BLOXX chat to us about their EP, lockdown and their headline tour
It’s been a busy year for indie-pop sensations BLOXX and they show no signs of slowing down — Fee chats to us about their rise to the forefront of the genre
Photo: Parri Thomas
I discovered BLOXX back in March when they released Everything I’ve Ever Learned, the first material they’d put out since their 2020 album Lie Out Loud. With clever lyrics, strong vocals, and an overall powerhouse sound, I was sold.
Diving into their other tracks, I found a brilliant range of beats, styles, and lyrical content, so was even more excited when I heard about their upcoming EP. Pop Culture Radio had me hooked instantly, so of course, I jumped at the opportunity to speak to these guys first-hand about their process and material.
Ahead of their upcoming headline tour, I had the pleasure of speaking with BLOXX frontrunner Fee (Ophelia Booth) to talk about all things lockdown, EP release, and what the future had in store for them.
As soon as she picked up the phone, Fee’s bubbly personality shone through and she was incredibly friendly. Despite her afternoon of interviews, she was hugely engaging and brought real energy to every question.
Hey Fee! So it’s been nearly two months since Pop Culture Radio came out, how does it feel to have something new out in the open?
Oh, so good! I was getting kind of feverish that we didn’t have anything out because we’ve been sitting on it for quite some time. I wrote that EP right at the beginning of lockdown so I was eager to get it out, even before the album (Lie Out Loud) came out.
Oh wow, so it’s been in the works for a while then! What did you find the creative process like during lockdown? Too much time to write and nothing to write about?
I actually found it quite easy to write in lockdown. Easier than I find it to write right now, actually. The creative process was great because I had so much time and a lot of people and producers to write with. I set up my little studio in my shed and it was cool.
It definitely sounds like it. So with Lie Out Loud and Pop Culture Radio, it’s almost like you’ve been gearing up for a tour for some time now. How exciting is it to finally be able to perform live?
Yeah, really exciting! I can’t wait to go out and do some headline shows. It’s been nice doing festivals and all that, but there’s nothing quite like a headline tour. Nothing beats it, it’s always fun.
What do you like best about the tour then? What do you get most excited about?
Getting to see different cities, even though sometimes you don’t really get enough time to go out and see them because when you’re headlining you’ve gotta be at the venue early. Meeting fans from different places and realising that you have fans. You know, four years ago for us, we were lucky if we had like ten people at a London show, and now we’ve got people coming from Glasgow and Edinburgh and Plymouth. It’s seriously cool.
So do you change the setlist depending on where you are?
We tend to pick a setlist at the beginning of the tour and stick to it. Just because we have our favourites and we know that people have their favourites and it’s getting to the point now where it’s a bit difficult because we have so many songs and not enough time to play all of them.
I’m sure it’s a great problem to have though! And do you find that your favourites and the crowd favourites usually match up? Or does the personal side of the songs sometimes influence what you prefer to play?
Do you know what? There isn’t a single song that I don’t like to play. It resonates a lot because a lot of fans are die-hard and know the early stuff like You, Coke and Curtains. My favourite song to play is Go Out With You which tends to go off with the crowd, which is just awesome.
As you’ve said, you’ve come so far in the past four years – did you expect that with the genre that you guys are playing?
I dunno, really! That’s a hard question. I guess we didn’t expect it to pop off as quick as it did — definitely not. But we’re forever grateful that we’ve had a shot and a lot of chances, with things that some people don’t get, and we’ve been really lucky in that respect. I guess we always thought it would be a lot of hard work, and it has been, but it is what it is.
It sounds like the most phenomenal experience. How do you balance everything looking forward? With the tour coming up, will you continue to write through that or have a bit of a break?
I try and write as much as I can, but haven’t really been able to write recently. It’s been a bit of a creative block couple of months. On tour, I usually take my laptop and we just noodle around with some ideas and see what happens, but I write a lot of my songs on acoustic guitar which I never seem to bring on tour. I might have to do that this time!
For you personally, what usually comes first? Is it words or melodies?
It never used to be lyrics first, it was always melody first, but recently it’s been lyrics first then melody. It really just depends. If I find a melody I really like then I’ll find a lyric that fits that melody, but if I find a lyric that I really like then I’ll find a melody that I really like that goes with that lyric. I’ve been writing a lot of lyrics recently, but with no melody. My melody creativeness at the moment is a little bit shit but everything else in terms of lyrically has been alright? I think I’ve written over 25 notes in the last week. They’re all really shit though, don’t worry.
On that topic of writing, you all talk about a lot of contemporary things like addition and LGBTQ themes — do you think that is being addressed enough in music at the moment?
I believe so, actually. I think a lot more so over the past couple of years than it has been before. It’s a lot more accepted now, isn’t it? You can sing about having an addiction, you can sing about having a girlfriend, you can sing about having a boyfriend. I think it’s really important to be able to express yourself through your art because at the end of the day it’s your art, it’s no one else’s art.
What a brilliant way to put it. I don’t think I’ve ever heard anyone phrase it like that before.
Haha, wow! I’ve got a way with words, what can I say?
You absolutely do! So a few random questions to round us off. If there was one song that you could pick to have written yourself, what would it be?
Oh, you can’t ask me that! There’s like 10!
Top 4?
Okay, Top 4. I Would Do Anything for You by Foster The People, So Real by Jeff Buckley, Real Love Song by Nothing But Thieves, and what else? What else? Think! I can’t pick my fourth one cause there’s so many! Emergency by Paramore. Or Pressure by Paramore, actually yeah, Pressure.
We love a bit of a Paramore in there. And if you had one thing to say to fans ahead of the tour, what would it be?
Come with a towel and water bottle, hydration is key! Nah, I’m kidding. Stay safe at our shows, obviously with the Covid thing, bring hand sanitiser and all that. Just have fun, dance, sing along. Our shows are inclusive, you know? No matter what age you are, who you are, what you are, it doesn’t matter. We like inclusivity so our shows are just there for people to enjoy themselves.
Catch BLOXX live at Truck Festival on July 21st 2022 and Y Not Festival on July 29th 2022.
