Fox Menagerie on Code Zero Radio's Fox Cities Core

broadcasting live out of a basement in Appleton Wisconsin you're tuned in to Fox Cities core on WCR code Zer radio with a show that gives you an opportunity to call in and be a part of the show our call in line is 920 358 [Music] 0795 core our next guest today really excited to have them here uh based out of the Fox Cities my next guests aren't your typical band They feature a rotating cast musicians the band is known for a mix of original and reimagined covers they film it in the setting of a school library I'd like to welcome Joe selia and Dave jerbec foxity core how are you guys doing today EXC pretty good thanks for having us lots of anxiety over saying your names on that last part but I'm glad it's finally over the hard Parts over you guys have done something that is incredible like you it's it's amazing what you guys have done I'll start out just leaving it there you both have been in the music scene for quite some time but there is a a YouTube page and a Facebook page probably other socials I don't know about but you guys have recorded a lot of original music and reimagine covers with just a variety of musicians from the Fox Cities whose idea was that oh we must have thought it an idea exact same time right we're probably listening to some scary pockets and we're like man this is awesome we should do this like in the Fox Valley that was basically like the I think the impetus of it yeah the scary Pockets were a big influence and then they came to ashkash last summer for the ashkash JazzFest and I think we were both there and just maybe the light two summers ago already two summers yeah and you know just to uh see the culmination of what they do and and and then bringing it to the to the people of Oshkosh and everybody just enjoying it ex extremely that's that was probably like the maybe the definitive moment like yeah we could we could do this right here with our own Rich uh deep well of amazing talents in the Fox Valley well and did you know how much work it was going to be when you when you first started thinking of the idea you obviously needed a place to do it you needed some probably equipment you had some I'm guessing before but like when you undertook it how was the learning process was it as hard to get off the ground as maybe imagined easier perhaps yeah I mean there there definitely is a lot of work in it um but I don't know it it didn't seem like any harder than what we were already doing being in bands and loading things and and dealing with all the equipment um you know and and with the band that we also have played in for a long time called slide Joe and the smooth operators that's often also a rotating cast of sometimes a dozen people on stage so so you know in that respect dealing with uh a large group of musicians and trying to organize schedules and things like that I guess we were already in motion with that with what we' already been doing so it it didn't seem all that much more difficult just uh the consistency I think is probably the probably the most challenging part that I can think of today is that we know we're still trying to release a video every single Thursday and thankfully we've been able to keep that uh deadline sometimes like recording on that Sunday afternoon and then having a video do on the Thursday so it's a really quick turnaround to get a decent mix cuz anything that I'll like I'll do the mix and then I'll send some um mix's renders down to Joe and he'll check it out like ah you know let's tweak it a little bit here and um you know bring up the vocal or whatnot um so that back and forth quick meeting that deadline some sometimes we don't get things posted till like Wednesday night at midnight just trying to get that deadline for Thursday at 6:00 a.m. but that's a struggle but as far as like some of the equipment I had a spare X32 rack mixer so I used that just going into my computer and using logic and so we had most of the equipment already just kind of already put together so that part wasn't too difficult well this making these videos isn't your only job if it was I'm sure it would be a little easier is it is it difficult to fit the in with the self-imposed deadline of one a week into your everyday lives well yeah I mean it you know any any Adventure like this you know especially creative ones it's you know you're going to have to sacrifice that time from something else so um you know for me I guess um since I've quite for quite a while most of my daytime hours are spent in sort of creative processes Studio stuff whether I'm in writing sessions or mixing sessions or or sometimes producing things for other people too so that was already sort of my daytime mode so to to fit this in to work with all the various artists and singers that we're working with um it wasn't too much of a stretch you know it did sure it probably will take a little time away from maybe my own personal things but you know for the outcome of it and and what we do for you know the the musical community and the music lover community of the a I feel like it's a it's a fair trade off and uh um you know we we've kind of got it down now where we're um we're trying to block off just it usually ends up being just a couple of days a month with the actual here we are recording with everybody so um you know it is it is a time commitment and then all the post and pre- stuff that goes into it but um feels like it's a pretty good cause I'm very fortunate my wife lets me devote pretty much anytime from when I get home from my 95 job that I can like start on mixing and then take a break for supper and then we go back to it so um so I'm very very fortunate in that regard but we also since it's like the same drum kit from session to session um we're using like the same D for the most part I can like reuse plugins so it's not like having to craft a mix from scratch every time I can quick like put the last plugins in get the general mix and then just start tweaking some levels from there so it's really not a huge time commitment but um obviously if there's more musicians involved sometimes getting those mixes right can take a little bit more time so you know there have been some late nights occasionally here and there but um it's a definitely a passion project so I really enjoy doing it indeed yeah it's all it's all for the love at this point like we were talk talking about before with with a lot of of band things you know when you're when you're trying to launch a musical project to some especially something that's a little more creative or original or unique it a lot of times you're just investing so much time effort money and you know often you don't know if it's if it what the fruits of that are going to be and they might not be any until years later or um but this one this this this has felt pretty good as far as the you know the investment of time and the return of just I don't know love support that we're for getting from not only from their musician family but it seems like the the music lovers of the area are really responding very kindly to it too so it's you I feel like if we if we maybe didn't have that encouragement maybe it wouldn't have gone on as into our almost two years of this now yeah it's not like it's generated any money it's it's just been the love of it and getting to meet new musicians there's been several um guests of Fox managerie people that have been involved I had never even met and I think the same for you they've been people I known and just come in and um getting to play with somebody you knew is always like a treat for sure mhm well you both have been embedded in the scene for quite some time I think it would be useful for the the listeners and people watching to hear how each of you got involved in music and how you kind of came up in the music scene yeah well I think you could go you've probably been in the Fox Valley or was like Central Wisconsin music scene maybe longer than I have even my uh Roots start in the PO industry my dad is tuanan he um if there's any U poke fans out there he had played with the dick Rogers TV and recording Orchestra and Tour the World playing tuba with them and then uh later on formed his own band and then when he had kids he encouraged all of us to be part of it and playing it and that started with my older brother Danny who's a phenomenal multi-instrumentalist endorses honer accordians um he's been a guest on Fox managerie countless times too but playing trumpet clarinet basically anything uh that he picks up he can play but um so he's been a huge influence um played with him most of my life um then there's Ensemble copper box we started that around College time and that's like an Americana type Ensemble and um his wife Michelle my sister-in-law is amazing multi-instrumentalist too so I've been playing with her a very long