PHOX was an American six-piece
alternative folk
Indie folk is a music genre that arose in the 1990s among musicians from indie rock scenes influenced by contemporary folk music, folk music. Indie folk hybridizes the acoustic guitar melodies of Folk music#Traditional folk music, traditional folk ...
/
indie pop
Indie pop (also typeset as indie-pop or indiepop) is a music genre and subculture that combines guitar pop with DIY ethic in opposition to the style and tone of mainstream pop music. It originated from British post-punk in the late 1970s and sub ...
band from
Baraboo
Baraboo is a city in the Midwest and the county seat of Sauk County, Wisconsin, United States. The largest city in the county, Baraboo is the principal city of the Baraboo Micropolitan Statistical Area. Its 2020 population was 12,556. It is situ ...
,
Wisconsin
Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...
. Active from 2011 until 2017, they released their self-titled debut LP on June 24, 2014.
History
Prior to the formation of PHOX, many eventual members collaborated with Zach Johnston for his album ''Sonntag'', which was written in San Francisco, but recorded in Wisconsin. Some time later while Matt Holmen was playing with Davey Roberts, Matt Roberts (keys), and Jason Krunnfusz (bass) in Baraboo. The group connected once again for what was originally thought to be a one-off show at the local event, Boo Bash on May 4, 2011. The group still needed songs to play and someone to sing them. Monica Martin was asked if she'd sing some tracks from ''Sonntag'' and some
cover songs
In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover, is a new performance or Sound recording and reproduction, recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referr ...
at the event and she agreed. Moving forward, Monica wrote lyrics and melodies, and the group arranged the songs from their first two EP's and their self-titled first record release.
The band released their EP ''Confetti'' in early 2013, for which they created a video component for each track. 2013 also saw a
Daytrotter
Daytrotter is a recording studio, music venue and subscription-based music discovery website located in Atlanta, United States. It hosts recording sessions with indie music acts.
The original studio in Rock Island, Illinois, was founded in 2006 ...
session, positive press, a spot at
South by Southwest
South by Southwest, abbreviated as SXSW and colloquially referred to as South By, is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and Convention (meeting), conferences organized jointly that take place in m ...
and a national tour opening for
Blitzen Trapper
Blitzen Trapper is a Portland, Oregon-based experimental country music, country/Folk music, folk/Rock and roll, rock band associated with Sub Pop Records, Vagrant Records and Lojinx. Formed in 2000, the band currently operates as a quintet, with ...
. The band played
Lollapalooza
Lollapalooza (Lolla) is an annual American four-day music festival held in Grant Park in Chicago. It originally started as a touring event in 1991 but several years later made Chicago the permanent location for the annual music festival. Musi ...
as a last-minute addition in August 2013, drawing a large crowd despite their midday spot. In September 2013 PHOX opened for
The Lumineers
The Lumineers are an American alternative folk band based in Denver, Colorado. The founding members are Wesley Schultz (lead vocals, guitar) and Jeremiah Fraites (drums, percussion, piano). Schultz and Fraites began writing and performing toge ...
at
Apple
An apple is an edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus domestica''). Apple fruit tree, trees are agriculture, cultivated worldwide and are the most widely grown species in the genus ''Malus''. The tree originated in Central Asia, wh ...
's
iTunes Festival in London. Local Wisconsin publication ''
Isthmus
An isthmus (; ; ) is a narrow piece of land connecting two larger areas across an expanse of water by which they are otherwise separated. A tombolo is an isthmus that consists of a spit or bar, and a strait is the sea counterpart of an isthmu ...
'' praised PHOX as one of the year's greatest musical success stories. Throughout 2015, Phox supported
Paolo Nutini
Paolo Giovanni Nutini (born 9 January 1987) is a Scottish singer, songwriter and musician from Paisley, Renfrewshire, Paisley. Nutini's debut album, ''These Streets'' (2006), peaked at number three on the UK Albums Chart. Its follow-up, ''Sunny ...
and
The Head and the Heart
The Head and the Heart is an American indie folk band. They were formed in the summer of 2009 by Josiah Johnson (vocals, guitar, percussion) and Jonathan Russell (vocals, guitar, percussion). The band also includes Charity Rose Thielen (violin ...
, while also headlining around the U.S. non-stop. They also made their debut in New Zealand and Australia during March 2015. They were also featured on
NPR Music
NPR Music is a project of National Public Radio, an American privately and publicly funded non-profit membership media organization, that launched in November 2007 to present public radio music programming and original editorial content for music ...
's Tiny Desk Concert. Other notable festival stops included
Coachella Coachella may refer to:
* Coachella, California
* Coachella Canal, in California
* Coachella (festival), an annual music and arts festival in California
* "Coachella – Woodstock in My Mind", a 2017 song by Lana del Rey
See also
* Coachell ...
, Bonnaroo, Firefly, Summerfest, Sasquatch, and the inaugural Eaux Claires Music and Arts Festival where they also screened their latest
mockumentary
A mockumentary (a blend of ''mock'' and ''documentary''), fake documentary or docu-comedy is a type of film or television show depicting fictional events but presented as a documentary.
These productions are often used to analyze or comment on c ...
film titled, ''Amor Fati'', directed by member Zach Johnston. The film was uploaded publicly to
YouTube
YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...
on December 24, 2015. The band signed to Partisan Records, and were managed by Foundations Artist Management. They recorded their first full-length, self-titled album at April Base –
Justin Vernon
Justin DeYarmond Edison Vernon (born April 30, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, producer and multi-instrumentalist. He is best known as the primary songwriter and frontman of indie folk band Bon Iver. Known for his distinct falsetto voic ...
's home studio in
Eau Claire, Wisconsin
Eau Claire (; ) (French for "clear water") is a city mostly located in Eau Claire County, Wisconsin, of which it is the county seat, and with a small portion in Chippewa County, Wisconsin. It had a population of 69,421 in 2020, making it the stat ...
.
PHOX announced an indefinite hiatus on October 17, 2016, after which they decided to conclude their time as a band and played their farewell concert at the
Al. Ringling Theatre in their hometown of Baraboo, WI on February 4, 2017.
Members
![PHOX-4497 (18870907961)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/78/PHOX-4497_%2818870907961%29.jpg)
* Monica Martin – lead vocals
(2011–2017)
* Matthew Holmen – guitar, trumpet
(2011–2017)
* Jason Krunnfusz – guitar, bass guitar
(2011–2017)
* Davey Roberts – drums
(2011–2017)
* Matteo Roberts – keyboards
(2011–2017)
*Zach Johnston – banjo
(2011–2015)
*Cheston VanHuss – bass guitar, clarinet, flute
(2011–2013)
Discography
Albums
* ''iTunes Festival: London 2013'' (2013)
* ''PHOX'' (2014)
Extended plays
* ''Unblushing'' (2012)
* ''Friendship'' (2012)
* ''Confetti'' (2013)
References
External links
*
{{Authority control
American folk rock groups
American indie pop groups
Indie rock musical groups from Wisconsin
Musical groups established in 2011
2011 establishments in Wisconsin
Partisan Records artists
Dine Alone Records artists
Alternative rock groups from Wisconsin