He is out in the crowd before you know it. Blood is running down his hand yet he is jumping around and dancing amongst the fans gathered in a circle around him. The energy is buzzing as young and old come to investigate the musical commotion going on in front of the stage at the New Orleans Voodoo Music Festival. If you didn’t know the name The Stone Foxes before this then you surely know it now. And just like that, Shannon Koehler, vocalist and drummer of this San Francisco band, is back on the stage, singing his heart out and grinning ear to ear. This energy is why he became a musician.
Jump ahead a few years and The Stone Foxes have released their third full-length album, Small Fires, on February 12th. The first single, a spastic, danceable rocker with an equally kinetic video – “Everybody Knows” – has kicked everything off with a firecracker bang – much like the band’s notorious live shows. For those virgins in the crowd, Small Fires shows these guys at a pinnacle point in their career. Whereas they could have drowned under the weight of what NEEDS to be accomplished on such an important foray, Aaron Mort, newbie Elliott Peltzman and brothers Shannon and Spencer Koehler have instead produced a tome more mature, more soulful and definitely more powerful for such a young band. Both “Ulysses Jones” and “Goodnight Moon” are prime examples of how far they have come since their genesis in 2005.
Glide recently had a chance to talk with both Aaron and Shannon, the two main vocalists and songwriters of The Stone Foxes, about their new album.
You must be excited that Small Fires is finally coming out.
Shannon: Yeah, it’s been like two and a half years since we had something out. It’s a long road cause we put out Bear & Bulls a little too late in the summer to really tour behind it so then we toured behind it the next year and we got a new band member and then we wrote and recorded and toured this last summer, or this last little bit of the winter, and now we’re finally putting it out. It’s really nice and we’re really proud of it. It sort of feels like the record that we really wanted to write, lyrically and musically. No more mattresses in garages (laughs). That’s how the last two were done and that’s great but we gave it the good treatment because we felt the songs deserved it.
Aaron, when we talked at Voodoo Fest in 2011, you told me that at the time you guys had a lot of song ideas floating around. How many of those actually ended up on this record?
Aaron: Yeah, at that time, we hadn’t really sat down and like cohesively put a lot of songs together. We had been writing some songs but we were touring so much, like six months on the road, so we were pretty exhausted at that point and really hadn’t had a chance to put a lot of ideas together. Once we were done touring right around the December holidays, we took that time off to be with family, then we basically spent all of January writing and really putting a lot of ideas together. We changed a lot of things too, just from playing them on the road. We started thinking of new ideas and things we could do to the songs. So everything kind of got this attention that it never got in January. From January to April, things started changing a lot more and once we hit the studio, it evolved even more. I think we ended up with about nineteen or twenty songs that were on the table going in the studio and narrowed them down to twelve songs in twelve days that we recorded.
Why did you record the album so fast?
Shannon: Definitely I think it was a money thing and then it was also that we needed to find somebody who felt confident. I think it was a good thing, like Aaron was saying, we did the demos. We had worked on those songs all winter so we had a really great idea of what we really wanted to do with the songs. So when we went to Doug, who is our producer Doug Boehm, he did Dr Dog and The Vines and we were a huge fan and were very lucky to get him, and when we did, he felt really confident with just how the demo sounded that we could knock this out in twelve days. And our budget was smaller because we did it ourselves. But it actually turned out really great because we did have a good idea and we could do a song a day pretty much and it gave you a little bit of time to experiment and not enough time to really think too hard about it. And that was kind of a cool thing.
Aaron: It was a good stepping stone for us because we had recorded by ourselves for the first two records, but the second record was kind of a very tough process. It took a very long time to record that record, just for a lot of reasons, so this one it helped us focus and we all came in there very practiced so when we got to the studio, we were actually able to adapt on the fly very quickly to changes and suggestions. I think it was something we needed to do to really learn the studio in a quick way and how to work that way and just go for it and not think about it too much. Like Shannon mentioned, the budget was certainly tight and I think it was a challenge to make this work with what we had to work with.
You come from a blues base but on this album it’s a little bit darker and, like you said, more focused.
