#frankfoxeslore

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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

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.

[ansicred]

LECHAN YN Y GWAED | welsh (+ welsh descendant) ocs | part two: frank

You wouldn't think it from looking at his name or hearing him, but Frank is of Welsh descent; both of his parents are Welsh, having originally come from quarryman's town Blaenau Ffestiniog (near the Eryri National Park) in Gwynedd, before they moved to Dagenham/London for work and then to Basildon in Essex to raise their family. This means that he is, technically speaking, a 1st generation immigrant to England, having been born and raised there. His only tangible connection to Blaenau is having been there as a kid during school holidays to visit family, and knowing/understanding but not being able to speak very much Welsh (and using that area's slang). He knows all the nursery rhymes/child-level limericks (Gee Ceffyl Bach, Dau Gi Bach, Fuoch Chi Erioed Yn Morio), the national anthem, and folk songs and is able to recite/sing them in the original language -- but, aside from the odd swear word and basic phrases picked up from his parents, that's about as far his ability in the language really stretched. Before he died, he had been learning more conversational Welsh in his spare time and had even taught Suzy some things so she could share in his heritage -- both particularly liked listening to bands such as Bwncath. Thanks to his parents, and having gone out of his way to learn it for himself, Frank is very much aware of Welsh history but is especially knowledgeable about the cultural and industrial history of North Western Wales and its relation to quarrying (and a very specific, unique kind of blue-purple slate, and everything attached to that - including the people & quarries involved - is now protected under UNESCO World Heritage). He knows the Nid Oes Bradwr (There Is No Traitor) history better than anything and, in the 80s, he made a point of pasting a homemade sticker version of the sign that read 'Nid Oes Bradwr Yn Y Band Hwn' (There Is No Traitor In This Band, essentially meaning 'No Scabs In This Band') onto his bass guitars and he had hand-printed a whole series of T-shirts with the same phrase on the front and frequently wore them on UK-based television appearances as an act of solidarity with Welsh miners who were striking. Although he is in his right to refer to himself as a Welshman and he does actively engage with the language, culture, and history, Frank feels it would be disrespectful because he was born in England and therefore considers himself an Englishman. He has even turned down an arbitrary Honorary Welshman title from cousins (and their friends) after Odd Foxes got big because he doesn't think it's right to call himself that when he wasn't born in the 'mamwlad'. Before he died, he was very much pro-independence and outright stated so multiple times, because he felt like Wales should be free to properly rule/govern itself instead of being stuck to the imperial colonial country next door's idea of a 'union'.

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ODD FOXES + HOLIDAYS (XMAS EDITION)

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

Frank only liked one day out of the entire Christmas period -- Christmas Eve, and that's because of the Thomas family tradition of singing folk songs together. Before moving in with James, he'd do the pub thing, the Christmas Eve tradition, and then spend a very awkward and tense Christmas Day with his family. He'd usually pretend to fall asleep during the Queen's Speech after dinner so that he wouldn't have to talk to anyone. After moving in with James, he relished in being a co-host and after they adopted Suzy, he loved watching her little face light up at the idea of the 'Patio Santa' and, as well as the dinner James makes, he particularly liked cuddling up with Suzy and James on the sofa to watch The Snowman, Wallace & Gromit, and Doctor Who.

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Frank + His Brothers

As much as they'd like to sweep it under the rug and pretend otherwise in 2023, Brian & Roger were the bane of Frank's existence his whole life and his biggest, greatest fear. Three & six years older than him, the pair had been the source of a lot of Frank's problems as a child, a young teenager, and even as an adult. They bullied him remorselessly about everything from his glasses making him look 'bug-eyed' (hence his second nickname of 'Bugsy'), to his endless amounts of talkative energy, to how he presented himself as part of Odd Foxes. It didn't help that, as a boy, he was quite small and weak-looking, which immediately gave his brothers an excuse to overpower him in rougher games. His sudden growth spurt at the age of fourteen hadn't stopped them, though, because they'd turned to more cruel and calculated methods of bullying him -- teasing him about his battle with an unhappy puberty and his intelligence. While he learned how to use his mouth and eventual physical ability to fight back to get out of trouble with them, it came with the caveat of Frank getting into trouble with other people - and, therefore, their parents. There was a period when they were adults where the bullying from his brothers got so bad that Frank point blank refused to entertain the idea of going home even for holidays just so that he could avoid them. When Frank publicly came out in 1993, the pair of them had tried to get in contact with him but, given his (understandable) life-long fear of them, they were wholly unsuccessful in their attempt. In October of 2014, they had tried to gatecrash Frank & James' wedding reception, thinking that the fact they were family and, unlike their parents, were 'okay with Frank being gay' meant they'd been automatically invited but James (as well as Art, Tim, and James' family) soon put a stop to that before he'd even seen hide or hair of them. Before Frank died, Brian had managed to make contact and apologised over the phone for his behaviour, but that went down about as well as a lead balloon... It was far too late to fix any of the damage he and Roger had done to Frank by then. After his death, both had been invited -- more out of courtesy than anything else -- to his funeral and they had both attended. They were, however, quickly disinvited and thrown out of the wake when James had overheard them attempting to make out that their relationship with Frank was merely a case of 'boys being boys' rather than years of unrelenting cruelty. To this day, the pair of them maintain that there was no real animosity toward their baby brother and think that James' reaction and 'drama' at Frank's wake was 'uncalled for'... Yes, even despite everything they'd done to him over the years.

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Frank + Folk Music

Frank loves folk music, particularly old, old songs that would have come down the generations from the late 1700s/early 1800s and Celtic folk. He considers his love for folk music the 'only good thing [his] parents ever gave [him]' and he learned to play guitar so that he could play his favourite songs at parties, over Christmas, and on New Year's Eve. He knows every song by heart, having them ingrained into his being from a very young age -- and by the 00s, his favourite folk artist was Kate Rusby, having dragged James to go and see one of her concerts on a few occasions. Thanks to his love of the music, Frank also knows multiple languages, including Welsh, Cornish, Scots, and Gaelic but his skill in them is... limited to the songs, he's not really conversational in any of them -- nonetheless, it did impress his mates and, of course, James, when one December in the late 80s he sang the Mari Lwyd song after they'd played a show in Wales. Frank's ability to sing the songs is how he'd gotten the role of a backing vocalist in Odd Foxes in the first place - with Tim and Reg having heard him singing to himself as he set up his bass at their first practice.