time probably 20 some years I think and uh um and then when I got my job being a high school band director for the wi County Community School District s I'm a little nervous I don't know why but um you could have some more coffee man I should yeah a little too much coffee um but then I became the high school band director in Winn count R 2006 and I did that for like 14 15 years I think and then then the last four years I've been the technology director for the win count Community School District and uh but anyway when I got the high school band gig I wasn't able really to play or commit to Copper box as much so right around that time we started playing with the smooth operators and uh then Joe and I have been playing almost ever since even when you took that time to go to Nashville I think but you can tell your story now yeah even then we still we still got together play a few times oh definitely yeah um well I think it must I think it was about the late 90s that I uh entered the Fox Valley music scene and and you know quickly fell in love with what it was and and still to this day no matter where I've gone and lived it it's you know it's it's the magnet that that certainly has pulled me back Time After Time and before that I I grew up near waaw and um you know as a as a teenager did did the did the garage band thing and uh was always playing in bands and we were pretty much from the get-go really already using Recording Technology to sort of enhance what we were doing creatively and and learning about you know at the time it was four track recorders with little cassettes in there and learning how you could layer tracks and bounce things and mix things and then re add things to it so that process was always fascinating so when I was sort of getting towards the end of high school and didn't really have any plans about what to do afterwards except you know just being a band and rock the world um my band director actually he found out that uh W oskos had a Recording Technology Program and you could go to college and like be in a recording studio every day and I thought that sounded awesome so that's that's how I ended up in a go um quickly met uh the guys who had form this band something fonic that I played in for about eight years or so and and we did the whole thing too we did a lot of recording we toured and that was great great fun and that's you know met a lot of people that way but uh I think it was after that band sort of dissolved that um spent more time with Dave with Mike Underwood former of the smooth operators uh the Jazz orgy was pretty pivotal in that too cuz the Jazz ory has you know a lot of parallels with what we do where they are you know they're sort of this family of musicians and it's it's wide you know there's week to week you know Jam to jam you're going to see some of the same people but a lot of new people who are coming and going and some stick around longer so you know they they are certainly uh also an influence not only on what we do but what a lot of musicians in the valley do um and just the spirit of you know improvisation and things you know often times uh evolving and changing from session even if it's the same song you might be uh hearing it a little differently session to session so yeah I guess uh I think that brings us up to speed well you so Dave mentioned you know the the family music like music was in the family Joe was it the same for you like you didn't play guitar until I think you were 16 I heard you mention at one point um well you know I my uh my mom played piano and so did her maybe her grandma something like that so it it wasn't like a musical huge musical family just a couple people did um but having you know since my mom played a little bit there was always a little piano in the house and so that really I got interest in that in a in a big way and um and I did you know did piano lessons and did all that up until till probably uh about 13 or so and then uh you know up until that point if if there was anybody in my little school that played music it was it was piano like I didn't know anybody who played guitar I'd never seen a kid do that I don't think I'd hardly ever seen growing up St it in my personal life but you know getting to uh getting to Junior High into the bigger school um joining the the Jazz Band in seventh grade I was sitting on the piano and there's there's kids next week who were playing guitars and bases and drums and they're my age and I I was blown away by it so it's it's funny cuz the guitar player sat right near me and we were just like you know I don't know if you've ever been in in band or anything in high school but like the Rhythm Section is kind of notorious for just like noodling all the time while the band director trying to like work with the trumpet section like no dud it die and they hear in the background and always yelling at the Rhythm Section but that was that was a guitar player I me trading off rips I'd be playing like you know that you might remember that um there's like that Van Halen song that was famous at the time with the not that one it was right now the very like you know Eddie was a classical piano player too um so like we be now was that it was it right now yeah Crystal Pepsi which there's a funny story about that too but anyway you know doing a little riff he'd figur that out and he'd be playing like a riff to Stairway to Heaven or enter Sam man or something I'd be figuring that on piano and and I mean that's it's a pretty organic way to start a band when you're just like you know it's proximity too isn't it I mean that's that's part of what you know why the fox manager is what it is because we have proximity to all these amazing people which you know like we mentioned before the influence of the scary Pockets like they're in La so they have proximity to some amazing musicians too but you know here in the valley in ashkash like I feel like the caliber is equal like we have the same amount of just amazing amazing people people that you know um are all kind of getting to play together now it it's evident from watching those videos you both can play as far as as the musicality of it goes it obviously is a huge asset to be able to change keys and songs or do things on the fly as far as the process goes for foxman AER without jumping too far ahead how difficult much more difficult would this be if you both weren't musically trained I think it'd be very difficult it would probably at least extend you know the time that we have to commit to it I mean having a shared vocabulary of okay it's a 145 progression um being able to communicate like that like quickly just makes it just so much more efficient I think but it could still be done I think it's just like you might have to play Parts instead of Joe making an arrangement where he has it all notated like this is the melody line or if we have to come up with a horn line just so we're not sitting there like hey let's just write a horn line right now we can have it in advance like hey memorize it if you can and um just be prepared to play it and then if you want to take a solo on the chorus the third time through you know just having that type of vocabulary just I think makes it so with with the process how does it typically work are you finding people you know from past projects are you just kind of seeing somebody at a show and then thinking hey they'd be a good fit for this or how does the process start yeah I think it's all all of the above from that and you know as Dave alluded to earlier there are I would say the majority of sessions we do he or I are meeting somebody for the first time who either we've seen play and admired or not even ever heard play you but the other person has and um but you know as he as he was mentioning the you know the sort of the caliber of the musicians it it's very helpful that that everybody's really proficient and able to to move and think on the Fly I mean there has been sessions where we've had to you know completely changed Keys cuz the singer all of a sudden had a cold that morning and couldn't couldn't do the notes so it's like all right everybody now we're going to be three half steps lower and and you know 5 10 minutes of figuring it out and then we're good to go cuz you know as we mentioned with the whole passion project thing everybody involved is just contributing their time and talents for free like and we make that clear like this is this is just for grins this is just for the love of it right now it's just for fun and I would say almost almost everybody is on board right away and it uh that I think that's a testimony to what we do and and the you know the the caliber of the music and um you know that being said we want to make sure that we're not uh using too much of their time so we want to make sure the sessions are you know within this time window that