#jamesfoxeslore

ODD FOXES + MUSICAL ABILITY

Here's a little breakdown of each of the Foxes' musical (including vocal + other skills) abilities and an idea of how they ended up with the sound they have.

ART

All of Art's instrumental ability is self-taught - he bought an acoustic guitar from a music shop when he was about ten (after saving his pocket money for weeks), and found a chord book at the library and taught himself. The tin whistle and harmonica came a little later when he was about thirteen, after acquiring both at a market in Basildon and teaching himself how to play them. His vocals came naturally and is a touch lower than his baseline voice tone. He'd practised singing by learning his favourite songs and singing along. Once he felt he was good enough at playing guitar and singing, he tried his hand at songwriting when he was fifteen with his strongest skill being his lyricism. Reg wanted him in Odd Foxes' original line-up because of his songwriting and vocal skill but was pleasantly surprised to learn that Art could also play guitar. His main influences are: punk, blues, and general rock music - all of which he actively listens to on a near-daily basis.

FRANK

Like Art, all of Frank's instrumental ability is self-taught. Unlike Art, it was due to him having access to all three instruments at home and learning how to play folk songs (specifically Welsh folk songs). He started with the violin, which is rarely used on Foxes' songs but it is used, it's him playing it, then moved on to the guitar after becoming obsessed with Top Of The Pops and wanting to be a 'cool guitarist'... The bass became his main instrument because he preferred the sound of it and he was gifted one for his thirteenth birthday, so it was his most practised instrument of the three. Frank learned how to sing early because of his family encouraging it and teaching him old Welsh folk songs, and the tone of his voice matches his normal speaking tone. His only other skill is related to singing, which is his ability to sing in multiple Celtic languages (Welsh, Irish, Scots, etc.) - the others don't know the languages at all, while Frank grew up in a Welsh family and eventually learned other non-English Celtic songs as he grew up. His biggest proficiency (obviously) is in Welsh. His main influences are: punk, blues, folk, and funk - all of which he actively listens to on a near-daily basis.

JAMES

Of all the Foxes, James has the most musical ability - not that people would really know that. He's been playing the drums from the age of six, having lessons through school, but he also had private piano and violin lessons - both of which, he's graded in (grade 3 piano and grade 2 violin). He learned the guitar, bass, flute, and harmonica for fun in his late teens. Vocally, James is a tenor, which is just a touch higher than his normal speaking tone and this skill had been hidden from Foxes fans until after Frank's death and they released Polaroids as a single - on which, James sings the second verse. His other skills all revolve around the studio-end of things: production, arrangement, and composition. He is self-taught in these skills, having learned them over time whilst making records. His main influences are: punk, blues, prog-rock, folk, funk, thrash, and general metal - all of which he actively listens to on a near-daily basis.

TIM

ART

Art loves Christmas -- it's his favourite holiday. Between 1979 and 1987, he'd be at home home in Basildon with his immediate family (parents, Rob, and Laura) and he'd follow a routine schedule every single year that includes: a drink at the pub with the lads on the last Friday before Christmas, a visit to Frank's house on Christmas Eve for folk songs and fun, Snowball for a hangover cure, followed by presents then dinner on Christmas day, and turkey sandwiches from Boxing Day to New Year's Eve. With Mandy, he'd go to her family's, with his second wife, they'd stay at home, and with Layla, they'd switch every year. From around 2010, Art has spent his Christmases with JJ and they (video) call Layla together. They have dinner at Laura and Dan's, and they drop in on the other Foxes on Boxing Day. Yes, he's very excited about Doctor Who Christmas Special this year.

TIM

Tim doesn't particularly like Christmas (it's loud, the lights are too much... it's a sensory overload for them), however, he does enjoy certain parts of the holiday season. Until his mother died, Tim would spend every Christmas with his parents and the aunts and uncle who live in the UK. They'd have Christmas dinner first, then open presents after the aunties and uncle had (finally) left to go home, then spend an hour on the phone with his Nigerian grandparents. As he got older, they'd go to the pub on the Last Friday Before Christmas with the lads and go over to Frank's on Christmas Eve for the folk songs as well. In the last ten years, Tim's had his father, Agwe, come to them and they spend the day together (with James having prepped a Christmas Lunch for them and dropped it off with Suzy the night before). They like the quiet contemplation and watching Wallace & Gromit: A Grand Day Out - he plans to do the same this year.

JAMES

James has mixed feelings about Christmas -- on the one hand, it's nice to spend time with family but, on the other, it's stressful for him and he struggles maintaining the happiness/excitement. Before he and Frank moved in together, James would usually go to his mother's with Dan, Stella, and Anthony. It'd be a mix of Australian and English Christmases because that's how their grandmother had managed to help Stella, James, and Anthony adapt (back) to UK life when their mother left their father and brought the kids back to Acton (before moving to Hammersmith). After Frank moves in with him, James became the Christmas Host and everyone comes to their flat in Acton/their house in Shoreditch for the festivities (and James cooks the dinner). Frank's tradition of singing folk songs on Christmas Eve is also blended into the mix. This year is James' first Christmas without Frank and he and Suzy plan to carry on the traditions in his memory.

