Becca Fox

Captain’s Rest is elegantly decorated with fairy lights tonight in preparation for a beautiful acoustic evening. Taking to the stage is the charming Becca Fox as she plays her first ever show in the venue. Before she hit the spot light, I joined her on the sofa in the cellar to find out about her music, plans and tonight’s gig.

Hello Becca Fox! Tell me a little bit about yourself

So, I’m from Edinburgh and I’m 19 and I study popular music at Napier. I write all my own songs, I’m basically a singer/songwriter. I play guitar and piano but I’ve been playing mostly with guitar recently just because it’s easier to get to gigs with! And for the past couple of months I’ve been playing with a sort of half band – Sam Bidgood and Duncan Robertson who play djembe and bass for me and give it a funky sound, a bit of an edge.

You said you are an Edinburgh lady, what are your biggest achievements within Edinburgh?

I think what really kicked everything off for me was the Edinburgh Fringe this year [Becca Fox headlined the Music-News stage at The Three Sisters last summer] which really started to make me realise how much I love live performance. I got to meet so many people who helped me with gigs and spread the word on. So I guess my biggest achievement is just getting to know the scene and playing as many gigs as I did in that August/September period.

As you mentioned, you played a lot during the Edinburgh Fringe, how do you go about booking these gigs?

I guess it really just started with some open mic nights, like I’d know one person, a friend or someone, who would pass my name on and people are always so kind to me. It really has just been word of mouth – I’ve not actually had to search for something and I dread the day I have to do that!

You play regularly with a band, but your act is ‘Becca Fox’. Do you write the songs yourself?

Yeah I do. I’d go by Becca Fox because it is quite a new thing; I write all my own songs but I do want to give the boys as much credit as possible. Although they are my songs, they help get the bass and stuff, and they make it into a really great live performance so they deserve all the credit in the world for that.

How do you go about writing the songs?

I honestly don’t know. Lots of people ask me that, like is it lyrics first or melody first, but I seem to come up with them both at the same time. I think that’s because it all feels like a rush of emotions and all the guitar chords, piano notes and words come out together – I don’t know if that’s effective for other people but it’s definitely what works for me.

Do you draw influence from other song writers when making music?

Loads of people! My influences range from KT Tunstall and all the people who have made it big over here, like I love Paolo Nutini. I also love the really old school, like I love Otis Redding. But my all-time favourite performer would have to be Beyoncé! So if I can put a little bit of that r ‘n’ b singer/songwriter into my acoustic music that’s what I’m going for. You know what, I just love all music!

Now you are starting to play a lot more gigs, who has been one of the best artists you’ve played with?

Kerrie Lynch is really awesome, and I’m actually really looking forward to play with Julia and the Doogans tonight. I’ve heard a lot of good things about them, and I’ve also been swatting up with youtube videos and they sound great live. Everyone I’ve played with has been brilliant – Erin Todd is a really good friend of mine and she’s just fantastic.

If you could play with anybody in the WHOLE WORLD who would it be?

Beyoncé! I know it’s not really my genre, and it’s not who I’ll ever turn out to be, but I’d definitely love to share the stage with her even though she is way out of my league!

That’s quite a big mix of people you’ve mentioned – Paolo, KT Tunstall, Beyoncé – would you say you combine a lot of this to create your own genre?

That’s something that’s always been quite difficult for me. I think through the process of playing a lot of gigs, and we’re doing a bit of recording, it’s something that I hope to find out. I’d love to have a blend between that diva r’n’b Beyoncé style and a calmed down more mellow singer songwriter style like KT Tunstall. I’m not sure if this mix comes across in my older stuff, but it’s certainly where I’m heading with my new songs.

Have you any plans for the new songs, maybe an EP?

I’ve had plans for an EP for ages. I’m friends with a lot of good guys who want to help me to record, but obviously because I’m at uni we are focusing a lot on uni work at the moment. We are recording a couple of tracks this week in order to apply for the T Break stage, which probably won’t happen but you’ve got to at least give it a go. We’ve got the photo shoot for the EP lined up too, it’s all in full swing it’s just a case of pulling it all together.

Will we be hearing the new songs tonight in Captain’s Rest?

Probably yes. A couple of them are already up on Reverbnation and YouTube. The exciting thing about that is that I’ve never recorded with the live band I play with so it’ll be different versions of the songs you will hear tonight. Hopefully they will go down well tonight, as we’ve got a new one that we’ve never played before.

Is this the first time you’ve played in Captain’s Rest and are you looking forward to it?

Yeah it’s great, I’ve never played before but I’m really excited I’ve heard so many good things about it. Every other singer songwriter has said it’s got a great atmosphere and there’s always a good crowd in. It’s decorated beautifully tonight it’s looking fab.

Captain’s Rest is a very small venue, and you mentioned you were applying for this year’s T Break stage. Would you say you prefer smaller intimate shows like tonight or the big Fringe and Festival shows?

I love both! It’s like two totally different experiences and I get different things out of each. I love little intimate gigs where you can see everybody’s fac and people can come up and talk to you afterwards; you can really get to know people and find out what they thought of your music. But the thought of playing to a massive festival crowd is just so overwhelming. I’m very comfortable with playing my sets in small and cosy venues, so I’d love to start branching out and doing more.

So what’s next for Becca Fox after tonight’s gig in Captain’s Rest?

We’ve got a couple of gigs lined up; I’ve got the Slow Club in Glasgow on the 15th, I’ve got St. Patricks Day, the 17th, at Vodka Rev in Edinburgh. I’ve got big plans for the summer which I’ve not full thought about yet! And it’s mostly recording from here on. I’m going to try and do the really important gigs rather than trying to play at everything and get some proper recordings out there so we can step the game up a notch and see how it goes.

Where can fans of Becca Fox find out more information?

I will have a website up and running soon. It’s not ready yet though so the best place to go would be youtube.com/beccafoxmusic or type in Reverb Nations-Becca Fox into google and you’ll find me. Myspace seems kind of dead so find me on facebook and be my friend!