FOXYGEN @ Greek Theatre Friday September 29th 2017 // THE PORTABLE INFINITE

All photos taken by Alexander Laurence

FOXYGEN 2023: TEN YEARS LATER

FOXYGEN 2023: TEN YEARS LATER

by Alexander Laurence

Foxygen “We are the 21^st Century Ambassadors of Peace and Magic” came out ten years ago. This story goes back to when Jonathan Rado and Sam France met as freshman in high school in Agoura Hills in 2005. They spent much of that time doing bedroom albums to share with their families and friends. There were occasional shows. There were a lot of things that happened before their 2013 spectacular rise from nowhere. Foxygen never really played a ton of shows in the Los Angeles Area during that 2005-2012 period. They were never really a band. It was two people: Sam and Rado. They were fans of all types of music. They were into Beck, Flaming Lips, Brian Jonestown Massacre, and Richard Swift. They were into all sorts of retro sounds. They just appeared on the scene one day. Many bands build an audience by playing live shows. Foxygen didn’t do that all at.

In my own life, I was going to gigs heavily in LA for more than five years. I was interviewing most of the important bands, including The Killers and Interpol. I was DJ-ing at Bar 107 for a few years downtown during the Artwalk. I had been living and working in the Fairfax Melrose area for a few years. I met a lawyer and we talked about working with new bands. I started working with photographer Angel Ceballos at this time. I had started a blog called The Portable Infinite. It was a little vague and lacked focus for about five years. The music scene that started with The Strokes had started to peter out around then. In 2008, something new was forming.

I met Foxygen in front of Canter’s Deli in late summer 2008. I was working at the Kosher News newsstand across the street. It was during my last few months there and I only worked on Sundays. Sam and Rado were just out of high school. They were from Agoura Hills which I wasn’t sure where it was. It was somewhere in the Valley? At that time a lot of celebrities, actors, or bands would stop by the newsstand. I started talking to them because Rado was wearing a Brian Jonestown Massacre t-shirt. I told them that I knew Anton Newcombe.

    FOXYGEN (photo by Angel Ceballos)

At the time, Rado looked like a young Bob Dylan, and Sam looked like a young version of Roger Waters. Rado told me: “We got a band called Foxygen.” I thought to myself that Foxygen was a good name for a band. They looked good. I went home and looked them up on Myspace. I listened to a few songs that were from their self-made album “Kill Art.” It wasn’t garage rock or what was going on in music at the time. It was more like MGMT or Ben Folds Five. Maybe they were the next new big thing? I sent Rado an email saying: “We have to sent up a show?” Rado wrote back that they didn’t have time to do the band right now, because they were both off to college in two different states. Rado was going to SVA in New York City, and Sam was going to Evergreen in Oregon.

There was a year or so that passed by. In those years I was focusing more on being a tour manager with several bands. At the time, Sam and Rado, I would later learn, were trying to do films and write screenplays.

They went off to school for two years. They didn’t seem too interested in playing live shows at all.

I got an email from Rado in late 2010. They were going to do the band again. They had made another record in New York City in those quiet years and gave it to Richard Swift. They had given a CD to Swift at a gig at Mercury Lounge. This was the Take The Kids Off Broadway EP. Swift had listened to it and had hooked them up with a label. Swift later remixed it and it was released on Jagjaguwar Records.

Foxygen (photo by Angel Ceballos)

   Miranda Lee Richards (photo by Angel Ceballos)

Rado had come back to LA for summer 2011. Me and Rado had set up a small west coast tour. I still had some contacts from west coast venues I had been to with the previous Alessi’s Ark tour. Foxygen had gigs Portland, SF, Cottage Grove, LA, and Agoura Hills. I met Rado at Cafe 101, and he arrived in his grandfather’s big car. We just talked about general music stuff. We planned to do an interview with them and Angel Ceballos was going to photograph them when they were in the northwest. It turned out she also filmed them for her documentary film which was never finished. There are photos and film footage of this time in Olympia. They played a house party with this expanded lineup. It was Sam and Rado, plus more friends from Olympia. When I interviewed them that summer, I was treating them like they were already an important band. Dream big, and it will happen!

