The Foxes (@thefoxes) header
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The Foxes

@thefoxes

An independent, self-managed London band. Room 10 Records. Our near-miss years, told week by week by our singer @nigelsongs

 London
howtoalmostmakeit.substack.com
Joined March 2009
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We were The Foxes: a London band who spent years almost making it. Alan McGee booked us. Chris Welch championed us. Peter Hook told our bassist he owed him ten quid. Now our singer @nigelsongs is telling the whole story, one week at a time. howtoalmostmakeit.substack.c…
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100 subscribers! For a Substack called How to Almost Make It, that feels suspiciously like making it. A huge thank you to everyone who's been following the adventures (and misadventures) of The Foxes. It's lovely to know these old stories and songs are finding a new audience.
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More tales from the diaries every Thursday at 9am. Thank you for reading! howtoalmostmakeit.substack.c…
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Read all about it now!
Nigel Thomas | Musician & Actor (@Nigelsongs) profile pictureNigel Thomas | Musician & Actor@NigelsongsOct 25
New post, out now! Howtoalmostmakeit.substack.c…
Image from Nigel Thomas | Musician & Actor (@Nigelsongs)
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Tomorrow in post 23, we land in AMERICA for our tour! On day one we were invited out on some Harley Davidson’s - though Geve looked more ready for a skateboard as you’ll see:
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howtoalmostmakeit.substack.c…
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A woman we had never met flew over from North Carolina to a 275 capacity basement off Charing Cross Road to watch @thefoxes play for 45 minutes. Then she mentioned her other house. In Hawaii. That was the night all four of us quit our jobs. July 2007.
Image from Nigel Thomas | Musician & Actor (@Nigelsongs)
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2007. Our bassist messages @peterhook on MySpace to say he really ought to hear our song 'Run', as it's got a very Hooky bassline in it. Hooky replies: "You owe me ten quid." Five words. The perfect deadpan invoice. Nineteen years on, we still haven't paid.
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The whole story is in this week's post, along with the student video of Alex telling it on camera at our EP launch: howtoalmostmakeit.substack.c…
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A woman we had never met flew over from North Carolina to a 275 capacity basement off Charing Cross Road to watch us play for 45 minutes. Then she mentioned her other house. In Hawaii. That was the night all four of us quit our jobs. July 2007.
Image from The Foxes (@thefoxes)
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Post 18 of How to Almost Make It, a serialised memoir about a London indie band that came very close. Diaries, emails, evidence. howtoalmostmakeit.substack.c…
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New post! Plus the band @ashofficial buy me dinner, @EdwardsKatie tells me to go solo and the man who signed the Sex Pistols misses us. Again. Read now: howtoalmostmakeit.substack.c…
Image from Nigel Thomas | Musician & Actor (@Nigelsongs)
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Read all about it!
Nigel Thomas | Musician & Actor (@Nigelsongs) profile pictureNigel Thomas | Musician & Actor@NigelsongsJul 9
In May 2007, my subconscious put me in a room with the man who discovered Oasis. What happened next isn't something I'm proud of, but it's a perfect picture of what circling the music industry really feels like. This week's post is about that dream:
Image from Nigel Thomas | Musician & Actor (@Nigelsongs)
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Latest Substack out now! No app needed - you can enter your email to have posts sent straight to your inbox every Thursday. This one is a good 'un!
Nigel Thomas | Musician & Actor (@Nigelsongs) profile pictureNigel Thomas | Musician & Actor@NigelsongsJun 29
I hand-delivered our CD to the man who signed the Sex Pistols. He listened to it and said it sounded "tinny." howtoalmostmakeit.substack.c… #musicmemoir #music #memoir #diary #indie
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All because Alex had one doctrine: just ask. PPost #6 of How to Almost Make It: @thefoxes Diaries. howtoalmostmakeit.substack.c… #musicmemoir #alanmcgee #emi #100club #music #diary #substack
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AI marches on.
Nigel Thomas | Musician & Actor (@Nigelsongs) profile pictureNigel Thomas | Musician & Actor@NigelsongsJun 2
In the time it's taken you to read this, AI has created a handful of songs and uploaded them. howtoalmostmakeit.substack.c… #ai #artificialintelligence #music #musicindustry #musicmemoir
Image from Nigel Thomas | Musician & Actor (@Nigelsongs)
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Free clothes from Merc on Carnaby Street. A reply from the head of A&R at EMI. Supporting The Troggs at the 100 Club (photo below) Alan McGee booking us into Death Disco from his home AOL account on a Friday night.
Image from Nigel Thomas | Musician & Actor (@Nigelsongs)
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THIS is how flyers looked in the naughties, long before you could get AI to run off some slop for you. The Foxes top of the bill at PODFEST, Purple Turtle, Camden. The band got paid £40 for the night. Top of the bill and we were grateful.
Image from The Foxes (@thefoxes)
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A few days later, Alex and I went round to his lounge in north London and played him our songs. He then wrote a piece on us with one of the most extraordinary opening lines we could ever have hoped for. The full story is in this week's Substack post.
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Thank you again, Chris, you had a big impact on us. howtoalmostmakeit.substack.c…
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