PHOXJAW – “190 Proof” Artist of the Month (December 2018)

Every now and then, a band comes along and stops us cold in our tracks. It’s always a singular moment, defined either by a recent live performance, where we were enchanted from their vantage point on stage or after their record starts spinning. Either way, there are moments when we fall in love with artists, and it’s exactly this type of admiration that’s inspired us to start our 190 Proof Artist of the Month.

This showcases musical acts that have truly done something special and are picked by several members of the PureGrainAudio staff. You can’t go wrong with anything by a band that has made it onto this esteemed list. For those musicians and artists out there that are looking to get some hard-earned recognition, we are always on the lookout for anything that melts our face off or tears out our hearts.

Band: Phoxjaw
Month: December, 2018
Genres: Alternative Rock, Noise Rock, Hardcore
Location: Bristol, England

It’s no “Lottery” whether you’ll like this song or not – it’s a banger.

It’s fun watching a band rise up to prominence in the buzzing UK rock scene. Phoxjaw have been on our radar for a couple of months now, but it was when their EP dropped that we sat up and took notice. In fact, Goodbye Dinosaur… is so strong that we have made the Bristol quintet our “190 Proof” Artist of the Month for December.

The band refer to themselves as “noisemakers and brain shakers” and that really says it all when describing what you’ll hear and feel listening to Phoxjaw. Ever since they formed, only two years ago, in the summer of 2016, there has been an old school, indie buzz surrounding them. They’re noisy and heavy, with a sort of grunge and old-school English punk vibe connected to them, which fits perfectly within the confines of a loud, sweaty club, jampacked with more people than it can hold.

Comprised of singer and bassist, Danny Garland, guitarist Josh Gallop, keyboardist Hux Allen and drummer Kieran Gallop, the group’s members are all veterans of the Bristol rock music scene. Josh and Kieran were playing in Day Of A Thousand and Danny was a member of Black Elephant and, when each band decided to part ways, Phoxjaw came about.

When that occurred, the blueprint for the group was to fuse elements from Day Of A Thousand and Black Elephant, while adding unique elements while maintaining a high energy level. They just released their Goodbye Dinosaur… EP which has caught a lot of attention from the UK music press. The album is available now via Bandcamp. With Goodbye Dinosaur… just having been released, which includes some dinosaur-related song titles, we thought, what better topic to discuss with the band than dinosaurs? Vocalist/bassist Daniel Garland dropped some humorous knowledge to our left-field questions, which you can read below after listening to their chunky heavy sound.

The Goodbye Dinosaur… EP dropped on November 16, 2018.

A Few Quick Questions with Phoxjaw:

Firstly, thanks for your time with these weird questions! Let’s kick off with some knowledge… What is your favorite dinosaur fact?
Danny Garland: No worries PureGrain, I imagine your harvest is ripe. As for facts, Barney the Dinosaur ended up becoming a tantric sex guru.

What is your favorite film featuring dinosaurs? (Bonus points if not Jurassic Park).
Garland: Jurassic Park.

Which band member resembles which dinosaur, (personality-wise or physically)? And who would be most likely to dress as a dinosaur onstage?
Garland: Joshy G (guitarist and producer) would be the velociraptor, very intelligent and makes sharp decisions. Kieray G (drummer) would be a triceratops – he likes to eat his veg and chill out. Huwwie A (keys), a pachycephalosaur banging his head against everything like a nutter. Alexandra G (guitars) – yutyrannus cause he spreads those feathers all over your vision, baby. And finally, Danny G (bit of bass, bit of singing) – a ceratosaur, ‘cuz I’m the danger, mother******.

Except for Goodbye Dinosaur, which is the greatest song or band related to dinosaurs?
Garland: Dinosaur Jr I’ve got a lot of time for, ya know. The kind of time spent shoving their CB into the hi-fi unit or slamming their vinyl on the spinny pad. J Mascis is a tone wizard – I love their vibe.

Check out one of the many tracks in Phoxjaw’s arsenal, “Weapons.”

Do you think dinosaurs have (or, had) emotions?
Garland: Yes, I believe so. They probably listened to The Smiths and Death Cab they were that emotional.

If we broke the laws of the animal kingdom and you could communicate with dinosaurs, what question(s) would you ask them?
Garland: No sugar – leave teabag in Builders tea.

Let’s say you visit the site of the crater that wiped out the dinosaurs (in Chicxulub, not far from my house). What surprises you more, the lack of a major monument to mark the occasion (except the little one seen below), or the fact that you can swim in the crater as part of the bottom of the beach (the water depth is completely flat for a kilometer)?
Garland: I love swimming – I won all the badges when I was a baby, so I will be in that crater for a swim, definitely. Stick on some scuba stuff and I will show you how to find all the rare crustaceans.

Finally, when can we expect you to play a concert in Chicxulub?
Garland: Honestly as soon as possible, let’s make it like Pink Floyd Live In Pompeii. I want to play everywhere, but in the meantime if you’ve got a sofa I can stay on, I’ll come check this crater out, it sounds like a nice day out, and if you’re ever in Bristol, I know some nice walks that could entertain a border collie (or any canine, to be honest).

Last but certainly not least, we encourage you to play with some “Victorian Dolls”.