Fox Teeth is a New Jersey-based emo band who’s sure to be the soundtrack to late night drives and angsting into adulthood. Originally formed in 2018 as a solo project, the band slowly cultivated its members and released their debut album, tite! in October 2020. The now duo of Sawyer Rich (vocals, guitar) and Andrew Romanowski (drums) have been finely tuning their sound since then with the release of their sophomore album, Through the Blue, released March 31, 2023.
“It’s not rare to mature through your career as a musician, but it’s not easy to shape that maturity into something larger.” says vocalist Sawyer Rich. “Through the Blue is the most reflective of our sound and growth as a band, and I couldn’t be more excited to show that to the world. If you’re looking for a soundtrack into early adulthood, we’ve got you covered.”
With the singles “Wednesday, Forever???” and “Stay Here”, the band showcases their knack for pessimistic yet upbeat melodies as well as some lighthearted humor in their accompanying music videos. Watch the video for “Wednesday, Forever???” below!
I had the opportunity to interview the band shortly before the release of Through the Blue and this is what they had to say.
It’s the question plastered on your website name and even asked in your latest music video so I’ll ask for you to introduce yourselves that way: who is Fox Teeth?
Fox Teeth is Sawyer Rich and Andrew Romanowski.
Your recent singles “Stay Here” and “Wednesday, Forever???” are both great songs with similar themes. How did those tracks come to be and what were some of your inspirations?
Sawyer: “Stay Here” and “Wednesday, Forever???” were two of the earliest songs we had written for the album. For both songs, I took a lot of inspiration from the bands Adventures and Free Throw, especially for the vocal melodies. Andy and I didn’t change much for these songs from the first time we demoed them to when we took them to the studio. We both went in full force energy wise and have kept it that way since.
Andrew: “Stay Here” is based off of our intro track from tite!. We thought it’d be fun to be a little self referential. Stay Here’s outro is the intro riff to tite!. I was really just trying to drive the song forward but it’s fun putting those accents on the hi-hat in the verses. “Wednesday, Forever???” is another nod to the simple drummers I love like Mike Joyce from the Smiths with a bit of Stewart Copeland in The Police type bridge.
The artwork for Through the Blue is very eye-catching with a singular knife gracing the blue doused cover. Is there any meaning to the cover in relation to the album?
Sawyer: Honestly, the album cover doesn’t have much to do with the album besides the blue coloring. The picture of the knife is an accidental image I scanned while testing out a new printer, and we just kinda left it as that. The blue gradient was added over the original image after we decided on the name for the record!
It’s been almost three years since your first LP, tite! was released. What are some things that have changed for you as a band since then? Do you think those experiences influence the sound of Through the Blue?
Andrew: We’ve been able to jam a lot more together. tite! was done entirely remotely with the exception of “Donnie Darko” and bits of “Lost”. The songs on Blue benefited from us being able to flesh them out both alone and in person. It was our first time doing a record top to bottom with all of us in the studio together—the record sounds like it was done at home while I feel tite! definitely differs.
Sawyer: I definitely agree with Andy. 95% of tite! was written remotely and we didn’t have much of a chance to play the songs together. With Through the Blue, we were able to play off of ideas a lot smoother and find stronger back bones for the instrumentals of each song. I definitely think you can hear the difference in our playing on this record, and that it sounds like we’re more in tune with each other as a band.
What was the process for writing and recording for Through the Blue and what were some of the main themes you had in mind for it?
Sawyer: Writing Though the Blue took about a year or so before we took the record to the studio. The recording process took only a week, and we were lucky enough to do it alongside our friend/producer Mike Chiarappa! We also went into the studio with our previous bassist Dan McCool and guitarist Luis Marques.
Andrew: As a drummer, I was trying to make different choices compared to the last record. I didn’t use any double bass and did few 16th hi-hat based grooves or linear grooves. It was definitely a learning experience and pivot point in my approach.
Are there any particular highlights of your new LP you want listeners to notice?
Sawyer: I think just being able to hear how the lyrics and instrumentals play off of each other is a really cool aspect to this album. The way I sing certain lines are purposely accented alongside the drums, bass and guitars.
If Through the Blue was the soundtrack to a movie, which one would it be?
Sawyer: I think the record would fit any early 2000s movie with an alt character in it, so maybe Freaky Friday or something along those lines.
Andrew: Maybe Juno? Or Max Keeble’s Big Move? Something early 2000s with Frankie Muniz.
I noticed a few years back that a certain someone in the band caught a viral moment for a mashup between Paramore’s “All I Wanted” and Soulja Boy’s “Crank That (Soulja Boy)”. Do you have any ideas for Fox Teeth remixes/mashups or collaborations that you’d want to hear?
Sawyer: (This is singlehandedly the best question I think we’ve ever been asked hahahaha). At the moment no, I don’t think we’ve got any remixes or mashups coming up. If we could collaborate with anyone though, I would love to have Patrick Miranda of Movements lend vocals on a verse or two of any new material we put out.
great interview !