Dubbed a “budding star” by tastemaker/my rival The Line of Best Fit, out and proud artist Foxgluvv is out here representing the underrepresented with her self-proclaimed “hungover pop” music.
I spoke with the cheerful Londoner about her current bop “Nothing” plus being an openly gay artist.
Where did the name Foxgluvv come from?
As a child, I used to be in awe of the foxglove flowers that my grandparent’s had growing on the front of their driveway. I’d always had the idea planted in the back of my mind that ‘foxglove’ was a cool song title or album name etc… So, when I was thinking about adopting a stage name it just seemed to fall into place really well! But of course, I had to make it edgy af, so I spelt it ‘Foxgluvv’ and there it was!
(Plus, I did some googling on the plant and found out they’re super poisonous — which is totally bad ass IMO)
Did you procrastinate while creating “Nothing,” your song exploring procrastination?
I’m not going to sugar-coat this answer, I totally did.
My producer and pal Scott Colcombe and I wrote “Nothing” during the last leg of our uni degree and I felt like I desperately needed something that would get me off my bum and snap me back into reality — and writing nothing definitely helped me to do that.
Where did the description of your sound as “hungover pop” stem from?
My friend once said to me that my music sounded like the kind of thing that you’d want to listen to after crawling out of the club at 3.am. I like ‘hungover-pop” as a term because it’s still got a ‘buzz’ to it with its pop influences, but it’s lazy and laid back at the same time too.
What is it about 80’s sounds that you love so much?
I truly don’t know what it is about 80’s sounds that grasp me… I’ve just always loved music that other people tend to say is their “guilty pleasure” and a lot of the time people tend to pen 80’s classics as just that. Not to mention that I love the way that pop music has evolved over the years, but you can still hear influences from older styles of pop in the chart’s today!
Who are your top three 80s female pop stars?
Madonna, Cher and Blondie. 100%.
The Line of Best Fit called you a ‘budding star’ after hearing your debut single – does a description like that scare you?
I’d definitely use scary as one of the words to describe seeing that – but I’d also use ‘exciting, wonderful and surreal’ too.
Which aspect of the music industry excites you the most?
I would say that any part of the creative aspect of the music industry really excites me because it gives me a chance to mess around and come up with something original. E.g. I love the thought and the process behind making a music video or a single/album artwork and I find it so fun to be behind a camera!
What are your views on the representation of female pop artists?
As of recent, female fronted pop has been fundamentally about having power and using your femininity as a way to challenge the stereotypical depictions of women that we constantly see in the music industry — and I am all for it. I am low-key obsessed with how Charli XCX recently took those same overplayed gender roles and flipped them in her video for “Boys” and I genuinely can’t stop repeating “Power” by Little Mix either… such a feminist bop. I live.
We still have so far to go before women in the music industry can be equally portrayed the same as men, however, I believe that we’re definitely stepping in the right direction and I hope to be more of a part in the pop industry as it progresses!
Which female musician do you identify with the most?
I didn’t really know of any female musicians that I necessarily “identified with” growing up, because it wasn’t mainstream to see gay female pop stars in the charts. P!nk is probably the artist I identify with the most because even though she’s not an LGBT+ artist herself, she vocally expresses her support for the community. As a child I really admired how she blurred gender and did her own thing without caring what people thought.
If you could hear your music in any store, which one would you want to hear it in?
I think I’d die if I was just in a completely random shop and “Crush” or “Nothing” to just pop on. Like, I’m imagining myself at a B&Q and just browsing through the desktop lamps and hearing my own voice blaring through those low quality high volume speakers. I think that would be the dream, right?
As an openly gay artist, what message do you hope to transmit to LGBT audiences?
Growing up, it felt almost alienating to look at the pop charts and see nobody like me on them… but today it warms my heart to see LGBT+ pop babes like Hayley Kiyoko, Tegan and Sara and Lauren Jauregui being so open about themselves and their identities whilst also kicking ass in the music industry! I want to be like them. If there’s any message that I’d like to transmit to my community it’s that you can do anything and everybody always says “who you are doesn’t define you” but I think that’s a lie. Who you are definitely does define you, so be proud of it and own it.
What’s coming next from Foxgluvv?
Maybe a mixtape, maybe a few gigs, maybe some new videos… you’ll have to follow me @foxgluvv to find out. *smirk emoji*