I saw them at the Silverlake Lounge to check them out firsthand. Was this going to work? There were quite a lot of people onstage. When I saw them play “Teenage Alien Blues” I got excited. This band is going to be hot. The first tour of 2011 was the craziest and fun version of Foxygen. Richard Swift liked what he saw in Cottage Grove too. There are videos and pictures of some of the performances. There is a great video of the Portland show on Youtube.

Rado sent me some demos. Songs like “In The Darkness.” “On Blue Mountain,” and “No Destruction” are pretty the same as the demos as they are on the final record. “Oh Yeah” got a radical change. There was an early demo called “Free” which was reworked and became the title track. There was also the “Something’s Changing” EP (2011) which I thought was worth releasing as a single. “Where’s The Money?” did show up as the b-side on an early single.

Here's my 2011 interview with Foxygen: http://portable-infinite.blogspot.com/2011/07/foxygen-interview.html

(Photo: Angel Ceballos)

They went up to Cottage Grove to record with Richard Swift in January 2012. I was going to go visit them with Miranda Lee Richards. She was going to sing on the song “San Francisco.” Foxygen had written a few new songs for her to sing on. We were planning to go but a big snow storm hit Oregon that weekend in Mid-January. Plus we were both broke at the time. I would have had to borrow some money to even think of going. We ended up deciding not to go. It was sad that we didn’t. Jessie Baylin ended up singing the part on the track.

Rado and I decided to go see Brian Jonestown Massacre at the Wiltern in May 2012. Rado had cut his hair and it was very short at this time. I didn’t recognize him. We went backstage after the show and I introduced him to Miranda Lee Richards and Joel Gion. Anton said hello to me but I couldn’t say Rado met him. They were in the same room. Later Anton wanted to do a collaboration with Foxygen when they were in Berlin.

Foxygen played Echo Park Rising. This version of the band included Sam and Rado, their friend Shaun Fleming on drums, Rado’s girlfriend, Jackie Cohen on vocals, and Matt Pulos on bass (later of Dub Thompson). When their did a tour with La Sera in July 2012, they had Justin Nijssen on bass guitar. Justin was in the Olympia version of the band, and would play with Foxygen on most of the early tours. There was a time when I tried to get Dani Miller (later of Surfbort) in the band. I had met her in San Francisco when she was 19, and thought she should be in a band. Dani Miller moved to New York City and Surfbort there a few years later.

photo: Angel Ceballos

The record came out a year later in 2013. It was a hit. They were popular at CMJ and SXSW. They were blowing up. The videos were good. When I was at SXSW 2013 with Deer Tracks, I went to a few Foxygen shows. There were big lines. There was some band bullshit. It was all going great until Sam fell off of a stage in Minneapolis in Summer 2013. I was in that same room a few months before. Sam broke his leg and canceled some shows. A year passed until they came out with Star Power. It was a new expanded lineup. Backup singers and dancers.

I saw Foxygen in different cities and festivals. They played the Fonda Theatre. They played Outside Lands. They played a festival with Morrissey. They played Coachella. I last saw them play in September 2017 at the Greek. They opened for the Shins. They played with the Spacebomb guys as their backup band. I saw these guys go from unknowns to playing the Greek in five or six years.

What does Foxygen mean now? They put out some cool records. They were guys who could have been actors, who were pretending to be a band. They were never a real band. I think this is what pissed people off. There were a bunch of journalists that hated them. They weren’t authentic enough? They were never going to be a band who puts out a record and tours heavily and plays the game. You can tell from what they been doing the past five years. Rado since then has produced a ton of records including Lemon Twigs, The Killers, Father John Misty and Weyes Blood.

