On Feb. 12, jazz-inspired surf rock could be heard emanating from Atlanta’s Center Stage Vinyl as San Diego band Foxtide took to the venue’s stage to play for the enamored crowd. The group is fresh off the release of their debut album “Chaos,” and they set off on tour across the United States and Canada to bring their surfy tunes to even the most land-locked places.
The band consists of singer/guitarist Elijah Gibbons-Croft, bassist Oey James, guitarist Dom Friedly and drummer Ian Robles. Since their inception in 2019, they have played alongside a huge repertoire of indie greats including the Backseat Lovers, Beach Goons, Sarah and the Sundays and, most recently, the Backfires this past month.
The Technique had the opportunity to catch up with the band at Center Stage Vinyl and talk about how tour has been, the band’s future projects, and even the crazy burrito mishaps they have encountered while traveling the country.
So to start off, how’d you all meet and get started as a band?
Gibbons-Croft: We met through a few ways, but I met Oey through high school parties and mutual friends. I would always go to his high school’s gatherings or parties or whatever it was.
James: A couple fateful nights.
Gibbons-Croft: Then we just [hear] … “Oh, this guy plays music,” so you find out who the musicians are pretty fast. One day, I [reached out] like, “Hey, like, we should jam together. We should get together sometime.” Another homie who also went to his school named Dom was in some bands, locally and stuff. I heard his name thrown around, and I invited him too. So, just very [much] on a whim.
James: Yeah, I think I had [maybe] five days’ notice until my first show. “You’re in the band, learn all the songs.” I was like, “Okay,” and then it’s just head first.
Robles: I was really close to Dom, and then they needed somebody to sub in for a couple gigs, and then I was there and I never left.
Gibbons-Croft: Yeah, I think the first time we all started playing together, it just worked, and we really liked where it was going. We wrote two songs the first time we all got together, so it was good vibes.
Who are some of your musical influences?
Gibbons-Croft: There’s way too many of them right here, but starting off, the classics. We got the Beatles. I think Oey and I really both found our admiration for the Beatles in our writing.
James: [The] one college course I took my whole life was a whole class on the Beatles, and then I was just like, “Oh, this is sick.” So all of last year, that was all I listened to, and then all their solo stuff, respectively
Gibbons-Croft: Yeah, and as a band: The [Rolling] Stones, [Led] Zeppelin, The Strokes, Her’s, Arctic Monkeys, the list goes on. I think there’s so many inspirations, bands and artists. It’s kind of hard sometimes to be like, “Oh, I make this music, but I listen to all of these,” you know?
James: We have some influences that we all kind of get together and look up to, like those bands… and then beyond that, we all have our own unique music taste that we kind of bring in.
Gibbons-Croft: Right, and that’s what makes bands special. Because I personally love Mk.gee and draw a lot of inspiration from him recently, or Prince. I grew up with Marvin Gaye and a lot of ‘90s R&B, listening to Sade or the Dixie Chicks.
Robles: I’m just completely taken by jazz. I love Tony Williams, Steve Wyman. He’s this modern jazz guy. Of course, you can’t go wrong with the classic rock icons too, like John Bonham. Oh, [The] Smashing Pumpkins too. How could I forget?
Gibbons-Croft: Yeah, and System Of A Down.
Robles: Oh yeah! How do you know more about what I like than me?
Gibbons-Croft: I like that stuff, heavy and jazz.
Robles: Yeah, polar opposites.
You mentioned the Beatles. Are you excited for the Beatles’ biopics?
James: Yeah, I think so. I watched the Bob Dylan biopic, and I was like, “Oh, that was actually pretty good.” They did a good job. I think biopics are hard to do. It’s also just a lot to cram in, so I think if they do it where they choose very specific points in each of their [lives] and kind of do it like that, I think that would be cool, and I would be happy with that. I just hope it’s not like, “We’re gonna do all ten years of The Beatles.”
Robles: Who’s playing Ringo? I need to know.
Gibbons-Croft: You.
Robles: Me?
Gibbons-Croft: Yeah.
If each of you guys had a theme song, what would it be?
James: “I Got a Name” by Jim Croce or “Pictures of Me” by Elliott Smith.
Robles: What’s the name of the Jack Johnson song in “Curious George”? Oh, “Upside Down” by Jack Johnson.
Gibbons-Croft: I’d probably choose “Gypsy Woman” by Joe Bataan.
James: “Across The Universe” too. It’s not really an anthem, but it’s a good sentiment.
Gibbons-Croft: “Alesis” Mk.gee. That’s pretty theme-y, I guess.
Your debut album came out last December. What was the process of making that?
James: It was all over the place. We’ve had some of those songs for a year, year and a half, and then some of them we’d only had for a number of months. While we were working on the album, it’d be like, “Oh, we have this one too.” “Train Tracks” [and] “Pretty Pictures” just came together… It’s great to have projects that you’re working on with a strong start, and then being able to just, “Oh, let’s add this. Let’s add this,” and then [make] it cohesive through that.
