News
A Summer of Many Things (An Update)
Hello friends!
June was beyond wonderful for us, but now that it is nearing its end, we shift our focus to our lofty plans for the second half of the year.
Right now our primary focus is to finish writing for our next album. We've slowly begun recording some home demos to be sent to a few different people, which may very well have a huge impact on where we decide to record and our future endeavors. We'll keep ya posted as things fall into place. In late July we're planning on spending a week to write new music at Mr. Holte's cabin, a grand time it shall be!
During this time we will also be playing a number of Midwest shows. Probably a couple of mini tours as well as some large shows, which will all be announced before long.
Our goal is to have this next release ready before the end of the year for a tentative (very very very exciting stuff) December/January tour.
More updates as well as tour pictures/videos coming soon!
Love you all, Mike & The People Say Bacon Bits
Back From Tour
We just got back from our 9-10 day(?) tour. It was the best time ever. We made a ton of new friends and we can't wait to see them again. Oswald only died on us once, and it was only a 3 hour fix (done by an ex vietnam sniper and multiple felon). Ever show exceeded our expectations and was incredible. Thank you everyone! We now begin hardcore work on finishing the songs for our new cd as well as demoing a few of them. Stay tuned for big news in the coming months!
Hands of Gold Have Been Found
I'm proud to announce the newest addition to the fox family: Mr. Nathan Michael Adelson.
Nate will be reintroducing the piano into our music, as well as adding another guitar. He is also the second Nathan Michael in the band. We have only practiced with him a couple times, but he has been spending outrageous amounts of time on his own and with Nate/Me learning all of the piano parts and writing guitar parts to our old and new songs. Trust me, he has brought with him the fullness that we feel like we have been lacking.
Nate will be making his first appearance with us tomorrow at Harmony for Haiti in Duluth. I hope to see you all there to give our new lover a great first show.
Now that we have our full team ready, we plan on making some final adjustments to a couple of our new songs and entering a couple different studios to begin recording some demo tracks. This time around we will be putting much more planning and work into making this album sound exactly how it should sound. We have big plans for our next album, which we will be sharing with you over the coming months.
Epic Haiti Benefit Show
Saturday, April 24th, we will be playing a fundraiser at Sacred Heart in Duluth to help the many victims of the recent earthquake in Haiti. The event will start with a complimentary wine sampling, a silent auction, and a presentation on the disaster relief effort by Dr. Rudy Perrault, then comes the music. The event starts at 6pm. $10, tickets available at the door. If you're not familiar with Sacred Heart, it is a Cathedral built in the late 1800's in downtown Duluth. The acoustics are amazing!
Sacred Heart 201 West 4th Street Duluth, MN 55806-2719
The People Say Fox Moving to Pluto The Real McCoys Dustin Thomas
See you there!
http://www.sacredheartmusic.org/live-performances/48-harmony-for-haiti.aspx
Seeking New Hands
Hello brethren,
As you are probably aware, we are no longer together with our keyboardist. We have been playing shows for the past few months as a 4-piece, and although it has gone pretty well, we have come to realize that piano was a greatly important aspect of our music. As such, we are looking for a helping hand to join our team...of Foxes...
The ideal member/colleague/friend should be incredibly passionate about music, committed, and positive. A flexible schedule is a must as we are a touring band and practice at least once a week. Piano is priority, but any other musical skills are a plus. Our new chum must also be able to write all original material, as we are not a cover band.
If interested please leave us a comment, shoot us a message (myspizzle), email (thepeoplesayfox@gmail.com), talk to us in person (we're friendly (I think?), don't worry), write us a detailed letter, or even better yet, if you have the means, send us a video audition and we'll go from there!