Shannon: Yeah, our first couple of records, there was some blues covers and we really are, like on stage, we’re not preachy; our shows are about having fun and we want everybody to have a great time, to rock out and all that. But on this record I feel musically we went farther and we pushed ourselves to go farther. There aren’t any blues covers but the songs are a little more complex and we pushed ourselves to really kind of dig deep there. Aaron and I write the majority of the songs and we’re huge Bob Dylan fans and we love the lyrics that take the time to really say something. And sometimes you don’t. Like “Talk To Louise” is on there and it’s like, some girl screwed me over, but it’s sort of a fun song. But most of the record is religious, it’s political. We’re all very peace-oriented guys and that’s really important to us, and I think a lot of the recession got on that record. You know, Spence, Aaron and I lived together for a while and the house got foreclosed on and we had to move out. And Spence wrote “Ulysses” about that. So I feel like we were really intentional with the lyrics this time and we really said how we feel. Like I said, we don’t preach about it but if you want to listen to it in the lyrics we feel it’s cool to be able to say how you’re feeling and expressing it.
Aaron: It was also the first time we had really played together, like actually rehearsed, for a record. We’d always tried to write stuff, like Shannon is talking about, and I think we finally did it and I think the way we accomplished that was to create a work environment and work ethic. There was a standard we never had before that we upped; from casually getting together from time to time and playing to being good enough. We treated it like a job at that point. We got together five nights a week and were practicing for hours for months, so we really learned how to play together. We also brought Elliott in and he’s brand new to the process of writing with Shannon and Spence and myself so we really learned how to play together which was the key.
Then the kind of subject matter that we’ve been writing, just trying to focus more on the lyrics, I think we’ve probably matured as writers a little bit. But as musicians finding the space for the topics and the lyrics that kind of shine through while still being a part of a very dynamic instrumental base too, I don’t think we could have accomplished on the last two records. It was just a really steady work environment that helped us as a band and touring a lot and playing a hundred plus shows in like six months helped a lot too.
Shannon: Yeah, like what you were saying, Aaron, the lyrics matching the music, the one song that we were going to toss when we got into the studio was “Battles,” our sixth track. It had like this gospel hymn sort of chord structure and we liked it but it just wasn’t really saying something so we were going to toss it and then Aaron made a suggestion. It’s like taking the time to get those tweaks and do that stuff and that totally saved the song. We went in the next day and knocked it out. 
Why did you pick “Everybody Knows” as the first single to introduce the album?
Aaron: I think it just had the catchiest, most straight-forward rhythm to it. Really, that’s not a bad thing at all. It combines, I think, a lot of good elements of the record and kind of the new complexity of some of the stuff but also being the most pop-oriented amongst all of that as well, from my standpoint.
Shannon: It’s accessible and it’s dark and it shows what the record sort of sounds like. We had to come up with the tracking list super on the spot cause evidently our producer called us and said, “I’m going to mix it in the next two days and on that last day I’m going to master it so you guys got to come up with a track list,” like in the evening or something like that. But yeah, Aaron was like, “We should just put this first.” It just made sense.
Aaron: It’s like a good first course to the record, a good starter. And I think it works well for the record because the first song on a record is not always the single but it felt like in general a good way to start the record and a good song to just introduce people to it.
Shannon: You know when you get like a great appetizer, like artichoke with crab stuffed in it? That’s what it is. It’s the artichoke stuffed with crab and you’re just waiting for your supper to come.
Aaron: The lobster comes later
Shannon: The lobster comes later and then there’s Tiramisu. But let’s just say this so everybody knows it’s artichoke with crab stuff. Make sure you write that, it’s important (laughs)
“Goodnight Moon” is a really great song to end the album with. How easy was it for you to write these songs?
Shannon: Aaron always tells me not to worry so much. I think when you’re not feeling inspired you’re always worried will it come back and it always does. Like “Goodnight Moon,” I think it’s definitely about, “What are you passionate about?” Or “What are you feeling that you’re feeling passionate about right now?” We’d be on the road and coming home and when I’m home I work downtown and when you work downtown, especially in San Francisco, there is a huge homeless population. So “Goodnight Moon” was sort of for me, it’s really easy to get desensitized. Like when I came here for college, which was like seven or eight years ago, I saw so many homeless people and it really freaked me out. We’re from the central valley and so you don’t see a lot of homeless people unless you’re way downtown in Fresno. So seeing that really shook me and I think writing that was to remind myself not to let my eyes gloss over too much. But I think just finding moments like that and if you’re feeling passionate at the moment, pull out a pen and pad and write it down.
Aaron: There are nights where it feels like a struggle sometimes. I don’t think there’s a formula to how it really works. It’s just kind of like anything, you could have an amazing song but you just bring it in on the wrong day. Sometimes you bring in a song that you thought was ok but everybody is feeling really inspired and something really cool comes out of it. You just never know, it’s just one of those things, it’s circumstantial.