Photos: Angel Ceballos

The other members of Foxygen have done great stuff too. Sam France has been recording music and living life. I saw him play a great show at the Bootleg Theater a few years ago. Shaun Fleming became Diane Coffee and has released four albums. Justin Nijssen has been in the Alex Cameron band for a while. Jackie Cohen has released three solo records. Matt Pulos formed Dub Thompson and continues to create underground noise music. Kevin Basko has done stuff as Rubber Band Gun.

Foxygen has done numerous records and tours now. It feels like they are not active as Foxygen anymore. That stuff is out there in the world for everyone to find and enjoy. New bands come out every year that seems Foxygen-like, the band Blossoms, for instance. Rado has produced a dozen great records. Foxygen will always be a part of this era’s music culture whether you like them or not. They are still going strong as an influence and they are still one of my favorite bands of the last ten years.

NEW NOISE show 93 on May 6th 2022 (Featuring Wire, Bowie, Eno, Foxygen, Alessi's Ark, John Foxx, The Big Pink, and APTBS)

NEW NOISE w/ Alexander Laurence (The Portable Infinite) 

ONE HOUR ALL NEW MUSIC SHOW

SPECIAL BIRTHDAY SHOW

This coming Friday at 3pm Pacific Time, Alexander Laurence’s 

unique cutting edge 1-hour radio show, 

New Noise will broadcast live on RadioKAJW on Live365.

May 6th 2022, Friday at 3pm PST. All new music and some old favorites 

that make for a great electronic disco party.

Live Streaming: https://live365. com/station/RadioKAJW-a51134

Listen to previous shows: https://www.mixcloud.com/infinitealexander/

Featuring Wire, Bowie, Eno, Foxygen, Alessi's Ark,

John Foxx, The Big Pink, and APTBS

NEW NOISE show 93 playlist

Friday May 6th 2022 3pm

BIRTHDAY SHOW 2022

RADIO KAJW + PORTABLE INFINITE

part one

1. WIRE "French Film Blurred"

2. BOWIE "Scream Like A Baby"

3. DOT ALLISON "Cue The Tears" (Anton Newcombe remix)

4. ALESSI'S ARK "On The Plains"

5. FOXYGEN "Shuggie"

6. A PLACE TO BURY STRANGERS "Ego Death"

7. NEAR BEER "Sleeping Is For Suckers"

part two

8. JOHN FOXX "Underpass"

9. ENO "Blank Frank"

10. THE BIG PINK "No Angels"

11. GOLDIE LOOKIN CHAIN "Guns Don't Kill People"

12. KYARY PAMYU PAMYU "Pon Pon Pon"

13. WIRE "Former Airline"

14. THE ALMONDS "Cold Tea"

PORTABLE INFINITE LINKS:

Website: http://portable- infinite.blogspot.com/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/ portinfinite

