Hot Press meets Fox Jaw

In music, as in life, there are moments that remind you what it’s all about. In the two years of waiting to release their new album, Ghost’s Parade, Fox Jaw have had a few of those.

“We were playing a really shit gig up the country,” says drummer Shane Serrano, skilfully denying Hot Press the chance to pinpoint the location of the disaster. “The guy who was meant to bring the PA forgot, and went on holidays to France instead. When they got another one, we had to do our own sound from the side of the stage as we played. It was a strange setup too, where you’re playing towards the wall. We’re all thinking ‘should we just go home?’. But then this girl walks up when we finish and says, ‘I’ve been waiting to see you guys for ages. I’m grateful that you came’."
It’s connections like that which have seen Fox Jaw – minus the Bounty Hunters suffix of their early days – earn a reputation as a band to watch, and gain a considerable following in the process. Now, the songs that have seen the band touring relentlessly are released on Ghost’s Parade; the Limerick five-piece are bursting at the seams to share the record.
“It’s been two years in the making,” says frontman Ronan Mitchell, “so it’s nice to be getting it out there finally. And we’re not sick of it yet, so that’s a good sign!”
Guitarist Morgan Nolan points out that they weren’t the only ones itching for the release.
“We’d have people asking us where they could hear the new songs, picking up our album after a gig. We’d have to say, ‘Er, no, that’s our old one.’ Now we can say, ‘Hey, it’s right here!’”
With the wait most definitely over, the follow-up to 2011’s The Devil In Music sees a significantly different group than that of the last album; two new members, an abbreviated name, and an entirely different approach.
“With the first album, we were a three-piece and wanted to keep it that way. With the new album, we made it a rule that we weren’t going to restrict ourselves,” Shane says. "We were going to add anything and everything that we wanted; any ideas at all. Just throw them in the mix and worry about it afterwards.”
The result is an album as expansive as it is impressive; while there’s something classic about the Fox Jaw sound, there’s always a little surprise around the corner. A swaggering and occasionally sinister record, its broad scope is, apparently, a result of Ronan’s inability to retread old ground.
“Once I’ve written a song,” he explains, “I find it difficult to write another in the same style. It feels like the same song, so I go in a completely different direction. Then, when we have a batch of songs, you worry that it’s all over the place, like a compilation of different bands.”
That, though, is when the magic of production comes in.
“Our producer, Dave Christopher, was able to work it all in, mix things together, and break the songs that were most alike into sections. We could then see how to link things together and make the whole thing cohesive. That really helped, that we could streamline everything into one album that sounds like a cohesive unit.”
The release of Ghost’s Parade was preceded by three singles – ‘Kerosene’, ‘Hijack’ and ‘Falling Debris’ – each with a reworked version of the track on the vinyl’s B-side. The band recognise the different approaches are a perfect representation of the group’s attitude.
“It’s a mindset that we have”, says Shane. “We won’t get stuck in a bubble.”

Ghost's Parade is out now.