Interview: FOX GUNN Unveils Stories Behind Her Debut EP "BADASS + VULNERABLE"

8We had the incredible opportunity to sit down with the talented artist FOX GUNN for an exclusive Fizzy Mag interview. She just released her debut EP 'BADASS + VULNERABLE,' and we got to dive into the inspiring stories behind her empowering and unapologetically queer tracks. Get ready to explore her journey of self-discovery and the themes that shaped her music. Let's jump right in!

Congratulations on the release of your debut EP, 'BADASS + VULNERABLE'! How does having your first solo project out in the world feel?

Thank you so much! It feels great, a bit weird, to be honest. I’ve been working towards this for a long time, and now I don’t think I know what to do with myself haha.

Your EP is described as "unapologetically queer" and full of empowering lyrics. Can you tell us a bit more about the queer narratives and themes that inspired the songs?

Yeah! The EP is basically my diary from last year. I went through a very tough breakup and coped with it by going out a lot, dating around, making bad decisions… but mostly having a lot of fun.

The songs are about people I met during that time and what came from those encounters - most of them were pretty toxic, I think that’s what I needed at the time, so it was great material to write about.

Writing this EP was my way of processing what I was feeling - I would go out into the world, experience things to the fullest, then retreat to my little home studio and write what I was feeling.

'RECKLESS' opens the EP and sets the mood for the rest of the tracks. What inspired this song, and why did you choose it as the introductory track?

As soon as I wrote the first line of RECKLESS, "I had the highest of highs and the lowest of lows, all in the same week," I knew it had to be the introductory track.

I think RECKLESS encapsulates the whole concept of the EP perfectly; it tells the listener about what I’m going through and, in a way, warns them about what’s to come.

I wrote it as I re-discovered being single and going through a lot of changes at once: I 'went from homemaker to heartbreaker,' I started going out and staying out 'til the morning, I got good at goodbyes... It felt (and still feels) like the perfect opening track. I see it as an abstract of the EP.

On the drop after ‘badass and vulnerable,’ if you listen closely, the messy vocal samples you can hear are parts of all the other songs on the EP! So, technically, the audience has already listened to a bit of all the songs on the EP from the very first track.

'POTTERY' has been receiving great support from various magazines. What was the process like creating this quintessential queer breakup song?

To be completely honest, very painful - but also very cathartic.

Fun fact: I had COVID when I started writing POTTERY. I had gone to Barcelona (my hometown) to get away from London and my ex, and two days before my flight back, I tested positive. I spent a few days locked in a room, utterly heartbroken and without distraction from my emotions, so I wrote POTTERY.

After a couple of days alone in that room, I realized I didn’t know who I was without 'my muse.' I had made myself small and weak for the person the song's about to thrive, and by doing that, had lost myself. Writing POTTERY felt like coming back to myself, re-discovering my power, and deciding I wouldn't give it away again - hence the lyric 'this is all about me, no more writing about you.'

It's also worth noting that it was my first-ever heartbreak, and the first (especially in a queer relationship) cuts deep. I felt so much and didn't know what to do, so I put it into a song, and I'm glad I did.

'USE ME PROPERLY' and 'IDON’TWANTTHISBUTIWANTHER' explore themes of desire and emotional complexity. Could you share the inspiration behind these two tracks and how they fit into the overall story of the EP?

Yes! I wrote them back to back - USE ME PROPERLY first, then IDON’TTHISBUTIWANTHER a couple of weeks later. I met someone in a relationship (unhealthy, I know, but at the time, I was hurt and had a different view on it). We used to go out a lot together and ended up in a very messy situationship.

The title is based on a true story: once she said "You know I’m just using you," to which I replied "Use me properly," and a few minutes later I had already written it down on my phone to write a song about it, haha.

USE ME PROPERLY is all about tension, desire, anticipation, and knowing something’s bad for you but still wanting it and going for it. (Fun fact about this track: the last line, ‘she wants to sleep with common people like me,' is a nod to Pulp’s Common People).

IDON’TWANTTHISBUTIWANTHER is the continuation of the story. After telling my love interest to just use me, I went and caught feelings - dumb, I know. By then, she had left the person she was with, and I realized I could not be in a relationship. I had just gotten out of one and needed the time and space to find myself again, re-discover what I like, and, more importantly, what I wanted and needed.

