UK-based singer, songwriter, and producer Stan Stevenson Byrne a.k.a. Fox Stevenson has become one of the mainstays in the world of what he describes as “melodic dance floor bass music.” His rise to the forefront of the industry was spurred by the release of his hugely successful All This Time EP a few years ago – a project which continues to rack up millions of plays on SoundCloud, Spotify, and elsewhere – following that up with a steady stream of catchy singles and EPs.
Over the years, his musical versatility has shone through in his work – he is equally adept at making club bangers and melodic chill-out tracks. On January 15, 2017, Fox is joining Feint and Varien at Webster Hall in NYC for a special evening featuring both a show and roundtable discussion with all the aforementioned artists, as well as a VIP dinner thereafter. Tickets for the show are available here. We spoke with him to learn more about his background, find out what he’s currently got in the works, and to hear about his soon-approaching show at Webster and plans for 2017.
You’ve been at this for quite some time now, but how did you originally get into making music?
I’m not sure exactly when it was but the thing that got me into all this was a PlayStation game called Music 2000; I guess somewhere around the turn of the millennium haha! It was basically a little sequencer with samples and stuff, I completely fell in love with it. From there I graduated to garage band, spent a little time trying out Propellerhead, Reason, and eventually settled into Logic around 2007!
How would you describe your music to a first-time listener?
This is the problem right now, I’m worried I’ve cast my net too wide to be able to nail down a description, I always go for melodies and a general fun vibe to my music, I guess! Usually pretty happy and energetic, I actually think by the end of 2017 it’ll be easier to follow one side of what I do vs. another, instead of what I feel like might be happening right now, where we have X Person who follows me for my house music, then I drop something like No Fox Given, it’s totally confusing, and it carries over into my sets, too.
On the flip side though, I do enjoy keeping people guessing, too!
Happy New Year, man! In terms of shows/tours and other plans, what’s in store for Fox Stevenson in 2017?
Happy New Year to you, dude! [With respect to] shows and tours, I believe we’ll be doing some more USA shows after the Webster Hall thing, as well as Rampage of course!
For me, most of 2016 was spent planning and producing music for 2017. Right now I’m not sure exactly how that’s gonna see the light of day, it’s all still a little hush hush, but it’s been much more about my vocals and songwriting than builds and drops, or anything for club/festival play for that matter. It’s felt like what I’ve always wanted to do.
Finishing off these tracks right now is my number one priority then we can start thinking about how to reveal it all.
Last year saw the release of your crazy No Fox Given EP, in what was perhaps your most aggressive – albeit melodic as always – project to date. Where do you see your music headed, in terms of sonic direction, going forward?
I don’t think I’ll ever be the guy to make the next “Jotaro,” I just can’t bring myself to go as heavy and atonal as the dubstep scene likes to be right now. I’ve been making a bit of a shift more towards listening music for dance fans, as opposed to melodic dance floor bass music. That said, I never want to lose the energy and pacing club stuff has.
I think there’s a lot more to be explored when people start stepping back from the rave and realise that there’s now a huge market of people in the USA who are acclimatised to electronic music in a way that didn’t exist six years ago, exploring that is what really excites me right now.
Speaking of which, how did you link up, and what is your relationship like, with the folks at Disciple [who released No Fox Given]? Crazy roster over there!
I’ve known the Disciple guys since around the time Disciple was formed! (I think) we’ve always talked indecent things back and forth – I actually did a remix for “Dodge & Fuski – Playboy” back in 2014.
I don’t get to see them anywhere near as much as I’d like because I’m not in LA and I still do the dnb and house scene out here in Europe, but I’ll get to see em soon which is awesome!! :D
Your latest release, a VIP edit of “Hoohah,” is awesome, super groovy! When will we be hearing new music from you?
Thank you very much! I have a bit of a soft spot for that one, truth be told! My next release is a house tune with Mesto called “Chatterbox” which is out on Spinnin’ Records on the 16th of January! Following that, there’s a track of mine planned for the Rampage compilation, which will have my vocals on it, which I’m very happy to be returning to.
What can fans expect from the show at Webster? Talk a little more about the VIP panel/roundtable beforehand – sounds pretty interesting!
It’ll be a bit of everything I think! We’ll be talking about life as full-time musicians, advice for people who are early in their careers, anything really. It’ll be up to the attendees what actually goes down, then of course we’ll play some tunes :D
How long have you known Feint and Varien? The three of you all seem to be killing the dnb game right now…
Varien I haven’t known very long, we share the same manager so I’m sure we’ll be seeing a lot more of each other.
Feint on the other hand I spend a lot of time with! Most evenings after having produced all day and gotten everything done, we play online games together. It’s kinda been that way for like five years, we see each other in person a lot, too. Even right now as I write this, he’s popped up on my FB messenger asking if I wanna play some “lunchtime rainbow six; siege.”
Yes Andy, yes I do.
Thanks for having me lovely nest people :D
The post Fox Stevenson Talks Beginnings and Future Ahead of Show at Webster Hall appeared first on NEST HQ.