everybody comes in prepared to start with and you know that we can get them home because a lot of times we're doing it on the weekend uh early days like before gigs and you know outside of regular work hours so we try to make sure that it's just a brief window so they can kind of get on with the rest of their day and just have this little little fun session right in the middle of it well there's so many moving Parts because not only is the singer changing which I think would be a pretty stressful position for them to be in but it's also as you mentioned a lot of the musicians are also learning things that they might not have known before or your Originals that I think it's amazing how many songs you you have like when when you're contacting does it start at the singer or does it start with the band like when you're getting one of the sets ready or one of the shows are you thinking of let's get these musicians together this this person this person this person and then let's find somebody to sing or is it we've got a singer now let's fill a Bandon it's been a mix of both sometimes sometimes we'll have like oh man this drummer like we got to get him in here so we'll just kind of have them set aside um but sometimes musicians are very specific to their skill set that they play too so you don't want to have like a rock and roll guitar player when it's going to be um maybe a um a Latin type of project you know you want to fit the musicians where their strengths will be but it's also kind of fun too if they're comfortable with it like taking them out of that like typical gen and see what happens and that's always fun too but you had one recently that it's like I didn't expect it because it was something that you would typically expect it was Mark Goldie doing the the ELO cover yeah because he's kind of it seems like he's kind of tried to stray away from that in the past so it was it was a nice surprise to actually see that song him doing that song which how did you convince him to do that did it take a little convincing it was a you know it was a nice surprise for me too because he's the one who ins that whole thing I was doing a session um with another uh talented singer songwriter who's been featured in the managerie Amelia Grace um but I was I was doing some some recording with her at rock garden and Mark and I and and and Dave and all of us have known each other for as long as we've been around here in the valley so yeah it's you mentioned that it's very funny cuz the the ELO comparisons have pretty much been hanging around him forever so for him to propose that idea uh it's an inter ing I don't know uh surrender on his part I suppose and just letting it be and uh and you know a lot of times we're we're steering the course of of the sessions but um you every once in a while somebody you know like Mark or somebody will approach us like hey this would be a cool thing let's try something like this and and he actually had the suggestion to make it that sort of uh Latin feel kind of the the chaa feel to it to you know cuz you know you mentioned the word how you were nicely surprised and that is one of our main aims with the group is that when we do especially with the covers because you know you can go out any weekend at any you know any local bar and and see somebody playing a cover just like they heard it on the radio last just put on the original recording if you want I mean it's already been done so so the the surprise element is is key and I and I try to lay that out to everybody we work with like like when we're thinking of songs to do uh what can we do that's going to be like fresh surprising delightful and you know I like to dig into Nostalgia a little bit too so I'll I'll talk with a singer and say all right think about when you were you know in high school when you were a teenager and music was like you know that that's the point where we start to sort of Forge our own musical identity like we're you know we we grow up and to a certain point we're kind of influenced by what our parents play around the house our older siblings and then I feel like right around teen years you start to like really take ownership of the music you seek out and love and that stays with you I feel like forever so it's fun for for some singers to kind of dig back into those years and find a song and usually it's a song that for me my favorite ones are the songs that were like so ubiquitous with the time that they were just like in the atmosphere and you couldn't get away from them and you for me like those kind of songs I just start to dismiss them after a while because they're just part of the White Noise the static in the air so to take those songs and like Revitalize them with a new groove or a new some kind of thing about it that really like you know it kind of breathes a new life into some you know these songs are often really really good songs but they just you know they got oversaturated and and you know you need a decade or two away from them and then you can come back inject some fresh life into them and then a nice surprise well your Originals as well how are you working out which original to work on with each artist you give them a access to a bunch of them or do you just send one that you think will fit their their vocal range or their Style uh yeah a little both you know with with a lot of the singers that we work with some of them are also songwriters so that's great for me because I you know a big part of my life you know certainly the well actually most you know most of my time playing music from like when I when I got into my first bands in my teen years collaboration was at the heart of it you know and we're working on songs together so to to work with sing who are also into that into writing uh it's great cuz we'll just collaborate and make something new uh specifically for the project coming up and it's you know having the you know we talked about the deadline before how we're trying to you know keep things coming out every Thursday so that helps too like when you're in a creative project and you know that well the session's booked in two or three weeks so like this session like this writing session right now like let's get to it and let's let's make sure we come away with something that we're happy with um but then you know there are other singers who are just great singers and maybe not as interested in in that world or don't have the time to get into writing or creating something new so then yeah I'll I'll kind of get into their um into their into their world a little bit their musical world and then you I'll dig through my My Vault and and find you know five 10 tracks that I feel like yeah they might these might be in their in their wheelhouse and I'll send them a little folder and you know what almost every time I've done that I've been I've been surprised by the ones they pick it's not the ones that I think like they'll they'll tell me which ones that they they gravitate towards to and and almost every time I'm a little bit surprised and pleasantly so but and this is for sure Joe is by far the best songwriter in the Fox Valley maybe ever but that's no understatement and there's no bigger fan of his original music than me maybe your mom your mom you my mom have arm wrest that one um often times like I'm like Joe we got to do this song like so we'll try to find a singer that might be good for that too as well but you know he has such a huge catalog and there's so many wonderful songs on there like that's what's super exciting too it's like we have this huge well to draw from just for the future so it's pretty pretty selfless as well like you're giving somebody a song to sing that that you might not have recorded or you you're not really getting The Upfront credit for it somebody else is going to sing it and kind of bask in the the light of it so it's a pretty selfless thing and it I think it's pretty cool so so the songwriting is impressive but so is recording that audio let's talk about the audio and then let's talk about the video after so you're you're doing a lot of recording with you have a recording history of of learning about how to record bands how did that tie into this are you learning still well as Joe had mentioned earlier UD Wu ashkash has an amazing Recording Technology Program and being a music Major like they were taking like all the same like music classes I was as a music education major so like I had a bunch of Roommates that were like recording Tech Majors so you know they would come home after class I'd check out their textbook or we'd be working on the same type of uh recording program I would watch what they do um and credit to Mark Goldie too like I've done a bunch of recording sessions at rock garden over the years and I'm always trying to pay attention and see like what he's doing cuz he's the master and