Gibbons-Croft: Yeah, I think this album is like a direct timestamp of the last year so, and I think it does a really good job of showing what we’ve been up to and showing where our heads are at. Because, like Oey said, there’s not really a rhyme or reason necessarily to it. [There’s no] “We’re gonna sit down and write eight songs for an album.” It just kind of happened, and it happened to be what we thought was a good collection of work. I think we’re very fortunate to even come across that because just because you have … eight songs doesn’t mean you have an album.
James: It feels good to have an album out, too. An EP is great, singles are great, but an album is like: that’s an album.
Gibbons-Croft: I think we definitely pushed ourselves. The process was like… this has to be better than what we’ve been doing.
Robles: All those were written in completely different places, and I feel like it really captures the essence of where we were at. I remember, for the ones that I tracked, I remember exactly how I felt in that moment. Like Elijah said, I feel like it captures the last year really well.
How do you think your sound has evolved throughout your EPs to, now, the album?
Gibbons-Croft: It’s got a more cohesive nature to it. We’re getting closer and closer to getting the sound out of our head [and] onto the track. It’s really hard to ever get there, but we’re getting closer and closer every time.
Robles: I feel like the ice has been broken in a sense … We’re starting to really get comfortable with one another and on our respective instruments too. It feels very personal, very intimate, and I feel like we’re getting pretty vulnerable now.
James: I think we’re just overall experimenting in general and just trying new things. It’s like we somewhat know what works sometimes or have different motifs that we’ll keep across certain songs, but we’re not limited by that at all, just trying to expand and do new stuff in every song.
How has the tour been so far? Have there been any fun or memorable moments?
Gibbons-Croft: Dude, we were even on tour this time last year. That was our first tour. We got arrested … We got into Bohemian Grove, and we’ll just leave it at that. And this tour, we got pulled over in Canada, but the Canadians are super nice, so they let us go.
James: Searched our van. [They] didn’t find anything.
Robles: We only had lemons, to clear the air. We literally had nothing.
James: Which is a big problem, you’re not supposed to bring produce.
Robles: We forgot we had lemons …
Gibbons-Croft: [A] highlight would be keeping warm.
James: We’re California boys. We’re not used to snow and the rain.
Robles: Yeah, it has been treacherous.
Gibbons-Croft: Highlights though show-wise, I’d said New York City. D.C. and New York were freaking awesome.
James: Chicago was good too.
Robles: Chicago was really good. Wieners Circle. That was the highlight of the tour. Go to Wieners Circle … No, seriously, ask for a chocolate shake. It’s awesome.
James: Other highlights have just been being delirious with all the boys and just like laughing our asses off about literally nothing.
Do you have a favorite song to perform at shows?
Robles: All of us have different favorite songs to perform. “All I C,” I really like “All I C.”
Gibbons-Croft: I’m gonna say, “I Didn’t Mean It.”
Robles: Oh yeah, lately it’s been really fun to play, but I still pick “All I C.”
James: “Pilot Wings.” That one’s got energy…
Do you have a favorite gas station snack to get when you’re on tour?
Robles: We have a least favorite. Everybody had the burrito …
Gibbons-Croft: Oey comes to the tour van, [and] he’s like, “Guys, like, there’s warm burritos.” We’re all so frigid and cold, and we’re in upstate New York.
James: They were big, too. $5 for a burrito.
Gibbons-Croft: Yeah, it was a good deal, seemingly. We’re all like, “Hell yeah,” and then we all go buy one, and we’re just eating them together. It’s a good moment. We’re all just like, halfway through, “Oh man. I don’t feel so good, bro.”
Robles: Because it was cheese sauce, and it was just like the wettest burrito ever.
James: Spare the details.
Have you been to Buc-ee’s?
Gibbons-Croft: Yeah, Buc-ee’s is great. Favorite snack is beef jerky and chips…
Robles: We’re trying really hard not to eat unhealthy, especially after the burrito day.
James: Says Ian after downing a Carl’s Jr.
Robles: I’ve been so good about my diet. It was my reward, dude.
Gibbons-Croft: I’d say the home-cooked meals that we’ve been getting on tour have kept the morale high. It gets you through the gas station days.
What’s next for you guys? Do you have any upcoming projects or goals that you’re looking forward to?
Gibbons-Croft: We’re actually announcing another tour tomorrow. We’re hitting the West Coast again, a lot of California. I think there’s four shows in California, and then we’re doing Portland, Seattle [and] three shows in Canada.
James: We won’t bring lemons this time.
Gibbons-Croft: Yeah, tell Justin Trudeau it’s chill. We come in peace. Then we are working on the next album.
James: We got a surprise on March 6.
Gibbons-Croft: We do have a surprise on March 6. [A] hint would be that the album cover has ten people on it, but there’s only eight tracks out right now
Robles: So what does that mean? What does that mean?
Foxtide’s music is streaming on all platforms, and you can catch them on tour this spring in the West Coast and Canada.
This interview was edited for length and clarity.