There are four words in which to describe the new single from the Dublin based Rockers: Undeniably Upbeat, Dangerous and Authentic.
- Describe your sound in 3 words
Attitude, Abrasiveness, and Energy.
- Each of you come from a different place. How did you meet?
Arthur Lopes (bass) had been long-time friends with Rob Grehan (lead guitar) and searched for a vocalist/songwriter and drummer to complete the band in early 2018. TJ Lynn (vocalist/composer) moved to Dublin from the states in 2016, where he was contacted by Arthur on a musicians networking site. Justin Capocci (drums) joined about the same time as TJ Lynn after being recruited by Arthur. Then it all sort of clicked!
- What is the story behind your name?
We formerly operated under the name “Chutes Too Narrow” after the Shins album when we first started gigging in 2018. Once we started recorded we realized we needed our image and name to match the style of music we were making. “Slim” as we’re all quite thin and gangly looking; “Tin” as in the abrasiveness, low-fi old “punk” quality of our sound; and “Fox” being an animal known for its mischievous and clever nature. We thought it sounded pretty good so we went with that. Any musician in a band knows how hard it is to come up with a name!!
- Which are your major music influences?
Arthur Lopes (bass) is a huge fan of 80’s glam metal/rock, where hard rock meets punk rock. Robert Grehan (guitar) has a very eclectic taste in music; but primarily influenced by guitar legends as Jimmy Page, Hendrix, Rory Gallagher, Slash, ect. Robert is currently listening to Help Us Stranger – The Raconteurs. Justin Capocci (drums) grew up playing drums in Dublin during the pop-punk boom – cites influences such as Billy Talent, Jodie Has a Hitlist, Chewing on Tinfoil, and Silverchair. Justin is currently really liking a band called Yonaka – Don’t Wait till Tomorrow (album) after catching them at Sea Sessions 2019. Tj Lynn (vocalist) grew up listening to punk rock and classic rock music – inspired by Iggy Pop and Lux Interior (singer of The Cramps), and more recently by the classic stylings of The Pixies, Bikini Kill, Modest Mouse, and McLusky. Tj is also heavily influenced by the blues stylings of Muddy Waters, Bob Dylan, Chet Baker, B.B King, Taj Mahal and Robert Johnson.
Overall, despite 4 unique tastes in music – all of the band has been influenced by Nirvana, Slipknot, White Stripes, Metallica, Kings of Leon, Neil Young, The Strokes, Interpol, The Shins, Modest Mouse, and Radiohead.
- What is your favorite album of the past year?
Justin Capocci: Yonaka – Don’t Wait till Tomorrow
TJ Lynn: I’m a few years behind on albums of the year, still in 2014 in my mind. Of 2014, I’d say The Pixies – Indie Cindy. Haven’t found anything that’s blown me away in 2020 yet.
Robert Grehan: The Raconteurs – Help Us Stranger (2019)
- If you could change anything about the music industry, what would it be?
In regards to the Dublin music scene:
There is always support for bands to try and express themselves on the Irish music scene. The current scene is not as strong as it used to be 10 years ago but as a band, we are trying to revive the scene and bring it back to the way it used to be. Lots of great promoters here in Dublin are doing the same thing. We’ve been trying to support other artists we like and organize good shows. Hopefully the independent music venue here is able to revive itself after Covid-19.
The current music scene in Ireland in terms of playing rock and roll is very small, which makes it easy for new bands to mix with other musicians and to play shows. However, getting exposure and potentially making the big break on the Irish music scene is very hard, even if you are a really good band. But the possibilities to play shows, express yourself, and showcase your talents is second to none for any type of music that you are playing.
As a whole – it’s up to interpretation on whether the music industry is a necessary “evil”. Like we can release and promote our own music but at the end of the day what do we get? We have to organize all the shows and promote ourselves, which takes away from musicianship. And we don’t see a return (financially) on our investment, but we oversee our own music. Right now we live for playing shows in front of a crowd (hopefully to resume shortly). Without someone taking 20 – 40% of your creation, how do you get to the next level? Who puts you in the festival circuits?
There’s only so much you can do on your own as an artist. Spotify doesn’t pay much. So you have to look at what you want out of yourself as an artist. Do I want to trade a percentage of my hard work to maybe get on a bigger stage or keep busting my ass as an independent musician for maybe no return (besides the satisfaction of playing shows and owning our music). That’s where we are at.
So as a whole – I don’t know what the solution would be. But we as a band we are torn between “drinking the kool-aid” or not.
- What is the best venue you have ever performed? And what would be your dream performance venue?
Our favorite venue we performed so far is the Workmans Club in Dublin. The sound in there is fantastic and it’s fairly big so you can get quite a big crowd in there. And the sound flows out to the street nicely so you get a lot of people that just wander in! Sin E is also an awesome, intimate venue with great sound where we got our start.
We would love to play the main stage at Whelans in Dublin (we’ve played upstairs). The Button Factory in Dublin is also a great venue that we’re looking to get into.
- One last thing we should know about you?
We’re old school at heart, DIY rockers. We are here to make the soundtrack of your action movie. At the end of the day, we have a hell of a good time writing and performing. And that’s enough for us.
We’ve got a whole album of unpublished songs – just trying to decide how to proceed with releasing them. So stay tuned if you like what we’re doing!
- Thanks Slim Tin Fox!
Follow Slim Tin Fox: https://slimtinfox.bandzoogle.com/ https://www.facebook.com/SlimTinFox/ https://open.spotify.com/artist/7dnpfCEouLWYT2PdPi8foF https://soundcloud.com/lynn-terence
Secret Eclectic 