Thank you, The People Say Fox
Cloud Cult
Thank you so much to all 900(!!!!!!!!!!) people who sold out the Cloud Cult show last night! It was probably the best time we have ever had. Thank you to everyone who bought a CD, shirt, donated, or lent us a pair of ears. The Duluth News Tribune had some kind words to say about us in the review they wrote for the show:
"The popular Duluth band The People Say Fox opened, a gig they were stoked for, judging by the amount of exclamation points on their Web site announcing the show. They definitely held their own, with a similar style to the headliners that pays attention to grand instrumentals. (There were, at some points in their three-song set, two violin players). This isn't a garage band; it's a foursome of polished music heads who describe themselves as ambient — who closed their set with the 10-minute piece called "The Living" — wearing dress shirts and ties. Definitely a must-see come Homegrown Music Festival."
You can check out the entire article here (you'll need to log in): http://www.duluthnewstribune.com/event/article/id/164134/
See you all at Pizza Luce tonight! We love you Luke!
Playing With Cloud Cult and Remembering Luke Hyldan
Friday, March 26th, UMD Kirby Ballroom, 8pm, $3 for UMD students/$10 for general public.
The People Say Fox, Jeff Johnson, CLOUD CULT
Student tickets are available at the Kirby Info Desk. Bring your U Card and your ticket to the show!
General public tickets are only available online at: https://www.etix.com/ticket/servlet/onlineSale%3bjsessionid=B76C52465173B9F83FB6FE0AD8BAE16C?action=selectPerformance&cobrand=white&performance_id=1205912
I highly recommend getting your tickets in advance.
Doors open at 8pm, show starts at 9pm. We play first, so get there early!
Saturday, March 27th, Pizza Luce, 9pm
Tickets are $5 for students and $10 for adults at the door. Pizza is included.
Viv, Rex, The People Say Fox, Tepetricy
I believe we play second to last.
All proceeds from the event will benefit the Miller-Dwan Foundation’s Turning Point Campaign which is raising funds to build an outpatient, partial child/adolescent mental health care facility. This facility will be a home-like place where children and teens in our region can receive the help they need, at the right time, outside of a traditional hospital setting.
Luke was one of the nicest kids I've ever met, so please try to make it out to support his family and celebrate his life. even if you never knew Luke, I know that he would want you to be there.
CDs, Shirts, Buttons, and Pens will be available at both shows!
Home From Tour
Hello all! Tour was amazing! We met so many cool people, and played 5 incredibly fun shows. We got back to Duluth at 7 this morning after an epically long drive that started at 4 pm the previous day. The van somehow made it home thanks to everyone who helped us somehow afford to get the immediately necessary repairs and fill our 30 gallon gas tank. It is still in need of more repairs, and we are still $400 in the hole from repairs we had done before we left.
Thank you so much to: First Class Failure and Nate Adelson for giving us their show money to help pay for our van and for being some of the coolest guys I've met, Taylor and his lovely mother who provided us with a place to stay after playing in St. Cloud, James Hanson from Stay Out Late for coming to pick up us and our trailer at 5 am after the van died and for letting use their van and driving us to our shows in Minot, Kason and Josh from Stay Out Late for providing us with a place to stay for two nights, the rest of Stay Out Late for being awesome guys to hang out with, everyone who bought a cd, shirt, or donated any amount of money to help us pay for the van, and everyone who came and listened to us.
Pictures and videos from our adventures will be up soon! In the meantime, check out the new live videos that are up on youtube.
Have a lovely day, The Band
Our Van Died in Minot
Sunday morning, at about 2-3am, our beautiful van died on us. We probably blew a head gasket, probably some other stuff too. Basically, its going to take a lot of money to fix, and basically we don't have any money. We need to get home so we don't lose our jobs, so any donations would help greatly! We'll send you stuff as soon as we're good to go again.
Thanks, The Band
Mini-Tour Dates!
