- What inspired the name of the band, and what are your influences?
Erika:
The name is Peter’s creation so perhaps he’s better off to answer this one, at least when it comes to all details. But the idea came from the fascination of how the fox is portrayed in myths and fables. That it is a clever creature, independent. Also that it can be both good and bad. Then the fox, as a part of nature and living things, to honour the nature is another reason. To worship the fox, the cult around the fox.
Looking at the musical influences of the band it comes from many different places. And I think that is one of the strengths. My roots are in the classic 70’s bands, like Black Sabbath and Deep Purple and such but I do listen to a lot more than that, I try to follow what’s going on in the scene. Peter is more into the 80’s and 90’s Heavy Metal in the likes of Judas Priest, Iron Maiden and Anvil while Marcus listens a lot to more contemporary bands as The Haunted, Tribulation, Cult of Luna and so on. The wide range of influences is brought in to our music as well and I think that is a strength. The Cult Of The Fox sound have always been a little odd, not really Swedish Metal, not really German, not really NWOBHM, but still all of the above which makes it unique. We’re not trying to sound a particular way, what you hear is what comes out from the songwriting.
- Could you talk us through the recording process of the new album?
As we are a small band we don’t really have any recording budget. We discussed if we should invest in studio time for parts of the recording but decided to use the rehearse room instead. Magnus, the vocalist, works as a sound engineer and with the equipment available for home recording today it turns out great if you put a little love into it. Also, to not have to work towards a strict deadline is relaxing, it is fun to try out things like harmonies, choirs and so while the track is being recorded. It would never be time to do these extras if working in a real studio.
We worked with everything in parallel this time, recording drums in one session to the guitar demos and then added the rest of the instruments and vocals. Magnus did the mixing and we shipped the whole thing off to Endarker Studios for mastering.
- Where do you find inspiration for writing songs?
Inspiration comes from all and nothing. There’s no strict theme for lyrics so there can be a book, movie, expression or feeling that is turned into a lyric and the same goes for the music. It can be a guitarmelody, an idea for a riff or half a song that’s brought up and worked upon. For this record mainly Peter and Magnus came with the music, the foundation of the songs. Sometimes they remained as the original idea and sometimes it changed since I got to interpret Peter’s ideas from a very primitive demo. He perhaps has one idea, sometimes I heard the same, sometimes it came out as a completely different song. Then we took it from there and discussed how to move on. Of course, some parts was also worked upon in the rehearseroom to ensure the arrangements worked the best way they could.
- How has the band evolved since it started?
Cult Of The Fox’s style have always been a bit odd. It’s been intentional to write songs with a structure deviating from the standard. To try to avoid have songs with verse, chorus, verse, bridge, chorus… Of course, those are needed too because it’s needed to hook the listener in. If it’s too complex nothing will stick. But, it doesn’t have to be synonymous to have a standard structure and a catchy song and I think that’s a strength that has been developed over the years. To write songs that are catchy, have hooks but with a twist.
- What plans do you have for the future?
First focus is to get the record out and promote that one as much as we can. We are planning to do a lyrical video for one of the songs and we have new merchandise coming in soon.
We are also playing Doom Over Scania in a few weeks together with bands as Count Raven, Mortalicum, Iron Void and a few more. I wish I could list a whole bunch of gigs but right now that’s the only one we have booked. We’re definitely available for gigs if the opportunity is given.
Also, considering how fun it is to play right now. We will probably come up with some new songs quite soon but what will happen with those the future will have to tell.