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.
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.
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.
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.
In the original line-up, Tim was the most qualified musician, but since James joined, they're the second-most qualified. Synth keyboards are his favourite instrument to play, but his ability comes from a transferable skill in the form of his grade 1 piano - which they'd had private lessons for as a child until his parents couldn't afford the lessons anymore, but they kept at it. Guitar he picked up at Frank's and taught themself to play, while the melodica he had bought at a toy shop and purposely learned to play "properly" so that Foxes could use it in their music.
Tim's vocal ability was something he learned from growing up in a relatively musical family and being around Frank and his family from the age of about eleven - they're a higher tenor than James is and it's higher than his normal speaking tone. They are the highest vocal tone in the Odd Foxes line-up.
His songwriting skill they picked up whilst helping Art writing the original Odd Foxes songs early in the band's life, production and composition he learned similarly to how James did - on the job while making records. His synth programming skill, however, comes from Tim's obsessive special interest in synthesisers and learning exactly how they work and why - it's his most proficient skill in the studio.
His main influences are: punk, blues, funk, disco, pop, prog-rock, and glam rock l - all of which they actively listens to on a near-daily basis.
