OUT OF FRAME: FOXBAT HEADS 'DUE SOUTH'' — Marquee | Film & Video Production

Foxbat at Flywheel Brewing, Photo by Mike Thompson

DUE SOUTH

In spite of the release being delayed by the pandemic, our good friends in Foxbat have a new record out, titled ‘Due South’ and, my friends, it’s good. Really good.

So, naturally, we wanted to check in to chat about the project, find out about the reception thus far, and…well, anything their frontman, Clay Nevels, wanted to share.

First off, congratulations on 'Due South'! With the album having been out for a few months now, how are you feeling about the release and audience response?

Thank you! It's strange. The reception we've gotten so far has been incredible and humbling. The lead-up promotion was mishandled due to a multitude of reasons, so now we're kind of doing everything backward and trying to promote the record now that it's already out, but we now have a plan and a marketing firm we're working with so we're optimistic that we'll get it to more ears.

I know the album was also delayed pretty heavily due to covid. Can you speak to the sort of strain that 'sitting' on the record caused?

It was strange. On one hand, it gave us time to fully flesh out the comic book and consider how to properly tell the story within the record. On the other hand, it definitely created stagnation and was a weird time for the band.

Originally we were waiting on a guest artist to finish their part on the song Oblivion. They agreed to do it a week before the country shut down for covid and after a few months they went dark so we had to move on. Ultimately I ended up recording the part but we were holding out in hopes that the person would come through.

I listened to the record so many times during that period that it was hard to know if what we had made was brilliant or trash. Ultimately, it worked out as it gave our producer time to sit on it as well so after a few months we came back together with a deadline and fresh ears so he really dialed it in and we couldn't be happier with how it came out.

You've also recently announced a separation from your label, Modern Empire Music, I'm assuming this was a mutual decision? Is it empowering to be able to take your album back and focus on your own promotion?

It definitely was mutual. I have nothing negative to say about Modern Empire Music, but the label we signed to initially had evolved a lot from the label it became. Ultimately we had different ideas of how to handle the promotion/release and didn't feel like our relationship with them made sense anymore. Mike from ME was exceptionally fair to us and cool enough to sell us the record back which I fully appreciate.

It absolutely is empowering. We've always moved at our own pace, which isn't always the best for other parties when you have a business agreement with them, so having the freedom to decide when/what we release and promote is absolutely liberating. We've been exceptionally lucky to work with some great indie labels, but at this point, we've pretty much paid for everything on our own so it's nice to at least own the actual art we're making.

Speaking of promotion, 'Due South' included all sorts of attached pieces, most notably, an accompanying 32-page comic book. How does the comic interact with the album itself and what prompted the idea of that being part of the release?

So, the comic book and the album are two sides of the same coin. They both tell the same story and while you can absolutely enjoy one without the other, they were crafted with the intention to be digested together to create the entire concept. You definitely get pieces of dialogue and storyline in each of them that you don't get in the other.

I had this idea of a concept all the way back to early 2019 when we wrote and recorded "Belial" and "Venery In The Orchard". We submitted those songs to sign with Stay Sick Records (which eventually became Modern Empire). Once they picked us up and we knew we were writing an entire record, I worked on laying out the rest of the story as everyone else started fleshing out songs.

The comic was totally a result of Covid. Initially, I had the idea of releasing a manuscript of the story in the booklet of the album and while trying to come up with cover art ideas, my friend Jaime at The Simon Corporation put out a digital comic called "Consumed".

I fell in love with the cover art and reached out to see if he was interested in doing the album art of Due South and possibly illustrating the story. After a long phone call elaborating what the story was, he was stoked by the concept and accepted the project.

SO, you already have a specific artist in mind when you decided to make it a part of the full release. What was that process like?

Jaime was absolutely the only person I had in mind to work with. He makes killer horror comics so I knew he could translate the overall vibe/story in the way it needed to be. Since it was during the Covid shut down and there wasn't a hard deadline, I spent the next year and a half sending him over each chapter and he worked on it in his spare time. It was a slow process, but it was new territory for me to write out an actual manuscript that could be translated into a comic book and Jaime knocked it out of the park. Truly grateful for all the work he put into it.

Do you think you'll incorporate elements like the comic into future releases?

I'm not sure. There's definitely more to the world that I wanted to delve into, but with trying to condense it all into 10 songs there was a fair amount that was nixed. I think it all depends on how well the record and comic are received, but currently, I'm more excited to try and do something different for the next release. We want to always keep shifting tones/vibes with the band, so with how dark Due South is I'm looking forward to trying to flip the mood and see what we can make in the future that's on the opposite end of the spectrum

The new album isn't the only development in the band. I was able to get out and see you all play for the first time in a while and noticed a pretty big lineup change with you and Jeromy Johns (Bass/Backing Vocals) being the only original members remaining. What prompted the change and HOW has that changed the band?

We treat the band as a collective. We're all older and we understand that everyone has their own priorities and individual bandwidth so even though Biff, Joe, and Robby stepped down for their own reasons, we still consider them as part of the collective.

They were all cool enough to join us onstage to rip a song off of the first EP at the Due South Release show and are still part of conversations regarding the band

The current live lineup definitely changed how we handle shows, we've built an entire production setup that we bring with us so that's been a fun evolution. The goal is to always progress and move forward and see what shakes loose.

So, with a lineup change and the acquisition of the record from your label, are you looking to apply some new pressure to the album in terms of promotion? What can we expect from Foxbat for the rest of the year and even beyond?

We've always been a grassroots band when it comes to promotion so we are trying to refocus on more modern methods to hopefully branch out more. With owning Due South now, it feels better to invest money into something that you know you'll reap the benefits of that promotion.

We're still recovering from prior Covid stagnation, but we're trying to get back on the road as soon as possible and rip as many shows as we can. We sadly had to cancel our run through the south we had booked last week due to members coming down with Covid, so now the priority is rebooking as much as we can and try to hit the road heavily in 2023.

Purchase ‘Due South’ and its accompanying comic on CD or Vinyl here or find it streaming.