Instagram: https://www. instagram.com/portable_ infinite/

RADIO KAJW Twitter: https://twitter.com/ radiokajw

Diane Coffee will release "With People" on Polyvinyl Record on 29 April 2022

Diane Coffee will release "With People" on Polyvinyl Record on 29 April 2022

and announces new tour 2022



North American tour 2022

05/13 - Seattle, WA @ Barboza #
05/14 - Portland, OR @ Polaris Hall #
05/17 - San Francisco, CA @ Bottom of the Hill #
05/19 - Los Angeles, CA @ Moroccan Lounge (early show) #
05/20 - Los Angeles, CA @ Moroccan Lounge (late show) #
06/04 - Austin, TX @ Mohawk - Indoor
06/05 - Dallas, TX @ Ruins
06/07 - Nashville, TN @ DRKMTTR
06/08 - Atlanta, GA @ The Masquerade - Purgatory
06/10 - Carrboro, NC @ Cat’s Cradle Back Room
06/11 - Washington, DC @ Songbyrd
06/12 - Philadelphia, PA @ PhilaMOCA
06/14 - Brooklyn, NY @ Elsewhere Rooftop
06/15 - Boston, MA @ Middle East Upstairs
06/17 - Toronto, ON @ The Garrison
06/18 - Pittsburgh, PA @ Club Cafe
06/20 - Columbus, OH @ Rumba Cafe
06/21 - Detroit, MI @ The Sanctuary
06/22 - Chicago, IL @ Schubas
06/23 - Chicago, IL @ Schubas
06/25 - Minneapolis, MN @ 7th St. Entry
06/28 - Denver, CO @ Larimer Lounge
06/29 - Fort Collins, CO @ Aggie Theatre
06/30 - Salt Lake City, UT @ Urban Lounge
# w/ Jackie Cohen


Aspiring to a '70s ideal that rolls up sugarcoated bubblegum glam, soul balladry, Francophone pop and echoes of the Brill Building, Fleming finds the right notes of sincerity under all that artifice. –NPR Music





Diane Coffee

With People

Polyvinyl Record Co.

29 April 2022



With People is both new territory for Diane Coffee, as well as a full-circle return to their roots. Shaun Fleming’s fourth album is their most intimate and personal to date, a collection of diaristic ruminations and contemplative observations of the people in their life, yet also feel universal in impact. Combining the breezy wistfulness of classic folk-rock with orchestral pop’s broad sweep, With People marks an exciting new era for Diane Coffee, chronicling an artist’s revisitation of their upbringing as they look at the horizon for what’s ahead.


The follow-up to 2019’s exquisite Internet Arms, With People came about in the early stages of the pandemic as Fleming’s songwriting took an unexpectedly personal turn. They began zooming in on not only their own emotions and experiences, but the people that have impacted their life—whether over an extended period, or through smaller, short-term interactions—many of the songs centering on a specific moment or memory from their own history. “It was a way for me to see all these people I couldn’t see, and to be with them in a time where that was impossible, in the form of song,” Fleming explains. The transportive nature of this creative process grew to encompass their upbringing in the suburbs of Agoura Hills, California, to which Fleming returned before recording as a way to recapture the feelings of their past. “Since most of the songs are about people from my hometown, I decided to fly out a week early and drive all around my old stomping grounds,” they recollect. “My school, all my childhood homes, skate spots…I took lots of pictures and even printed a few of them up to hang in the studio to keep myself in the right headspace. I wanted to feel super close to these memories.”


Once the songs started taking definite shapes, Fleming hit the studio with former Foxygen bandmate and production wizard Jonathan Rado (Weyes Blood, The Killers). “I left the demos a lot more sparse and open to interpretation than on past records. I really wanted to leave as much room for Rado to produce as possible,” they explain. The two fleshed out what would become With People in a series of sessions that were quick and artistically productive, bringing new nuances out of these ten songs as they worked together. “We wanted it to feel organic and in the moment, and to mirror the album’s lyrical honesty. It kept revealing things about me personally,” Fleming recalls about the creative process, “and the pacing of the sessions kept things fun, fresh, and open.”


The result is an album that sounds warm, nostalgic, and lived-in, like an old friend sharing closely held stories while sitting on a moonlit porch. The jangly pomp of “Forecast” addresses a turbulent on-and-off relationship (“Everyone has that one person in their life that never leaves,” Fleming explains) and features vocals from Deep Sea Diver’s Jessica Dobson, who proved the perfect match in the studio: “Our voices blended almost to the point where you couldn’t tell who was singing,” they recall.