The track plays with the fact that I really did not want or need any type of relationship, but I wanted to be with that person. I was a hot mess: I kept telling her and myself I didn’t want anything but stayed over, cooked her breakfast, and walked her to work… a sapphic situationship at its finest.

It’s a fun and playful song; I think it might be my favorite on the EP.

'DESSERT' seems to embrace the idea of being a hopeless romantic. How does this song contribute to the broader theme of being both badass and vulnerable?

DESSERT is the only track on the EP I wrote almost a year after the rest. It comes from a healthier, more mature place, and it’s the first time I acknowledged that I actually do have feelings and want love (let’s be honest, who doesn’t?).

It plays with the badass/vulnerable theme of the EP - the verses are badass; the first one shares the part of me I let people see: the emotionally unavailable, chaotic Virgo who goes on too many dates and is scared of commitment / is okay with dates only drunk-calling her. Whereas the second verse changes the narrative, and this time I’m the one who is ‘drunk, chasing fun’, and by the time my love interests call, ‘it’s way too late, and I just wanna get some sleep’. The chorus shares the vulnerable part, stating that I do actually want someone to call me during the day instead of a late-night call. We are all complex beings who want a lot of things at the same time, and DESSERT reflects that.

I discovered I could be a hopeless romantic and scared of commitment at the same time; DESSERT was my way of working through these feelings.

'ALL MY LOVERS HATE EACH OTHER' sounds like a fun and mischievous track. Can you tell us more about the message behind this song and how it reflects your own experiences?

It’s the most fun I’ve ever had writing! It’s where I let the cocky, cheeky, most playful side of me come out, but in a way where I’m almost making fun of myself. I think we tend to shy away from our toxic traits, and I wanted to do the opposite with this track.

As stated on the previous tracks, I was a hot mess when I was writing this EP; I didn’t handle my love life in a very gracious way, which led to some people really hating each other. Rather than sulking in what a mess my love life was, I decided to make fun of it in a song.

It starts by explaining why I am like this (‘I thought I was settled, I thought I found the one [...] I was done with the fun games’), how ‘I have so much love to give, but I can’t find the one to give it all to,’ and so I get flirty and ‘share it bit by bit’ with multiple people.

I think it’s worth noting that, even in a cocky song like this, I’m still a hopeless romantic because I’m just playing around ‘until I find the one.’ I like the fact that on the post-chorus, when I first say, ‘Oh my god, who is she?’ it feels like I’m asking who is the one, but then clarify I’m talking about myself with ‘I can’t recognize me.’

Fun fact: just before the outro, there are a lot of voices shouting, ‘Oh my god, who is she?’ – they’re my friends! I recorded them with my phone at four am in Soho, haha. I think it’s the perfect end to the song.

The outro of the EP brings everything full circle, ending with a vulnerable moment. Can you walk us through the intention behind this part and why you chose to close the EP with it?

ALL MY LOVERS HATE EACH OTHER needed the outro to show a more vulnerable side; I feel like the very cocky lyrics wouldn’t make sense without the outro - it explains it. Yes, I’m being fun, playful, and cheeky during the song, but I’m like that because of what I sing about in the outro. I wanted the EP to end on a very vulnerable but very empowering note.

I really did think I had found the one; coming to terms with the fact that it had been a very toxic relationship, and I was better off without that person was very hurtful, but I came out of it so much better: I explored what I liked and what I don’t, I lost myself, found myself, and a million different people in between (and I think I’ll keep losing and finding for a while), hit some low points, had a lot of fun, and… look at me now, I’m badass and vulnerable.

It’s also worth noting that it’s a full circle moment since the introductory track has the same line, ‘I’m badass and vulnerable.’ The way I see it is: when the listener first hears it on RECKLESS, they probably want to know more (what I mean by it, why…), and when they listen to it on the outro, it makes sense because they’ve heard the rest of the story throughout the EP. The line works as both an introduction and a closing statement - so you could listen to the EP over and over, and it would always make sense, hehe.

Your musical journey began in Barcelona and continued in London. How have these two cities influenced your sound and artistic development?