Our 2 year anniversary as a band is coming up, and to mark the occasion we will be going on a mini tour and getting our first shirts! Come grab a shirt for yourself and your loved ones at one of the following dates:
3/11 - Duluth, MN @ The Encounter w/ First Class Failure, Niina Witikko, Blue Water Dance
3/12 -St. Cloud, MN @ Hot Topic w/ First Class Failure Free acoustic in-store
3/13 - Bismarck, ND @ Project Noise w/ First Class Failure, You Can't Outrun Ghosts
3/14 - Minot, ND @ Hot Topic w/ First Class Failure Free acoustic in-store
3/14 - Minot, ND @ The Red Carpet w/ First Class Failure, You Can't Outrun Ghosts
3/15 - Break for Copeland in Minneapolis
3/17 - Duluth, MN @ The Vineyard w/ Jake & Joshua, + TBA
3/19 - Duluth, MN @ Unitarian Church w/ Lions & Creators, Leif Hinkel, Rex
Big show announcements coming very soon!
Take care!
P.S. Check out our cd on itunes!
Update: Important
Hello all,
This past weekend Kenneth G. Bressler came to the decision that it was his time to part ways with the band. He has been heading in a different direction musically, and felt he was no longer able to dedicate himself. He will be focusing on his project Symbol Swan. Check it out and keep your eyes peeled for big updates!
Thank you for reading and have a wonderful day! The People Say Fox
CD =on itunes + elsewhere
Hello all!
Our debut album is now available for download on itunes, Amazon, and Lala!
More web stores & subscription services coming soon!
If you prefer a physical CD, get it shipped direct from us through Paypal, Amazon, or cdbaby.com.
Alternatively, if you live in Duluth head to Electric Fetus.
Or come to a show!
We are no longer playing Jan. 16th!
Due to unforeseen schedule difficulties we will no longer be playing Jan. 16th with Atlas Mts and Birds of Virginia. Sorry!
General updates!
Lots of new things!
First I'd like to welcome to our family a new van! Our old Caravan with the 1's and 0's on the side was starting to get a little, um, dead. Luckily for us, I (Mike) have amazing parents who gave us an excellent 1992 GMC Vandura. Its a beast. And it is beautiful. Once we are able to get a trailer we'll be set.
That being said, we're planning a 3 day North Dakota mini tour with our friends First Class Failure in March. More info on that very soon. Also in the works is an epic summer tour. More info on that as it grows closer.
Merch. We've almost been a band for 2 years now, and we are finally at the point where we can get t-shirts made! We're going with American Apparel, printed on and designed by our amazing friend Tanner. We're working on some other stuff as well, so expect to see a legitimate merch table at shows in the near future.
New promos! Photography god Laramie Carlson took a bunch of pictures of us being us a while back. Said pictures will be up very soon.
Expect to see the album on itunes early next year, with other web stores/subscription services joining in on the fun shortly after.
Directly related to this: our cd is now available on at cdbaby.com
11/27 Show Review: We're on the Interwebs Again
A reporter from East just posted a very kind review of our show at The Encounter on November 27th. You can find the original article at the Duluth News Tribune website (you'll need an account to view it)
The Craft Draft: Duluth's got Talent. When people think of art they may think of paintings and sculptures, but art is so much more than just the visual. Music is also an extremely dynamic art form.
By: Lyn Jenson , East High School
When people think of art they may think of paintings and sculptures, but art is so much more than just the visual. Music is also an extremely dynamic art form.
Music is particularly popular with East students. The school’s musical talent is practically dripping out of the school’s leaky ceilings. There is one particular group at East that has been very successful: “The People Say Fox”.
On Friday November 27th I attended one of the bands shows at the encounter. I had never heard the band play before and I was giddy with excitement. I’d heard nothing but good things about their music.
Before I could hear “The People Say Fox”, I got to listen to three other bands from the Twin Cities. First was a group called “Skies Alive” that sounded much better on their CD than in person. They were followed by “First Class Failure”, an acoustic duo with entertaining lighting effects. The third band was “The King and the Thief”, and to me honest I didn’t listen to them much.
Finally it was time for “The People Say Fox” to play. The minute they started to play I could tell why so many people loved them. It was obvious that their music was coming from the heart and they were passionate about it. I got goose bumps as they played.
I was not the only one getting that feeling. They were clearly one of the favorites of the night.
“I think it’s great that Duluth has such great local musicians,” said junior Greta Konkler.