Then there’s the bright melodic sunbeams of “The Great Escape,” which directly addresses Fleming’s Agoura Hills upbringing, and the complicated feelings that arise from returns and departures—the seemingly inexhaustible need to see more. “It’s about getting out of a small town. Agoura Hills felt small to us, and then when I was in Bloomington and writing this song, I thought ‘I gotta get out of this town as well,’” Fleming laughs. There are darker moments, too, like “Sharks,” a track whose sunny, Brill Building-esque melody belies a look at how trauma can beget trauma; the jagged, stirring “Our Love / The Run,” about learning to stand up for oneself in the most difficult of circumstances; or “Bullied,” perhaps the sweetest-sounding song about an adolescent tormenter ever laid to tape.


Although Fleming’s back in Los Angeles now, their time in Bloomington—a place in which they also ended up meeting their partner—directly influenced the orchestral grandeur of “Forever You and I,” a heartfelt ode to a loving relationship that underscores the intimacy of With People. “This is the first time I’ve done something so personal, I wanted to pull back the veil and share myself through these stories. These are a lot of the moments that shaped me,” Fleming explains while discussing the album’s overall arc. “That said, the stories are thematically universal as well.” Indeed, there’s a relatability that shines through With People, a sonically timeless, lyrically insightful album that serves as a reminder that through music, and in life, we’re never really alone.

NEW NOISE show 46 : the most comprehensive music (Featuring APTBS, Blonde Redhead, Ladytron, Foxygen, and Talking Heads)

Coming this FRIDAY MAY 14th / 3pm PST

NEW NOISE w/ Alexander Laurence (The Portable Infinite) 

ONE HOUR ALL NEW MUSIC SHOW

ALWAYS NEW MUSIC KEEP YOUR DISTANCE

This coming Friday at 3pm Pacific Time, Alexander Laurence’s 

cutting edge 1-hour radio show, 

New Noise will broadcast live on RadioKAJW on Live365.

May 14 2021, Friday at 3pm PST. All new music and some old favorites 

for a great electronic disco party.

Live Streaming: https://live365. com/station/RadioKAJW-a51134

Listen to previous shows: https://www.mixcloud.com/infinitealexander/

Featuring APTBS, Blonde Redhead, Ladytron, Foxygen, and Talking Heads

NEW NOISE show 46 playlist
Friday May 14 2021 3pm
RADIO KAJW + PORTABLE INFINITE

BIRTHDAY WEEK SHOW PT2

part one
1. BLONDE REDHEAD "En Particulier"
2. LADYTRON "Seventeen"
3. Brian Jonestown Massacre "Nevertheless"
4. JAH WOBBLE "Visions of You" (feat. Sinead O'Connor)
5. THE NORMAL "Warm Leatherette"
6. SPARKS "This Town Ain't Big For Both Of Us"
7. MERCURY REV "Goddess On A Highway"

part two

8. PRIMAL SCREAM "Can't Go Back"

9. DEVENDRA BANHART "At The Hop"
10. APTBS "End of The Night"

11. FOXYGEN "How Can You Really?"

12. ALESSI'S ARK "Desert"

13. FIERY FURNACES "Here Comes The Summer"

14. GIANT DRAG "Tired Yet"

15. TALKING HEADS "Love > Building On Fire"

PORTABLE INFINITE LINKS:

Website: http://portable- infinite.blogspot.com/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/ portinfinite

Instagram: https://www. instagram.com/portable_ infinite/

RADIO KAJW Twitter: https://twitter.com/ radiokajw

NEW NOISE show 46 : the most comprehensive music

Coming this FRIDAY MAY 14th / 3pm PST

NEW NOISE w/ Alexander Laurence (The Portable Infinite) 

ONE HOUR ALL NEW MUSIC SHOW

ALWAYS NEW MUSIC KEEP YOUR DISTANCE

This coming Friday at 3pm Pacific Time, Alexander Laurence’s 

cutting edge 1-hour radio show, 

New Noise will broadcast live on RadioKAJW on Live365.

May 14 2021, Friday at 3pm PST. All new music and some old favorites 

for a great electronic disco party.