stuff so and uh Tony Anders is another amazing recording engineer in the area so anybody I've ever tried to work with you know just taking things away from them and Joe I don't know if you've ever heard any of like the Smooth Operator stuff but Joe did all the recording for that and he's phenomenal so just having him assist with all the stuff is amazing so well you're not only playing but you're making sure that the mix sounds good that's complexity I think adds to the it could be disorienting sometimes because if I'm tracing like an XLR cable that's not working or if there's some part of the system that like the click's not working now so I'll be out of the music performance mindset chasing some technical glitch quick fix that because everybody's waiting they want to get the recording started um so yeah just trying to get in the right frame of mind it's a lot of hats to wear for sure but um a lot a lot of preparation there's a there's a a whole lot that happens before we hit the red button and on both of our ends you know because you know his his uh expertise is in that area and he'll have the library all you know him and his wife too who's the librarian and the camera woman Dana J the hostess yeah the mostess but they so there're they're they're there hours ahead of time setting everything up um whereas I'm you know spending hours ahead of time in the preparation of of the material and getting the singer and the band prepped so it's um yeah there's I think like like any I mean even if you see a great band out live it's not like you know they just showed up and turned it on like they also had to you know prepare and practice and write and arrange and and then hopefully they show up and when the when the curtain opens they can just launch in and and uh and amaz you know well Dave you mentioned something I was going to ask you about see you play it to a click uh Dana is video taping everything yep us taping video recording everything but uh so there it looks like at times there's Clips or there 's like a edit in the video so since you're playing two click does that is the main purpose of that not only to keep people on track but to also we could splice in between various takes if needed it's something that we try to avoid because I think it's much more impressive if you can get a continuous take this all the way through often times people may not notice and maybe it's more abrupt if there's only like one cut in the video but um sometimes they're just unavoidable you got to like splice takes but it's definitely the goal to get a continuous take start to finish but having the click makes it a lot easier because maybe you did take one a little bit faster or you know versus take six whatnot but Dana does such a good job of weaving in and out of of the band and kind of going around people while they're playing she ever bump in anybody or take ever get ruined because she gets you know somebody off track or off focus I don't think so no she's she's pretty Flawless in her technique by this point even even from the get-go she had she headed down from the from the early ones too and I know she had done a lot of research on her own and watching a lot of videos that were inspiring to see how some of the one take things were done but yeah I mean she she came in pretty uh pretty good right from the go for me like my personal favorite like live performance video is vulf peek in Madison Square Garden it was like right before covid hits was this like amazing performance they had sold it out and Ryan lman from scary Pockets the guitar player he's the one that film the whole thing and he did it basically on a gimbal with an iPhone and for me that's like the most amazing like footage because how he's weaving in so it's been something that Dana and I have watched a bunch to try to draw inspiration and style and a huge credit to Dana too um not only is like the technique and what she's capturing great but she always makes all the musicians feel like super comfortable smiling at them and just um that's a huge part because anybody's going to be a little self-conscious like being in front of the camera and like you know it can be a little unnerving um knowing that a bunch of people are going to see you perform and that it's out there um but she is definitely the secret weapon I think for Fox managerie just making just the whole experience super wonderful so MH mhm so once a track is recorded you've got the video footage then it goes to you Dave to to edit it what's your process with that and how long does it take you to turn around to one video video is super easy so I already have like the credit 10 temp plate um I just Popp in the um the video from the iPhone into Final Cut Pro the camera already has like audio on it so I know like you know I can line it up to like where the drum the snare is hitting you know pretty loud line that up with the um the mix that I do in logic and yeah that's basically it I mean there's not a huge um difficulty or time uh investment in that is does the mix take more time obviously like it when you have something recorded is the mix normally good to go at that point or do you have to do any sweetening to it well if we record on a Sunday afternoon I'll get like all of the various takes to Joe in like a pretty rough mix I would say it's like great but by that night so then we have like the next couple of days to like oh I think take four was the best or if we do have to splice oh we need the first part of take three combined with with take six you know and um then that requires more time with video too so if it's a continuous take it's you just line up the audio with the video from that take and it's it's super easy but if I have to start combining like various stuff with the video then that will be more time involved in getting that to line up right have you ever had to pull the plug on on any videos no has anybody ever backed out last minute without naming names um um kind of I guess within like a few days so then so then Joe just did like uh he was the feature vocalist it was awesome we've got we've got some backup plans and you did uh the whole Spotify you guys put a lot of the stuff up on Spotify there's I think 29 songs that you've uploaded so you not only have the videos up there but also made them available for people to listen to which I appreciate yeah we still got a Spotify and uh Apple music the streaming services haven't been like a huge like priority um it's like when we have time to do it like then we get them uploaded but um yeah we still got to get those out that's definitely a goal to get the rest of our catalogue out on those uh platforms soon yeah have you heard of have you heard of those box sets where they drop like eight CDs at once like you know I think that's probably in our future cuz we got about that much material that's just you know still yet to be released in those format but I I agree it's nice to have those have something that you can just you know play in the car when you're riding somewhere or you know put on your playlist and things like that that's uh well so you guys also started playing shows live which which is great I mean that so that aspect you're taking it from the library out I know you've done a handful of them at least I know you did a bunch last year um how how was that process to get out and play some of those songs in front of people was it a good response yeah we kind of followed the scary Pockets format where obviously Fox managerie features a huge family of musicians and stuff so but when we saw scary pacas perform they brought three vocalists with them um a core Rhythm Section so it's like it at least makes the preparation for those live shows a little bit easier if you have at least like a core Ensemble that you can go out and play shows with but it's been fun to be able to play those songs live and just get another opportunity to perform them and with amazing caliber of musicians um that's been so much fun yeah I think you had John Wheelock was featured at a bunch of those and he did a holiday show this year too oh we sure did yeah that was great that was a uh it turned into a little bit of a fundraiser event too so we were able to raise some money for some good causes and um and you know play some of our our favorite holiday music which you know you get a very brief window to do it every year so that's always I look forward to to December for for that reason and how about Joe's uh Christmas Originals they're they're so amazing so much fun to play when you put put the whole uh put a whole Christmas album up this year on Spotify as well sure did yeah yeah Joe yeah Joe's got a his own whole Christmas CD so you've got like you're credited with like two full albums of Christmas songs at this point who knows what else you have floating around well the other one I think you're alluding