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Vox Eagle flies

The Vox Eagle Interview: On Recording In Colorado, Getting Bewitched By Breakbeats, And Being Fired From McDonalds

Vox Eagle falls from the sky with fresh sounds and optimism. Andy Crosby is an Aussie hailing from Sydney. He was tutored by him mom on classical flute and piano. Clearly showing his musical abilities from an early age, he began playing his music around the city playing the bar scene at 13 by utilizing 16 year old’s ID.  This solidified his love of the music scene, and he wanted to pursue this as his life long career option.
Ascertained from our lively chat, Andy clearly finds making music fun. He speaks easily and without self-consciousness. He explained he chose the name for his project because he “wanted something that was a mix between human and animal, so essentially a spirit animal. I also loved the eagle and wanted something that was a singing eagle, so (I) tried a bunch of words like ‘screaming eagle’, ‘eagle’s voice’…’loud eagle.’ I had briefly taken Latin in college so ended up with Vox, which equals voice”
When he was still in OZ he and his band were nearly signed, but their A&R man died (RIP Mr. Artists & Repertoire Man) before he and his band could move forward with their recording. So Andy popped off to New York City and inevitably wound up in Brooklyn. He quickly rented a small recording space. “It was a bit difficult to get 9 musicians into that space”. While in NYC, he began meeting hip hop artists and beat masters. This helped him begin to use those sounds in his musical repertoire. This comes through loud and clear on his latest EP, TriumAvium.
Exacting all he could from New York City, he decided it was time to move to a bigger space and found one in the western wilds of Colorado.  Plus he and his partner at the time had a rescue dog that just kept getting bigger and bigger. He felt bad that “Prince was stuck in a small city apartment and was getting sad and lonely”. Plus, the expenses of the city were weighting heavy.  He decided to move the fam out to Eugene, Colorado. He was familiar with Colorado as he had spent a year in Oregon in college and had visited. He liked the vibe of Colorado. So starting a new phase of his life, he and his partner tied the knot. “My wife is great plus she is an awesome cook!”  Both pluses, Andy.
Upon moving to small town Colorado 9000 feet in the sky, “Quite the switch from the noise of NYC”. He acclimated quickly.  He enjoys small town living. One downfall is small town cell phone chatting. He was telling me he had to sit by the router during our talk and we still lost our conversations twice.
Andy is quite the fan of doing things his way, not in a selfish controlling way, but in a way suited to the Vox Eagle vibe. He built his own studio referred to as the “Eagles Nest”. He claimed, “The worst part was sound proofing the studio before the snow came”  He worked tirelessly on new music and with a goal to find a sound different from his debut EP,  Flamingo Paradiso. He refers to the music as “jungle disco,” but other descriptors could well include tropical pop, dance pop or dream pop. He dropped his second EP on 10/9/18. The new EP has a more beat maker hip hop, yet danceable, feel. He was inspired by beat makers he met in Brooklyn. Their work ethic particularly enticed him. He claims he isn’t a rapper but he’s got the goods. The tracks on the EP, TriumAvium, have a synesthesia quality. People with synesthesia related to music may also have perfect pitch because their ability to see/hear colors aids them in identifying notes or keys. The colors triggered by certain sounds, and any other synesthetic visual experiences, are reflected in a photism quality to the music. When you listen to these songs that seamlessly ooze into one other, meshing seamlessly, you see color with the sounds.
The act of self-promotion comes easily to Andy. Some artists can’t handle this aspect. But he handles getting the word out and also posting on his social media platfroms like a champ. Follow him. We had a laugh that he would probably get out more music if he didn’t’ have to do all that. Still he is incredibly prolific. He hand picked the 6 songs on the EP but still has 300 demos and samples ready to go. He will drip feed more singles as the years goes along and  2019 enters the universe.
Andy’s music is tough to classify since he incorporates many different musical elements such as classic indie and electronic synth pop. Andy explains, “We wanted to keep the songs fun, lots of rhythmic beat driven stuff, experimental instrumentation and synth sounds.” The stunning album art (which both Andy and the interviewer see as a definite lost artform) showcases the duality of leaving the city rush to the open spaces of Colorado.
Completely different from the first EP,  uplifting, grooving songs self described as jungle disco make up Flamingo Paradise. The vibrant  ‘Come OH Ver’, evokes elements of tropical psychedelia. This track ripples with fluid synth beats and unexpected rhythms.
I’ll be your king
You’ll be the queen
have you a secret
see what I am seeing

The cover art of the single is particularly intoxicating since it’s nod to that ‘teased hair, heavy eyeliner and lit cig, doe eyed gamine girl chock full of insouciance’ album cover look that hasn’t been in style since 1971.
The first single dropped off the first EP was “No Sleep”. It’s a trippy ride, and the heavy-handed synths and infectiously repetitive lyrics, “No sleep/No sleep for the wicked /NO” creates a startling paradox within the many hidden hooks. Follow the boys in the video scooting around Vegas in a convertible like Puffy and Mase in 96. If this track were released in 2007 it would have been MGMT platinum level, baybee. I read that the song was mastered and produced in a 48 hour fever dream, and after speaking to Andy I don’t doubt this for a second. This is just how the dude operates.
The version of “No Sleep” on this EP is a more enhanced version of the one dropped last year on Flamingo Paradise. Both versions kick. He is clearly having fun with this song. This version is heavier on the electronics and his ability to flip the script from a dance-floor bound number to a more reserved ambient tune shows you the depth of Vox Eagle.
“No we don’t talk no more baby girl/ We just wander”  Andy shares vocals with Pierre Fontaine on “Wander”, a brilliant beat master song with Pierre coming in the rap “Don’t’ mess with my mental… I trust my gut cause I know what works.” The vocals slide in behind the cinematic opening.  “I see you got a new house, new man/I saw it all on Instagram.”
“Sweet Temptations” opens up with crackling guitar and ripe, breezy synth, bringing to mind ocean waves lapping along the shore. “I was falling for those sweet temptations/ sensations wrestles never forgot this take it or leave it.
I will take it
Strike it in
It’s got a wildly infectious beat. The cascading synth sounds like wind chimes in a hurricane. And the sudden end is both wildly confusing and perfectly natural.
“Salvation” rings with sizzling zest. The warm vocals on this track, coupled with the Autumn-crisp electronics, would make Delia Derbyshire proud.
Andy features in a si
Vox Eagle comes at a time where it’s tough to find music devoid of heavy handed takes on “The Issues”, and I for one fully welcome this exuberant, talented and humorous musician to my pantheon. Rock on, Andy.

Fun fact:
Andy got fired from McDonalds in high school because he got stoned before work and got caught eating fries straight out of the warmer.
Vox Eagle aka Stoner Fry Master.

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