In this interview, I caught up with Birmingham born pop artist, Foxgluvv. Read on to see her thoughts on drag, visibility and, of course, her uniquely described ‘hungover pop’ musical releases.
Illustration Credit: Ruby Hinchliffe
A friend once told her that her music was ‘the perfect mix of being on a night out, being drunk and the slow burning hangover,’ and thus the description was born.
With inspirations ranging from Led Zepplin to Madonna, Fleetwood to Gaga, it is unsurprising that Foxgluvv’s sound and style is so unique. In much of her music, but particularly in her latest single, ‘Expensive’, the influence of her queer icons on her creative choices is evident. The video features Dublin-based drag queen, Heiress Dragstone, with the pair vintage shopping in dramatically shoulder padded 80s jumpsuits. She explained that, ‘it’s basically about wanting to be rich and live a high priced life, to be elegant and fancy – and then the reality of just not being that’.
On the topic of queer artistry and the importance of that in her music, she noted, ‘growing up I probably could have named one or two openly queer and successful artists but nowadays, we have people like Troye Sivan, Hayley Kiyoko, King Princess, I could keep going. I just think it’s really cool to be yourself, be authentic and not really care what people think.’
As an openly queer female musician, she believes that it is essential to be visible and by doing this, young people have the opportunity to see and grow up with icons who are unapologetically living their truth. This value is reflected in many of her on-stage looks where she can often be seen sporting animal prints, full glitter one pieces and bold drag queen inspired makeup looks.
For Foxgluvv, living in London and being surrounded by a young creative community has been significant for her networking opportunities. Though, as any young creative/freelancer can relate to, the living ain’t cheap.
We spoke about how she has managed to balance London living with progressing in the industry, to which she responded, ‘I think being in London takes the pressure off things because there are so many creatives around but I’ve still had to do admin and bar-work to pay the bills alongside gigs.’
The advice she left us with for anyone struggling to make waves in the industry was perfectly definitive of her empowered and affable character: ‘If you’re authentic to yourself and you do what you believe in then people are going to buy into it. Whether it’s the best thing they’ve ever heard or just something different’.
If you like what you see you can catch Foxgluvv at her upcoming shows:
Tuesday 5th March 2019 – Thousand Island: click here for tickets
Saturday 16th March 2019 – Notting Hill Arts Club: click here for tickets
Edited by Stephanie Kleanthous