I am now one of many “The People Say Fox” fans, and I can’t wait to see even more of their shows and listen to their great music.
A Return to The Reader
Check out these thoughts from local music critic Andrew Olson in the Dec. 3rd issue of The Reader. The article is pretty big, so pick up a copy of The Reader (its free) and check it out! The end of the article and a nice picture is about us:
"...All of these things came to a head at a bar made for music recently with the out-of-town opening band. The band played until well after midnight and it was really a decent sounding group. The problem was the crowd slowly thinned and not a single soul ever rose up to dance. Song after song they kept plying with maybe two people clapping afterward. All original songs, all great art, but no connection.
The Beatles, The Stones, and every other band that has ever made it in the business started with covers. Just sayin'."
We're on the Internet!
Our friend Maeggie wrote a lovely article on us for the Duluth News Tribune website:
EAST STUDENTS BREAK INTO THE MUSIC BUSINESS
The band The People Say Fox release their self-titled debut album.
The People Say Fox (TPSF) raised their first child this summer. “They were 13 to 16 hour days, but the time went by so fast because it was so fun,” said 19 year-old Kenneth Bressler.
Bressler refers not to actual childbirth, but the creation of TPSF’s self-titled debut album. Five eccentric and expressive members form the band. Senior Lydia Komatsu is a violinist and sings harmonies. Three members are East alumni of 2007, Nathan Holte, Michael Billig, and Bressler. Holte sings, plays guitar, and percussion. Bressler plays the synthesizer, piano, organ, accordion, and percussion; Billig takes care of the bass guitar, Steve Hamlin works with the percussion, guitar, and some vocals.
The band has been together since spring of 2008. After swapping a member here-and-there, the group is at a placid point in their existence. “I love the people I make music with and hope to always share that with them for a long time,” said Holte.
With a unique sound self-described as “spatial,” TPSF has gained a loyal fan base that attends their shows. “It makes me feel very good inside when I play it, playing live especially,” said Billig. The group’s first show was about a year ago at local venue, Beaner’s Central. Last weekend they played a set for Beaner’s Live Week. “It was lots of fun, but it was not our best show as far as sound,” said Komatsu.
As an instrumental family, they write their songs together. “What usually happens is someone will have a small idea, and we’ll get together, listen to it, and see what we can add to it,” said Holte. “We’ll usually rewrite a song three to four times before we decide it’s just right.”
“All of our individual artistic abilities allow our songs to be very unique and cohesive when they’re in finished form,” said Komatsu.
Their ability to acknowledge room for improvement helped them in the recording of their album last summer; the group also received help from Hamlin’s uncle, Dana Bailey. Bailey owns a recording studio called Mirror Image in uptown Minneapolis worked as the producer on the album. Hamlin “doesn’t do interviews,” but the band zealously described the recording process as a happy and productive creative endeavor. “Dana did a great job, and I think it’s something that will always be a part of not only the band, but me as well,” said Holte. “I just hope people react to it and fall in love with it love I have.”
The self-titled debut is available now for ten dollars; visit "The People Say Fox's" website to purchase a copy.
by Maeggie Licht
You can find the original article here
Nov. 14th @ Beaner's Central
We've got a show coming up with the ultra talented Red Fox Grey Fox and Farewell Milwaukee, both hailing from Minneapolis. We'll of course have CDs available, as well as some mysterious new TPSF trinkets.
Come enjoy a night of magic!
Beaner's Central, 324 N Central Ave, Duluth, MN
Starts at 8pm, $5
Show Tonight at UMD
We're playing tonight at the Kirby Rafters at UMD, along with the fantasmic Take Cover and Jamestown Story.
Show starts at 9pm and we're up first. Free for students, 5 bucks otherwise. Oh, and we'll have CDs, so bring an extra 10 ducats to make one your own.
Kirby Student Center, 1120 Kirby Dr, Duluth MN
Welcome
It's not entirely finished, but this is our lovely new website. Be sure to listen to our new album while you're here (click the 'launch music player' thing on the right). More will be added real soonlike :]