Guitarist and Vocalist Austin Jimison is all smiles and laughter as he and the rest of the members of Sioux & Fox sit in our studios at TPR. Josiah even calls him a "Chatty Kathy" from his never-ending liveliness. With indie music influences such as Modest Mouse and Local Natives, the band has a fresh, youthful sound that they wish to spread to everyone, young and old.
This joy is reflected in each of their songs, which they perform with such exuberance. “We’re just a bunch of friends and goofballs that like to play music together,” says Austin. It’s important for them to display such positivity everywhere they go. Lead Singer Josiah Barrios says that “you can really vibe off of people’s energies and gain something from that, like a youthful spirit. That is naturally just our energy.”
The friendships in Sioux & Fox were formed a long time ago, back when the members were in high school. “Three of us went to the same high school, the International School of the Americas [ISA], a magnet program on the [Lee High School] campus. I also have known [drummer Daniel Puente] since we were kids,” says Noah Luna, the bassist and keys for the band. The inception of Sioux & Fox came when they merged with the band Octahedron, which members Jimison and Puente were a part of. Jimison recalls: “We were playing for three years and one day I met Josiah, who told me that he loved my guitar playing, almost like John Mayer. After that we started writing together, and it was inevitable really. It almost felt natural to join the two together.”
Although their songs have an upbeat sound, Jimison admits that not all of them have happy topics. “I read somewhere that the part of your brain associated with melancholy is also associated with creativity. So it’s kind of a terrible thing,” he laughs. “[Our song] ‘We’ll Be Alright,’ despite how happy it sounds, is about people in the scene saying things and us just having to keep on playing.”
I can't stop the things, they coming, Chaos like a train that's running, I can't hear the lies that are spilling out, spilling out now.
Even though the band has had some rough patches along the way, Barrios adds, “Despite of all the negativity, we always come out with a positive thing which is music. It’s a healthy way to translate pain and sadness or even euphoria, into a song, which is a tangible thing. It feels good when you give to people and they feel with you.” The feelings are reciprocated by their listeners, who have even sent the band messages through social media saying how emotionally attached they are to their music.
At the recentSantikos Riffs and Reels Music Video Showcase event at the Palladium, in which Sioux & Fox was part of, the band was cheered on by fans as they presented their first-ever music video on screen. Barrios tells me about the event with a smile. “It was a very unique experience for a young group like us to really socialize with a lot of people in our community that are filmmakers or older musicians [with] connections. It’s all about making that network. We didn’t win any of the placements but we got a great music video, and it’ll definitely help us acquire a lot of views.”
Sioux & Fox hopes to continue to spread happiness and positivity, all while having fun making music as friends.
To see what Sioux and Fox are up to, check them out on YouTube, Soundcloud, and Facebook.