to was a uh a slid Jo and the smooth operators disco Funk holiday experience which that was actually another uh fundraiser event we we worked for a long time with a local nonprofit called babes which is like a sort of a A respit Center for Families going through some domestic issues and uh but they would come to us every year every couple times a year with a themed show like oh we're going to do a a country line dancing theme can you put put together a set of this and one year it was we're going to do a a disco Christmas show so you know a lot of the stuff on on that it was a it was at the PAC in one of their one of their rooms and uh so a lot of that stuff is traditional Christmas songs but you know we threw a disco beat put some horns in there arranged a little bit differently I don't I think at that time I don't think I had written any Christmas songs yet that was only something that I started uh getting into uh when I was in Nashville there was one of my one of my collaborators who's goes by the name Christmas Corey cuz he like he writes almost exclusively Christmas not not totally but he's definitely has a bigger catalog of Christmas songs than anyone I know so when we got together we started writing those and you know it it reunited me with my love for that genre of of you know of music so uh yeah that's that started happening maybe in just in the last 10 years it's a different holiday you fox managerie did a version of Thriller which went in a different direction than the original which pretty challenging watching that it you realize that some of these songs are really challenging to sing and she did a really good job on that one but everybody was dressed up uh so that to prepare for that one it probably took a little bit longer in some aspects but again it's something you're not expecting and then you you see it I also saw cameos from like Illuminati in in some of your recent ones and I think it's pretty neat to see people from the scene just all of a sudden in the background playing Jake Crow so he didn't have a whole lot of Charisma I'm just kidding Jake was like born for that frontman position I love the RO thing that he does in the video the camera comes in a it's like so cool yeah but you probably on the flip of the coin you probably have some people going there that like mentioned that aren't Dana does a good job making him feel comfortable but there's probably people that don't feel as charismatic in front of you know a camera being front and center MH but again it turns out the end product always just delivers like I don't know how you do it but you pull the performance out um as far as the future plans for you guys is there anything that is coming up that you're maybe working on or maybe to take this to the next level we're always interested when other artists are back in the area maybe they have roots in the Fox Valley like Kirsty who lives in Nashville now um we've had guests like that so if there's any other artists that are rolling through the area and they want to be involved um that's always a welcome invitation to those people and we got some great shows this summer it's going to be super fun waterfest um big stage it's going to be good time in ashkash um few shows sprinkled out throughout the summer so be fun to do something pick the one in ashkash you're playing with um Steely danne right mhm nice that should be a good show yeah should be yeah and I know that you you've played that stage both of you multiple times but it's still like it does it still have the excitement of of playing a bigger a bigger show yeah I would say so uh you know like a the leech again yeah yeah I mean that it it it does have that element to it and and just the uh you know the the care and attention they take to those shows and the the big production the big crowds but I don't know I mean I I get just excited about us playing at some local park or you know the a winery a winery or the the Oshkosh Main Street Festival that Ben boster has been putting on you know doing those you know I I feel like uh I'm pretty content when we reach just our local you know neighborhood audience um because you know they they love it they come out they support it um you know I think that's probably a big thing that's changed in my in my attitude towards music growing you know from from being a teenager and even in college and bands like the all the idea was always like we got to get our music to the whole world we got a tour everywhere make sure everybody knows and loves our music and I think the the The more I've aged the more I'm like no we need to find like the smallest viable audience that there is and just like you know play for our our street our our neighborhood you know like one of our first gigs was in in winnon at their was it Fourth of July Fest or something like that and sovereign state days Sovereign yeah sovereign state days in in Winn count and that was like one maybe our first gig as the fox managerie but like that's I I love it kind of starting from this this this tight little point and and you know maybe it can spiral from there like a like a Galaxy might but and there there couldn't even be anybody in the audience just playing for the other people in The Ensemble is like an enjoyment cuz you're having a conversation in some sense and you don't know how these songs are going to turn out and sometimes a New Harmony will pop up in a spot it's just really just the experience of playing with these amazing musicians that makes it worthwhile I think so how is the the scene around here changed Joe you've been in it since you said the late 90s MH theyave him that like 1980s focusing yeah right so you guys have both been in it for a while like how have you the scene change we've obviously gone through some different phases that's a good question you know I uh yeah I guess I see more of the ways that it's just been consistent the whole time and um you know things change as far as like the technolog available and like you know now if I put out a a case of CDs like I I noticed the change there I remember that distinctly happen you're like oh weird like we we used to sell CDs at our shows people were so excited about that and then and then it was T-shirts instead like you know I mean it's it's okay I guess it's got her name on it and maybe they'll go and stream the songs and uh but as far as you know the heart of the heart of the Valley and the Heart of the musical Community I feel like that's it's it's always been strong it's always and maybe with the rise of social media now maybe even more so supportive that I just I see people always raising each other up and very public ways which um and again I don't know if that's new maybe it's just more more visible now that people are spending more time on on social media and and you know posting things like that so I guess from my viewpoint more has just been consistent in the same rather than changing but I I'm I'm not sure I think I know more local bands just through social media being able to see like what they're posting online um bands that I may not have been aware of of you know before you know the Advent of social media for all its pros or all its cons you know it definitely has a its benefits of just opening us or at least me to different artists that are in the area and what you're doing Andy like this is amazing bringing a spotlight to all the area musicians it's pretty cool so thank you we're kind of working in tandem aren't we yeah I think so definitely well that's that's interesting because so in the 90s Appleton had October Fest and of course smile music came along like you mentioned Ben bosters with the ashkash Music Fest and seems like there's been and then let's not forget Jason lipsky with Electric City experience so there's just it it seems like when when some things Fade Away other things kind of come back but it does seem like the music scene is it seems like there's more people playing than there used to be but that might just be because sort of what you mentioned social media you see more more of the Bands posting um I remember seeing youo at a whammy event at Rock Garden must have been about 12 11 12 years ago okay yeah what what are your feelings on things like the whammies the bammies the mom mamas Madison media and whatever that's called I mean at this point you mentioned at one point wanting your music to be out in the world and now it's just the love of of playing I mean do you have any sort of like sadness when like wham's are announced and the winners I mean do you care about that stuff anymore H very little you know um uh you know I can appreciate what organizations like that do because you can tell their heart is in the place of again supporting their local music and usually there's further Outreach than people see like they're they're they're supporting also maybe their local