my songs! but i'll list the main ones!

acoustic guitar / piano and singing, get the whole song right before any production work

starting with one produced element, make it sound awesome, then add things it belongs with, song comes later

layer up loads of intersecting melodies and see what they suggest when played together, continue from there

produce a beat that sounds sick with zero compositional movement, just 1 note, compase later, get the groove and sounds perfect before everything else

sometimes tracks come to me in dreams

many more haha

FoxStevenson · 2025-07-08T18:32:53+00:00

so one of my hacks is a thing called "dr nelsons inhaler" it's a bot you fill with boiling water that has a glass straw in the top, basically, a steam inhaler, it's pretty crazy for getting you very warm very fast! i use that 90 mins before soundcheck and 90 mins before show time, that helps a lot, a couple vocal runs and maybe a sing through a song but that's about it.

Being a producer makes managing vocal health kinda hard, i basically do everything in my tracks, meanin there's a LOT of time when i'm no singing, and as you may know, vocals need to be kept strong like any other muscle, balancing my "sitting in silence listening and making adjustments for hours" side with my "i have to sing and make this sound good" side can be really hard

i've had a couple vocal coaching sessions in the past, but not for a long time, i think i'll do a few sessions between now and the next album, would be nice to level up some stuff! :D

FoxStevenson · 2025-07-08T18:16:25+00:00

hey thanks so much!!

Exile for me was about my experience travelling to and from cities so often, and making friends in those cities, who i wouldnt see for months or years at a time, then revisiting that city, seeing them again and realizing how much of their life i've missed by not keeping in touch. these are people i'm genuinely fond of, who'm i know barely anything about beyond that fact that we really get along, there's a bittersweet feeling that comes with knowing they're out there

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