Live Streaming: https://live365. com/station/RadioKAJW-a51134

Listen to previous shows: https://www.mixcloud.com/infinitealexander/

Featuring APTBS, Blonde Redhead, Ladytron, Foxygen, and Talking Heads

PORTABLE INFINITE LINKS:

Website: http://portable- infinite.blogspot.com/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/ portinfinite

Instagram: https://www. instagram.com/portable_ infinite/

RADIO KAJW Twitter: https://twitter.com/ radiokajw

LATE NIGHT RADIO Special Edition 006 with Deer Tracks, Gliss, Foxygen and more

LATE NIGHT RADIO

Special Edition 006

NOVEMBER 2020

Alexander Laurence (The Portable Infinite)

This show includes many bands I have worked with and have a personal relationship with.

https://www.mixcloud.com/infinitealexander/late-night-radio-006-episode/

1. THE DEER TRACKS "Tiger"

2. GLISS "Gimme The Hit"

3. LILIES ON MARS "Dancing Star"

4. STILL CORNERS "Crying"

5. HEAVEN'S ALPHABET "Woman" remix (featuring Alessi's Ark)

6. MIRANDA LEE RICHARDS "Life Boat" (Neil Halstead remix)

7. NITE JEWEL "Boo Hoo"

8. MARISSA NADLER "Poison"

9. F.O.X. "I Am Electric" (live)

10. WIRE "12 Times You"

11. SAM FRANCE "God's In The Dark"

12. FOXYGEN "In The Darkness"

13. JONATHAN RADO "Seven Horses"

14. DUB THOMPSON "No Time

15. HALLOCK HILL "Work In Progress"

16. WEST INDIAN GIRL "Miles From Monterey"

17. SURFBORT "Les Be in Love"

18. THE WARLOCKS "Shake The Dope Out"

19. GIANT DRAG "This Isn't It"

PORTABLE INFINITE LINKS:

http://portable-infinite.blogspot.com/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/portinfinite

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/portable_infinite/

Band photos by Angel Ceballos

 

One of your favorite songs came on the radio ......

NEW NOISE 2020 w/ Alexander Laurence show 016 October 16th / 3pm PST

Coming this FRIDAY October 16th / 3pm PST

NEW NOISE w/ Alexander Laurence (The Portable Infinite) 

ONE HOUR ALL NEW MUSIC SHOW

This coming Friday at 3pm Pacific Time, Alexander Laurence’s cutting edge 1-hour radio show, New Noise will broadcast on RadioKAJW on Live365.

Oct 16th, Friday at 3pm PST. All new music and some old favorites for a great electronic disco party.

The story continues. The music returns.

Live Streaming: https://live365. com/station/RadioKAJW-a51134

Listen to previous shows: https://www.mixcloud.com/infinitealexander/

NEW NOISE 2020 show 16 playlist

Friday October 16th 2020 3pm

RADIO KAJW

part one

1. THE DICTATORS "New York, New York"

2. Wolfmanhatten Project "Summer Forever"

3. THE GUN CLUB "Run Through The Jungle" (cover)

4. ANIKA "Love Buzz" (cover)

5. CAMINA "Cinnamon"

6. M83 "Graveyard Girl"

7. THE FALL "Reformation"

https://www.mixcloud.com/infinitealexander/new-noise-show-16-part-one/

part two

8. FOXYGEN "Livin' A Lie"

9. THIS IS THE KIT "This Is What You Did"

10. MUNA "Stay Away"

11. Caroline Polachek "Queen of Tears"

12. WARM DRAG "Cave Crawl"

13. FAT WHITE FAMILY "Whitest Boy On The Beach"

14. SIGUR ROS "Glosoli" 

https://www.mixcloud.com/infinitealexander/new-noise-show-16-part-two/ 

PORTABLE INFINITE LINKS:

Website: http://portable- infinite.blogspot.com/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/ portinfinite

Instagram: https://www. instagram.com/portable_ infinite/

RADIO KAJW Twitter: https://twitter.com/ radiokajw