schools with the with the things they generate um you know and if if if it can shine a light and celebrate on some people well it's only a good thing for our our community at large um so yeah I mean that's uh uh yeah yeah they're amazing musicians our good friend Mike Underwood I think is won drummer of the year like five times but it's all deserving to recognize like Mike really busts his butt and like is an amazing musician and to see musicians like him and others that have won awards over the years like it's very deserving so anything that brings recognition to the musicians that are obviously amazing in this area otherwise we wouldn't have Fox managerie um it's a good thing for sure in Fox managerie the name Fox managerie was that something that you came up collectively with did Dana come up with it who who came up with that name I emailed Joe probably like 150 different things and we kind of lik centering around the Fox Valley so having something with a fox or something in it um and and then obviously managerie being a diverse collection of you know whatever you know just seemed to kind of fit and Joe like that one and I think we went with it right yeah yeah you know it's I think you know this the story of how band names come around I think we all have been in those situations trying you know you got your new group of musicians who are having such a great time together like what do we call this I don't know how about this and sometimes there's whiteboards and I remember my first one in in high school had a chalkboard cuz we were rehearsing in the banner after school so we had a chalkboard with all these words and like this one and this one this one and this one what do we sound like I don't know uh yeah so you know very very very collaborative back and forth till we found one the work personally I remember one of my first suggestions which I had you know I've actually got a a a Word document with like you know I've got like song ideas I have one with like band name ideas cuz like sometimes you'll just say something goofy like oh I got to remember that it's a future band and I had one for a while called the the definitive virgins and I thought man that's perfect cuz we're doing like we're doing these reimagined covers so it's like you know it's like oh now we have the definitive version but we're the definitive virgins and I think that one got struck down pretty quick by like significant others and uh anybody with sense I always like the band name automatic Earth it's from Paul Simon I think he sings it in a lyric like boying the bubble or something but I just always like that automatic Earth so that was my suggestion but I don't know I think tox he's pretty good Theo the logo fits it obviously got the Fox on there yeah that's that's cool and I know that uh Joe you teach at Appleton Rock school so if there's any uh parents that have a a child that's interested in taking lessons and what what uh instruments do you teach there a bunch you know I do uh I mean probably piano and guitar are the primaries because that's generally what people are looking for personal lessons in but ukulele uh drums bass mandolin you know pretty much um you know and some people want to you know talk about voice lessons a little bit I don't I don't exclusively teach voice I don't I don't know that I have the the skill set for that but you know a lot of people when they're especially when they're strumming on guitars or you know playing chords on a piano they want to be able to sing along with that and that's something that I do have experience with so I'll I'll help him that regards and um you know and a lot of times a kid will just need to change it up too like if they've been playing guitar for a few years and kind of hitting the wall as far as they don't feel like they're moving with it then yeah let's switch to drums or switch to piano and you know sometimes just doing that will will re re-inject some new uh inspiration into their into their practice or their their learning so yeah uh just about any of those things but yeah this the school The appon Rock School that you mentioned is incredible they there's such an amazing staff of other teachers there too and you know they do a really unique thing I don't know if if all your listeners know about the Appleton Rock school but they um when when the kids have been in the in the program for a little while and have have gotten pretty confident with their instrument when they're usually usually about high school age uh Jason who runs the school he'll he'll put together these little ensembles of whatever four five six seven kids and they'll they'll rehearse every week together as a band they'll you know come up with songs they can agree on and and then they'll they'll find opportunities in the community to go out and play a set of music and uh you know there's there's always a handful of these ensembles that are working at any time so it's it's really neat to see that I think it's I what a great experience for for kids who might not otherwise have that experience of playing Ensemble because that's really like there's there's not enough positive things you can say about being playing music with other people at the same time in the same room just makes all that practice time worth it you know all those hours you're investing like practicing if you get to play with people that's what it's all about yeah truly well you mentioned um Amelia Grace she's one of your students and she's really come along with her voice and and she started with you playing guitar was the guitar lessons she did yeah about about 5 years ago or so and and even at the time you know she was pretty young but she was already singing and playing she might have even already been writing some songs too so she already had a lot of the things in place and and her dad's in the in the music scene too um Mr Chad hofburg yep Chad and um so yeah she she came in pretty well in motion and and I've it's yeah it's been uh a thrill for me to to to just see how she's progressed she's put out her own album now and recorded and uh plays many gigs in the summertime and uh we're working on some stuff together right now too to just to uh to to just continue that process that I'm she seems like somebody who will take that into the rest of her life and and you know and uh find a way to use her music and her and her talents and things to make the world a better place is we're all trying to do you you've done a lot of collaborating you know you did a a song with Peta which you know unfortunately you passed away but I mean it's how did as far as collaborating with other artist is that something that obviously you like to do it Fox managerie you're doing it but you've you've been doing it for quite a while and is is it something that kind of helps round out a song it obviously gives it some different elements that you wouldn't have with yourself I mean is it it just sounds like something that's in your wheelhouse yeah I think we talked about a little bit before it's been um pretty much since I was about 13 and got into my first band you know as with most bands especially young ones at first you're just trying to find some some songs you can cover that you can all agree on like oh we all like lead Zeppelin or Pearl Jam or whatever it is let's let's learn some songs together and then somewhere in the process sometimes not every band but sometimes you've you've got some people in the band that are more like all right now let's let's take what we know about songs and structure and chords and Melodies and let's try to make up something new so that's been you know that's that's been world that I've I've enjoyed living in since age 13 and I think where really you know all my bands had that element in them and then um in uh well my I moved to Nashville in 2015 but I had already been kind of like flirting with the town for a couple years in and out and and uh in my time there the years that I spent in Nashville it was almost exclusively collaboration you know every every day there was a writing appointment booked with either other writers or hopefully other writers and an artist cuz ideally that's what we were all striving for is like hopefully the thing that we are making today will have a life outside of this room and you know for that you need the artist or the singer so um that you know that was uh I guess you know a really you know a a very intensified time of just pure collaboration whereas you know before and after that you know there's you know I still like to just you know lock myself in the studio and and do my own thing sometimes too but um that had to be a master class because a lot of those songwriters had already kind of had that experience of collaborating on like songs so did you learn a lot then from that sorry Andy I'm doing some interview love it love it yeah