I think I’m a good mix of the two. At the moment, I’m really enjoying adding Spanish and Catalan to my music (there’s a line in Spanish on IDON’TWANTTHISBUTIWANTHER and one in Catalan on ALL MY LOVERS HATE EACH OTHER). I used to be quite scared of it, but I’ve found that my audience loves it when I switch between languages.

I’d say Barcelona awakened the musician in me, but London made FOX come to life. I think I’d be a very different person if I had never moved here. Whereas Barcelona is where I grew up and started my music career, the London music scene really changed my views on who I was supposed to be or what my music was supposed to sound like. Moving here allowed me to experiment, play, and have fun with my music, and I wouldn’t trade it for anything.

I believe this EP is the most me I’ve ever been with my music.

The Queer Prom at Bar Doña must have been an exciting event! Can you tell us what fans experienced during your EP launch show and what inspired you to celebrate this special occasion in such a unique way?

If someone told me a few years ago that I’d be putting on a queer prom, I would not believe them; it took me a very long time to come to terms with my sexuality and especially to be proud of it. So it was such a fun, empowering night! I’m so proud of how it turned out!

I decided to theme the release show queer prom because I think that prom wasn’t a very happy time for a lot of queer people (myself included): we either weren’t out, so we didn’t go with the person we really wanted to, had a bad experience, or didn’t go at all. So I wanted to recreate the prom experience but in a very queer, fun, more adult way. I think it’s SO important to make space for queer joy, and if I can put on an event that creates that, then I’ll do it a thousand times more.

We had two amazing opening acts, Lloyd John and the band CHARLESCAN’TBREATHE, and then I took the stage with a full band. We played the whole EP and a few other songs, including a couple by my old band (LULALONG) and an unreleased track I played by myself (a very gay, very toxic song about sleeping with women with boyfriends—it was a crowd favorite, hahaha). Playing the songs live and seeing the audience’s reaction was a dream come true.

I have to mention that my favorite part of the event was seeing the audience’s outfits! People really got the queer prom memo and showed up looking stunning. It was so fun!

You have described your music as a fusion of dark pop, electronic, and rock elements. How did you develop this distinctively captivating sound, and which artists have influenced you along the way?

I used to make rock music; I grew up on Avril Lavigne, No Doubt, Blondie… I was so inspired by badass women in rock, and I think you can still hear that influence in my music.

But in the past few years, I became obsessed with BANKS, 070Shake, Halsey, Sevdaliza, and darker, more electronic music than what I was used to. During lockdown, I started producing and experimenting with sounds, and I realized that that’s where my passion lies.

I think I’ve found my sound (at least for now – we’ll see how I and my music evolve in the future!) through playing around, not through actively searching for it, and that made it way more special.

As a songwriter, what's your creative process like? How do you usually find inspiration for your lyrics?

I’d love to tell you that I wake up early and get to work, but my creative process is usually messy and impulsive. I get ideas at random times, especially when I’m out experiencing things, which I write down on my phone or in a notebook. Then, when I’m home, I work on it. I think I’ve written my best songs at silly times – usually in the early morning, knowing I should go to sleep because I need to work in the morning. But when inspiration comes, you can’t let it get away, can you?

Regarding inspiration, I think the EP makes it quite clear: my music is like my diary. I write about things/people that make me feel something – and I feel a lot. I think I’ve written one too many songs about people who have no idea about it, haha.

Now that your debut EP is out, what are your plans and aspirations for the future? Any hints about what's next for FOX GUNN?

I want to gig a lot! I love (and need) to write, but performing is my favorite thing in the world. I’m pretty anxious, and being on stage is the only time I truly feel present.

Besides live shows, I’ve been writing a lot recently, so hopefully some new music in a few months. But before that, I might or might not have been working on an extended version of BADASS + VULNERABLE, so people can look forward to a couple of surprises.

Lastly, is there anything else you'd like to say to your fans or anything you'd like them to take away from listening to 'BADASS + VULNERABLE'?

I hope whoever listens to the EP feels like being vulnerable in a world where it’s usually seen as a weakness is badass. I want this EP to push people to embrace their full selves – the bad and the good, the pretty and the ugly. Being badass and being vulnerable are not mutually exclusive; they can coexist, and so can everything else.