I had the pleasure of interviewing Foxhovnd this week to discuss his music and his direction moving forward. Formerly known as Skittles, Foxhovnd has been hustling in the music industry for years. Lately, he has made some headwind in the Chicago EDM community due to his warm personality and his highly energetic and entertaining sets. He will be at North Coast on Saturday at 3pm at 708 Silent Disco Stage, and will be at the NCMF Official Aftershow at Transit Nightclub on Sunday with Kill The Noise.
How are your sets constructed, how do you decide what you play?
They are pretty all over the place actually. I have been playing a lot of low-tempo trap. For my set at The Mid I started in the 120s, then I ended up at 160 by the end. Yea, so, I like to build through different tempos, but for me, Trap is like the grout between the tiles. I mean it is such a great genre because it works in so many different BPMs. It just goes all over the place man.
So who are your favorite people/person to listen to right now in the Trap scence?
Definitely UZ, always UZ.
You used to be really into Electro House, what changed?
Well, the thing about Electro House is that there are just too many breaks. I can’t really do much with it, I just gotta let the song ride out, but with trap, there is more room for you to fuck with. I mean, I will still play some Electro stuff, but I think some of the more minimal stuff is coming back. And with that minimal music, you have more room to put your own spin to it. No pun intended.
What is your favorite venue to play at?
Evil Olive is really cool. I does kinda suck that the fans have to crane their necks to see the see the DJ, but I really like being above everything. Concord Music Hall was cool, and the Mid too, though I’ve never played the Mid when they have had he lights and speakers turned all the way up. I really wish Castle was still a thing. It was so open; they had an ACTUAL dance floor. You never got bumped over there, there was always space.
Who are you listening to, non EDM wise?
Dude, I was hoping you were going to ask me that. I was listening to Justin Timberlake on the way over here. One day at work, a buddy of mine put on JT, and I was like, ‘Is this Justin Timberlake bro?’ and he was like ‘Shut up, man’. And I think we left the album on repeat for like 6 run-throughs, and I was like alright, maybe this CD is pretty good. I did just listen to the billboard top 100 for 2014 and liked a few songs. I listen to a lot of stuff man. Most of the time EDM though.
Tell me about MASON.
Dude, MASON is awesome. We got a great GM. The owners are great, they are all good guys. Great vibe, man. We always have DJs coming through.
What are you planning on playing at 708 Stage on Saturday?
Honestly dude, if everyone is trying to jump out to Jauz, then I am going to just bang that shit out. I wanna throw out some nasty shit for that. A lot of high energy stuff, for that. Because, after that half hour, everyone is gunna be like, ‘Bye, [time for] Jauz!’.
How do you feel about that?
For a little while, the salt was real, but then I thought it might actually work out for me. Everyone can meet up at my set, then head out to Jauz. I’ll run off the deck to see Jauz. I’m just excited to see him too. He, or whoever run’s his Facebook page, is really cool and always responds to me. I think that is really important. I always try to be real personable and nice to everyone, and I think I have a really good fan-base because of it. Or at least I try to be, sometimes I think people I’m standoffish. But usually it’s usually because I’m just too baked to be around.
So you are also playing at the same time, and at the same stage as Smiirk, how does that work?
Well it’s a versus set, so the people can flip a switch and pick between the two of us. It’ll be easy to see who is listening to what. He usually plays Electro House, and I’ll be playing mostly trap. So if there wompin, you know, or jumping, I’ll know who they’re listening to.
This is the first Part of a 2 part series. Stick around for the next week for the next part of interview questions, where we will be talking about upcoming music, potential collabs, and internet trolling. And be sure to check him out at NorthCoast and at the NCMF Aftershow on Sunday!