AB absolutely yeah that's you know and when I moved to town um you know a place like that a music center like Nashville um generally speaking when you arrive there's you a thousand other people arriving in that same season and generally those are the people that you're also coming up with so a lot of us were we're also figuring it out but you know there is that element of you know the the uh the Machinery is already in motion and that idea of you know showing up and uh you know to a either a publishing house or a place like nsai that's that's already got the writing rooms built in and then they've got the times locked out that you're going there with a very specific purpose you a lot of times in a band you know it's it might be like you know it's it's Tuesday night let's just Jam let's just let's just jam and see what happens for the next couple hours CU you know a lot of times in your early bands you don't have a whole lot of other obligations family job wise so in in a place like Nashville is very much a little more like a job like all right we have a very specific time frame here a very you know specific goal so to speak you know trying to trying to create something out of nothing and then hopefully have it go out and live in the world um so you know in in that regards yeah it really was a an education in in you know being very focused and and uh you know really really having a little bit more of an aim which I think helps in in creat Endeavors if you have uh you know something that you are aiming towards and having a deadline too like knowing that well at 1:00 somebody else has this room so let's really try to push it I know we might not be super inspired this morning maybe I didn't have the greatest dream last night but like let's just get in there and do the work and like inspiration or not let's use our experiences to try to push through uh whatever we're going through and and hopefully create the the the best thing we can in our time together you've alluded to it being like a craft you know like honing your skill and stuff I always thought that was kind of a really cool analogy of approaching songwriting yeah it is it is there definitely is um just like anything else whether you're going to be you know an amazing drummer or audio technician like you just got to put in the hours and get in the Reps I mean I and I talk about that with my students all the time too like you know it's okay but you just like there's no shortcut for putting in the time and putting in the Reps and really like going through the hard stuff and that's you know it's interesting I I was talking about this with somebody the other day like how when you're when you're practicing or crafting at home like and and you get into that mode like it's what needs to happen it's the hard work but like for anybody else who's like living in the house or adjacent to it like it's got to be the most annoying thing CU they they heard you play that same section of a song that same 10-second thing like 400 times already so you know that's uh it's a really interesting thing about um you know Studios and writing rooms and you know in Nashville was really interesting too because you know any of the writing rooms we were in I mean there's guaranteed there's going to be like four other writing rooms with people also doing something at the same time so there's like you hear people like they might be struming a banjo right next door or like you might have a drum Loop in the Next Room over and you hear people singing and like so you have to kind of really be able to hyperfocus on on the on the thing at hand what's also super inspiring about that too Joel would tell this story occasionally at Giggs um about being at the Bluebird Cafe and hearing this guy Don Schlitz and like who is this guy but um he wrote The Gambler forever and ever amen um when you say nothing at all like incredible songs but this is the man that's behind those and how cool it's a songwriter like there's this person that like built all these other musicians careers through like their original idea and what a cool place to be and so inspiring mhm so in the music industry is it more lucrative to be a songwriter than a performer H you don't have to tour as much if you just write the song yeah I guess that ends I mean um for a songwriter um you know to be lucrative I guess um you know you can you can hope that you'll have the right stuff and the right luck to get something to get a big cut to get a big you know something that's a big hit um yeah then it can be lucrative but I think for the majority of the songwriters if they're trying to make a career out of it it's it's a little bit of a numbers game it's like how many different amazing things can they have you know slowly working in the world you know I um I I spent a lot of time in the world of of sync Sy YN NC the world of TV and film music and you know I've had some I've had some pretty notable things that I like to talk about and then there's just way more of just little things that are making seven sents a year you know but you know if you have hundreds or thousands of those things and you know uh you don't mind living a humble lifestyle then then it it it can be it can be lucrative especially in terms of just you know feeding your creative Spirit if you have that but also you know maybe getting some groceries from it too so uh I don't remember what the original question was anymore but sorry songwriting verse performing performing yeah yeah I mean I mean you can certainly take the path of uh of you know being sort of in a local cover band and I feel like performing wise that's pretty lucrative I feel like if you've got something established that way that you know there's a lot of people that that can make and you know not only in the in that world but um you know I think all of us know some musicians that their full-time gig is performing and they're they're doing it they're getting by they've got you know they live in a house they have a car they've got all the things they need just from performing whereas I I don't know if I know as many people doing that with song especially in this area uh you know you go to place like Nashville New York La you might meet a few more people that they are making a living doing that and uh um but the ones that are able to do it have to be like super organized like you got to be hustling to like be booking your own gigs be your own self-promoter um some people that come to mind Kate Voss like she's awesome like and she's doing the professional her and her husband Jason um who you should have as guest sometime amazing musicians and people um but they're doing the professional music uh thing but it takes a lot of work and dedication to it so but it is possible and it's a really cool aspect of our local music scene too that there are venues wineries bars local clubs um even organizations that will like book um musical acts for their parties or whatnot um it's a really supportive scene for sure MH we've got a call here you guys want to put the hello caller this is uh this is a Mr Drew alberg calling inly Joe so good to hear your voice buddy hey um real quick I just want to say I absolutely love what you guys do with Fox managerie and how you guys take musicians from all over the place and do mashups of crazy awesome songs and you get to show off your songw writing and song adaptability and um the thing that I I want to drop in that I think that I love about you guys is you're absolute monsters at what you do but there's zero ego and it's awesome to see we got to get Drew on a a session goodness thank you drew oh it's so kind but yeah Drew is amazing um we've known him man going way back smooth operators yeah it's so cool um cuz he had been in music for sometime and then it's still great to have drew back in the music scene and I'm playing out he's super talented for sure yeah and and sort of going along with what you said Drew I appreciate you saying that and and and and pointing that out because I feel like that is part of our mission with the group is you know we've always in a lot of our interactions we've tried to say that and highlight the fact that we're trying to shine a light here on this amazing family of music that we have in this area and and if uh you know if we can do that and just be you know sort of the the the backbone of it and sometimes in the in the back of it while while people get them the the spotlight I think that's I I love that element of it and and you thank you for saying that well it's it's crazy to me because like I had spent some time away from music and and actually you know Joe it was one of my first teachers getting me back into the scene and now I've been gigging for almost 15 years mhm and you know I have to say thank you and meeting guys like Dave you know like I jump on stage with you guys for a tune