Spotlight On... Indoor Foxes
Following the release of her latest single, Church Music, we catch up with Martha Barr – aka Indoor Foxes
Indoor Foxes is the project of singer-songwriter Martha Barr. We first came across her when she was announced to play the Wide Days showcase in Edinburgh in May. In a live setting, backed by her band, Barr stands out as an exceptional frontwoman – she’s captivating to watch, and the tunes match her stage presence.
Following a slew of releases since last year, her latest single Church Music arrived earlier this week. In just over three minutes, it beautifully showcases the depth in her voice and songwriting. Listen to the single below and read on for our chat with Barr.
Can you start by telling us a bit about yourself, how you got into music-making and who/what are some of your influences?
Well, I’m Indoor Foxes and I make indie girl-rock music. I’ve always had music around me. I grew up listening to my parents' music – my mum being an avid Smiths fan and my dad starting my brother and I off on Muse and Radiohead. My dad taught me guitar and I actually had proper classical piano lessons from the age of six to 19. My mum had a piano in the house – I think it was a wedding present? – so when I was really really small (like three) I used to bash the keys and say I was writing a song and call it ‘the dragon’. John Cage would have LOVED it. I was engaging in music-making from a really really young age.
When I got a bit older I started listening to bands like Death Cab for Cutie, Fatherson, Frightened Rabbit, and more Radiohead, and developed a bit more of a personal music taste, most of which I still love today. When I was 11 or 12, I wrote my first song. I’d listen back and cringe and laugh but it really was a bit of a turning point for me; only a couple of years later I started going by Indoor Foxes.
In adulthood, I still draw from a lot of these same influences and music I grew up with, but I’ve grown a bit more into two different genres – folk and electronica. I really have found a place within sad folky/country music and its lyricism. I love Phoebe Bridgers soooooo much! I’ve also found a completely different place in drum and bass, and wider electronic experimental music. Having just finished a music degree I’ve gotten really in tune with music that I find challenging, and have been able to access things in it which I find really nourishing. I feel like you can hear that in the most recent single I put out – Church Music.
You’ve had a pretty exciting year so far, with a double appearance as part of two separate Wide Days events in Edinburgh – how did you find those experiences?
Playing in La Belle Angele for Wide Days was insane. It was my first time playing a showcase, so it was a very different experience. The stakes feel so much higher because you know there’s so many figures from the industry watching you, and that 30 minutes on stage could become a huge turning point in your career. The first show I found a lot more stressful – especially since I hadn’t played live for something like a year at that point. It was just a crazy experience being thrown back in the deep end of performing, but actually I think taking such a long break was really liberating. It was like I took the year to wash myself of the restrictions I believed I should have, and to really decide who Indoor Foxes is. I had also signed to Bold Cut, and started working with my manager Scott, so my confidence was at an all time high going into it.
The second show felt way more relaxed because I could say to myself, ‘I’ve done this before’. I was more able to relax into the character and let go of some of the mania I had felt at the last show. And the opportunities I’ve had from both shows have been honestly life changing. I cannot wait to get started on everything.
Image: Indoor Foxes by Nathan Dunphy
When you play live you have a full band, so I wonder what the process is like for writing and recording – how much input does your band have in the final output?
Indoor Foxes really is a solo project so the writing and recording process is usually just me and any collaborators – I wrote my upcoming EP with Ross Leighton of Fatherson (which, btw, my HERO!) and we really developed a sound which I then took to Jamie Holmes who produced the EP, and also helped cultivate that ‘Indoor Foxes’ sound. But I also work really closely with my brother Harry, who’s the lead guitarist in the band. He’s such a talent and since we grew up together he really gets me and my musical palette and vision. He’s often able to bring out shades in the songs that I might struggle to.
The band I play with live are actual heroes. They put so much time into getting the sound right for live, but I approach recording and performing quite differently. As such, the two practices have ended up quite separate even though they’re under the same project title.
In the press release for your new single, it says it’s about “loneliness and self-righteousness, veiled as a sweet love song.” Can you tell us more about the ideas behind Church Music?
Overall, Church Music tries to encapsulate the complexity of the scorned or abandoned woman. When I wrote the song, I had the character of Miss Havisham in mind. The first verse really addresses that rejection of character many bold, or intense, women experience at the hands of those around them. 'Did I make it awkward / just speaking my mind?' The choruses are about the subsequent obsession after rejection, it calls on you to ignore the issue and to just pretend, then the second verse reaches outwards towards non-romantic relationships like that between a mother and daughter. I hope the song uniquely strikes a nerve which makes you feel a deep longing for connection, while also vindicating its loss.
You’re set to release your debut EP, the excellently titled Sadolescence, later in the year – what can we expect from the record and what are some of the themes you explore on it?
I’m glad you like the title! I’d had it floating around my head for a while and felt like I should use it on these songs. I would say a major theme in this EP is girlhood. I hold so much anger, which I can only express in my music, which is inherently linked to my sense of girlhood and womanhood. Each song on the EP holds a different purpose, not only to express this journey I’ve been through over the past few years of writing it, but also sonically. It’s definitely an overall sad EP, but there’s some really fun tunes on it too. There’s actually one song that’s borderline a joke song – like it was written with the express purpose of being fun, head empty, no thoughts, just bouncing around. But then there’s others that explore very very real suffering. It’s almost like my own personal music mood ring.
What does the rest of the year have in store for Indoor Foxes, anything exciting in the pipeline?
OMG YES! SO I’m going on a little baby TOUR!! I’m heading to London’s Paper Dress Vintage on 22 October, and Glasgow’s Garage Attic on the 25th. It’s going to be so so fun, you have to come! I’m also just starting the first baby stages of a new body of work, so I’m writing away working on new music. Hopefully it lives up to this EP. I’ve also just signed to Primary Talent so I’m sure you’ll see me punting more and more gig tickets over the next year! I’m also looking forward to doing the next big Skinny crossword, it really is the highlight of my year.
Church Music is out now via Bold Cut; Sadolescence is set for release 9 Oct; Indoor Foxes plays Paper Dress Vintage, London, 22 Oct; Garage Attic, Glasgow, 25 Oct, tickets available here
Follow Indoor Foxes on Instagram @indoorfoxes