FRANK

While he has many talents that match up with his career, James' secret (ie: the only talent he has to be at home in order to show it off) talent is cooking & baking -- and, boy, is he good at it.

Out of him and Frank, James is the cook in the house. That was determined quite quickly after Frank was presented with James' specialty one Sunday lunchtime (after many, many moons of getting sick of going to the local pub's carvery for Sunday Dinner), and it stuck right up until the day of Frank's death.

With his father being an army man, and therefore away for a good portion of his childhood, the only interaction James really had with adults was either at school or with his mother. As well as being a renowned cook, his mother was also very clear with all of her children that they must learn the basics of being a single human being from a young age. James, of course, was absolutely no exception to the rule but he was the only one of his brothers to have actually enjoyed the lessons he was given by his mother. He and his sister, Stella, would often help their mother with household chores, errands, and, of course, the meals.

Every recipe he knows came down his maternal line and he knows how to shop for food on a tight, tight budget if he needs to thanks to his mother's lessons. He's particularly skilled at making homemade stews (his favourite of his mother's recipes being rabbit/hare stew), roast dinners, and (meat/savoury) pies, but that doesn't mean he's lacking in the baking department... Oh no, James is just as good at baking bread and sweet, spongy cakes as he is at "boshing out" a lovely Sunday Roast.

He generally finds the practice calming and enjoys the way that food brings people together but he's only ever happy with his meals when Frank is reduced to pleased humming because of something he's cooked for him -- especially closer to 2023.

When he's not touring, and he's not buggered off out somewhere, James is usually found in the kitchen, busy making something for someone. He likes to enter community competitions under a pseudonym and usually gifts the prize money to the second prize winner because by the time he'd become a member of Odd Foxes he's not really needed it. He also makes stews and soups for his local homeless shelter, feeling that he needs to give back somehow after his own struggles with poverty in his early teens, and in 2023 he still does that out of principle and the urge to help someone, even if it is just giving them a hot meal and access to the help they need the most.

here is the house where it all happens | frank & james' house (rough plan)

So I had this idea to give people a rough idea of what Frank and James' house actually looks like...

GROUND FLOOR: This is the bottom level of their house. You can either walk in through the front door and into the entrance hallway or you can go around the side and enter the garden through the side gate. If you enter through the front door, you're directly facing the stairs that go up to the first floor (second level) and the kitchen's doorway while the living room is to your left. In the kitchen, there's a half-wall at the far end (where the washer/dryer counter and kitty litter boxes are) where you'll see the back door that Frank often goes through to go for a smoke outside on the patio. In the garden is a patio (note Frank's little table & chair for when he goes outside to smoke) and a shed.

FIRST FLOOR (second level): If you go up the stairs, you'll end up on the landing. Suzy's room is toward the front of the building (where the windows are) and directly next door is Frank & James' study where they do most of their at-home work (and keep their smaller instruments like a number of guitars and a keyboard). If you turn right from the stairs, you'll go through a little archway where you'll directly face the bathroom, while Frank & James' bedroom is to your left.

You've shared loads bout frames but is there any bits/trivia you Haven't mentioned owo

Hmm... Let's see 🤔

In terms of just James:

Has been playing the drums since he was about 6 years old and when he was in his teens, he played in a handful of rock and punk bands which is what eventually led him to get a job as a drum tech for The Wretcheds.

His favourite book of all time is The War Of The Worlds by H.G. Wells -- and, yes, he does own an original copy of the Jeff Wayne Musical concept album on vinyl, it was the first record he'd ever bought with his own money.

In 2023 his handle on literally everything is @/JamesMart because he thought it'd be funny to refer to himself as a cheap supermarket online. He's usually the one to reply to fans but he is quick to block people if they test his patience/push on his boundaries.

In terms of just Frank:

He doesn't like it very much when people ask why he's always got a bag on him. It's his much-needed, and very important, kit bag that carries his diabetes gear in it and the reason why he doesn't like it is because of how a magazine writer mocked him for it in 1992.

His favourite chocolate bar is a Marathon (aka: Snickers, he refuses to call it by its "new" name).

While he does like heavy metal, he thinks that a lot of metal guitarists are "poncy show-off posers" - and given how some of them come from upper/middle-class backgrounds with access to money while he grew up in a poor, working-class family, you can't really blame him for thinking that.

In terms of them as a couple:

Frank is most often the little spoon while James prefers to be the big spoon.

They spent their honeymoon in Japan, which is James' favourite place in the world, and Frank purposely picked dates so that they'd be there during the Sakura Festival because of how much James loves seeing the cherry trees in bloom.