The Man Behind the Mask: An Interview with Multimedia Artist Foxfrd
Now Los Angeles-based, multimedia artist Foxfrd’s original music chops blossomed during his time in Memphis, TN. Having been a lead animator in the video game industry for many years, he introduces a wildly unique approach to storytelling through visual art. Working for notable gaming studio The Game Band, where he helped create the Apple award-winning game Where Cards Fall, Foxfrd’s experience has positioned him as a multimedia artist on the rise. Now performing as a viral creator on TikTok, his content is reaching millions of streams worldwide. Foxfrd just dropped his cover of Childish Gamibo’s “3005”, so we decided to sit down with the artist to get to know the true man behind the mask.
You are both a musician and a video game animator! Do you find that these worlds organically merge with one another or do you ever experience a creative disconnect between the two?
I find that the worlds merge rather often. Video games are special because they inherently capitalize on three of our five senses. Music relies most on the auditory sense but is easily complemented by visuals. I imagine with all five of my senses so I enjoy thinking about where a song visually takes me or how a song might smell, as weird as that sounds. Working on video games has been excellent practice for my imagination.
Is it easier or more difficult to animate to music? And do you prefer to animate when there’s a clear storyline or is the process more technical for you?
I’ll say animation is generally difficult on its own. I can’t say animating to music is more difficult or easier as ambition and skill level in animation decide difficulty but music does give subtle guidelines that can really complement animation, if used. For example, doing camera cuts on down or up beats, or animating footsteps on every snare hit or bass drum note are subtle traits you could pull from your music. I love audio-visual synchronization so animating to music works rather well for me.
For animation, I enjoy writing and animating a story for the big ideas but it’s useful to animate without being restrained by story to practice fundamentals sometimes. I don’t necessarily need a reason for a character to swing a sword but adding some motivation for the character can expand the exercise in interesting ways. It’s good to know when to expand and contract in areas of creativity because some ideas can become exhausting.
Where do you see yourself in 5-10 years? Would you prefer to be producing more music or animation or both?
In 5-10 years, I’d like to be a studio director or simply someone that could live independently off of his own creativity. For the past ten years, I‘ve concepted tv shows, video games, and short stories that are all impressive to me but I never felt confident enough to fully engage my ideas. Foxfrd started the journey of pushing my creative independence and I’d love to continue this groove for years to come.
Which of your current music videos was the most difficult to produce and why? And which one was the most fun?
Oni was the most difficult video to produce. That music video was the first time I explored using the Unreal Engine so there were huge technical hurdles to overcome.
Where Are All My Friends was the most fun. There was more story to play with and I enjoyed the variety of animation.
What inspired the ‘man behind the mask’ element to your branding?
When creating Foxfrd, I knew I wanted to give the character a tangible accessory that could be iconic, recognizable, and discernible. Years back, I became obsessed with Wes Anderson films and Fantastic Mister Fox. The imagery of a humanoid fox in a business suit was really cool to me and I explored ideas on how to make a fox-masked character for a very long time. So really, I owe a lot to how great Fantastic Mister Fox was.
Do you have any plans to digitally monetize the masks? Perhaps turn them into NFT’s?
I love the idea of rare commodities so I do have ideas planned around masks. Currently, those ideas involve physical masks and the rarity that comes from that.
What advice would you give young, aspiring artists of color?
Be yourself, know that your individuality is valuable, and practice self-discipline.
What’s next for you? Can we anticipate more music in 2022?
In the near future, expect more music! I have a lot more projects in varying art forms brewing so a follow on Tiktok and Instagram are the best ways to know what’s next.
Follow Foxfrd on Instagram HERE for updates.
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