and play a solo and I look back on those solos and they weren't Amazing by any men stud but you guys would smile and just be like wow look how far this dude is coming and look he's putting in the work and he's learning his scales and like now I play in a really like big cover band and I play all over the place and like it's so cool to see that people gave a chance and and you don't really realize what the gift you're given until like you look you enter into the void and then you kind of like look back and go wow I wouldn't be here if people didn't give me that so it's it it needed to be said on this on this format so that everyone could hear um totally love what you guys do it's awesome I appreciate that and you know you said looking back uh you know those solos they weren't amazing but you know what was amazing about it was that you took that took that Leap Forward and and put on the instrument and I know that you were at home like digging in and and doing the work to get it up there and then you and then and then you took that sort of leap of faith and and put yourself in that position and like that's that's the amazing part too and and with a lot of people that do these sessions like you know we were talking about the the relationship with the camera earlier and you know that's that's not everybody's special place to be you know to be filmed but um you know just just the fact of them being there and then and the uh the as I mentioned before just the the enthusiasm of just about everybody we approach with this they're just immediately like I'm in I don't have to get paid it's just like I want to be in this position where I'm having fun making music with my friends and you know making something that can be enjoyed by by other people too by music lovers so you know it's it it is amazing that that you were a part of that with us Drew and that you've gone on and and and still been able to share that with with so many other people who've got to experience that Joy too and and who knows you might have even inspired other people to do the same thing then sure well thank you nope sorry I I was gonna say you know I could say uh one last thing here before I go on I'll let you guys continue on but you know I'm in a band right now with you know two kids who are in their 20s and it's like they'll say things to me like God how did you learn all this stuff and how do you know this and it's like you guys have no idea the depth of talent in this area and how blessed we are to have venues that pay us for this and true there's so many guys in the scene that are so good and so talented and they they're writers they're they can do covers they can do pretty much anything and they take the time to show people their appreciation and love for What music can be and and I'm just paying it forward now and it it feels really good and I just want to thank you guys for doing what you do and I love watching you play and my uh last show is on September 21st because my hands are all messed up from my car accident uh two years ago but I look forward to coming out and seeing you guys play a lot more so we appreciate you drew yeah so that was nice just to hear I mean that thank you drew for calling in that was that was excellent and you guys guys are smiling in all these videos I mean you make it look easy you make it look fun and obviously you're making a big difference in people's lives where can people go if they want to find out more about Fox managerie where where can they see the videos where can they find out more about the band I think our probably our main Hub that we point people towards is the YouTube channel because of that is where everything's posted and you know the video element is a pretty big part of what we're doing with the whole with the library and and seeing all the people like you you were mentioning early earlier how it's it's always so neat to kind of see the video and see oh I recognize that person from that band but I've not seen them in this kind of situation you know doing this kind of song that's you know like like we talked about earlier the the the pleasant surprise of it all is is a such a a big part of what we do so yeah I would say the YouTube is the main Hub but yeah we we are on Facebook and Instagram and you can you can certainly be friends with us and contact us and those places as well Tik Tock as well Tik Tock oh I haven't been on the Tik Tock you've got that it's right at the end we have another caller you're on the line with Fox manajer hey how's it going guys good good this um I guess I'll introduce myself this is John Gibson and uh I've been able to see uh the two of you uh Joe and Dave play for many many years so far at least half my life um and I kind of mentioned in the chat uh one one in particular one of your cover projects is always super inspiring to me it actually uh draws a huge parallel to like a a a band I was in and writing original music with because all three of us were inspired by benfolds and bolds 5 as like a mutual a mutual North Star so to speak so yeah I never get tired of seeing you guys I've actually been seeing you guys since I was even in like a 21 plus I've been seeing you since then I would just go in and like tip 10 10 plus dollars and ask for a Coke and people kind of got the vibe just like this kid doesn't want anything but music so so you're saying if we do a Whatever and ever amen reunion show that you'd be there um I've I've been to the last like two I think or at least I think I made one and then I like skipped one I'm the one that's in the crowd and making like the the Callins or or like the the side the side action stuff like what's he worth man nothing or even like the live um the live stuff of uh I was never School in I was never cool in school it's like are you underground yeah I love that that's one of my favorites yeah I was um I was wondering kind of I wanted to ask you guys like a question in terms of um the way you've seen like the youth um so to speak come up in the uh the scene there's a lot of local places that are um starting to offer like jazz jams like uh kind of educational spaces basically like jazz orgy but for you know kids um or young adults um how do you view um the way they uh will begin to in integrate or to maybe um take their first Brave steps into the fox managerie kind of world good question um well I I don't know I mean it's it just it seems like it's all good it seems like it's you know anybody you know dipping their toes or or jumping in to that to that world they they get our full support absolutely that's uh you know any anything that can enhance enrich the area through through musical collaboration that's that's what a lot of these groups are all about and even you know when I first when I first got to the area um pretty pretty quickly I was introduced to the open mic scene which I had never heard of when I was growing up in high school but when I got to Oshkosh they're all over the place and I got involved pretty quickly you know on campus off- campus I was hosting hosting them soon after a while and it's it's the same kind of situation um you know any anything like that where you are open it it's like the it's right in the name open you know we're we're opening it up to um to anybody that's uh you know brave enough to express what they've what they've done with their music and um yeah so you know we were all one time in that position too where we were first just you know coming up looking for a place to to play for a place to meet other people who played for a place to play with other people so uh yeah that's I feel like that's all good yeah and just finding those places that do have those open jams whether it's just rock and roll I know there's a few that are in the Oshkosh Area that mainly just do rock but there's some jazz ones and I think a lot of the guests that we've had on Fox managerie have maybe been part of that jazz orgy um improvisational Circle that exists that has existed in ashkash for a very long time so just getting out and playing with people I would recommend that for younger musicians and it's cool that the Appleton Rock School has those younger combos too where kids can get that experience playing with other musicians as [Music] well

Channel: Fox Cities Core

Views: 161

Keywords: Fox, Menagerie, Fox menagerie, Code Zero Radio, Fox Cities Core, Fox Menagerie Fox Cities Core, Fox Menagerie Code Zero Radio, WCZR Fox Menagerie, Fox Menagerie Interview, interview with Fox Menagerie, Winneconnie, Winneconne, Winneconne High school, Winneconne Fox Menagerie, Winneconne Band, Joe Slyzelia, David Jerabek, Dave Jerabek, Dave jerabek Winneconne, Dana Jerabek, Fox Cities Music, Appleton Musicians, Mile of Music, Electric City Experience, Appleton Fox Menagerie, WCZR

Id: uKxqyITAdx0

Length: 73min 56sec (4436 seconds)

Published: Sat Mar 09 2024