PHOX was an American six-piece alternative 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 s ...

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 sit ...

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 recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song release ...

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 conferences organized jointly that take place in mid-March in Austin, ...

and a national tour opening for

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. 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 at

Apple An apple is an edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus domestica''). Apple trees are cultivated worldwide and are the most widely grown species in the genus '' Malus''. The tree originated in Central Asia, where its wild ancest ...

iTunes Festival The Apple Music Festival (formerly known as the iTunes Festival) was a concert series held by Apple, Inc. and inaugurated in 2007. Free tickets were given to Apple Music, iTunes and DICE users who lived in the United Kingdom, through localized p ...

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 isthmus ...

'' 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. Nutini's debut album, '' These Streets'' (2006), peaked at number three on the UK Albums Chart. Its follow-up, '' Sunny Side Up'' (2009), de ...

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, 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 sharing and 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 Google, and is the second mo ...

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

* 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