Shannon: We’ve been writing new stuff since the record and recording even newer demos, like a couple of weeks ago, and I would say probably half of them, if I’m not mistaken, one person comes in with like a pretty solid lyric idea and a couple of chords that they’ve sort of worked out and that’s sort of the fastest way that stuff happens. Aaron and I kind of come in and we switch off days. Like today I will pitch something and then we’ll try it and if it doesn’t work or if it works it works and then the next day Aaron will pitch something. And if Spence has something he will bring it. But Spencer’s lyrics are so funny because sometimes, like when we were little kids – Spence and I are brothers – and all of his lyrics were about like cars going really fast and like going down south even though he had never been anywhere, south of anything, and it was cars, chicks and going south. So sometimes it’s really funny to see what Spence will come up with because sometimes I can still see that in his lyrics. I don’t know about you, Aaron, but sometimes I feel that way.
Aaron: He has a certain phrasing to everything. Like I was surprised he actually ended up with “Ulysses Jones” cause it still felt very much like Spencer’s rock & roll song.
Shannon: At first, he showed it to me but it had no plot. It was a story about a guy but there wasn’t a story and I was like, “Ok, Spence, what is something that has happened to you?” He had this idea of this guy, this inspirational figure, but he didn’t know what this guy would do. So then we brainstormed and it ended up about that house foreclosing and about our landlord kicking us out and Spence’s “Ulysses Jones” was like the good man who is getting thrown out for no reason. It was very funny … especially when he comes out and sings cause he sings like an animal. No one would ever think that that comes out of him.
You are known for your live shows being very energetic.
Shannon: I think our live shows are our best asset and that’s a good thing for a band right now cause that’s how you live as a musician. I think when it comes to the live stuff we just go out and party. We’re probably one of the prudiest bands cause we don’t do any hard drugs or do any of that stuff and we don’t party too late cause we’re tired, we’re like old people, but when we’re out on stage it’s like we party as hard as we can, cause if you’re not having fun then nobody is going to have fun and then the show is not going to be fun for you.
Aaron: We’re like a dinner party. It’s lively and fun and everyone’s hanging out in the kitchen and having a good time.
Shannon: And then the guests leave early so we can go to bed.
Aaron: Yes, we kick them out wanting more.
Shannon: I feel like most of the other guys in the band love being in the studio but for me personally, I like to talk to people all the time and I really like playing live all the time so if I could just do that that would be fine for me.
Aaron: I would be holed up in a studio all day long. I’d let Shannon talk to people and I’d go off and get my free beer and go somewhere (laughs)
Shannon: Get my free beer (laughs)
What are your plans for this year?
Shannon: Do whatever management tells us.
Aaron: Through March and April, we’ll be on the road and we’re thinking a little more long-term. Hopefully we’ll kind of go into some bigger opportunities as the album is out there longer and longer. I know we’re writing a lot too and we want to be back in the studio and record a new record as well. We don’t want another record that is going to take two and a half years to come out. We want to kind of keep up some momentum while we have it right now.
This is your third record. What have you learned the most since recording that first album?
Shannon: I think one of our biggest lessons was we were playing together, it was like before that huge tour and that summer you first saw us, we had just gotten Elliott to start playing with us and we were down in southern California and we were playing and there was nobody at the show and the band who was opening up for us were some friends and they played a great show. They didn’t care about who was there and there was nobody there and we came out and we came out flat.
Aaron: It was flat because, I mean, Avi [Vinocur] had left the band and Shannon and I were kind of in a period of figuring a lot out. I think we were worn out, a little beat up and a little unsure of our future with this new guy. We just kind of came out really flat, like Shannon said, and we kind of got our asses kicked by a band at the time who was a lot more green than we were. And we had to change the mindset of how we approached everything.
Shannon: Yeah, it was just like the management sat down with us and was like, cause they were there that night and we were about to put out some new music, and they were like, “Look, it doesn’t matter who is or who is not there, you guys need to be on every night.” And like I said, you don’t enjoy it if you’re not having fun and I sure didn’t enjoy that show because I wasn’t having fun. So when you go out and give it a 110% every night, that’s when it feels really good. That’s the biggest lesson I’ve learned.
Aaron: Yeah, I think that lesson probably had a lot of reciprocal affects as well. I think that’s pretty much when our work ethic really changed. It wasn’t just get together every once in a while and practice. We’re so involved with the music on every level – we run the business, we play the music, we’re the ones talking to our publicists, we’re the ones doing all this stuff – we really fine tune how we approach the business side of all this, including practicing and playing together and like we kind of talked about earlier, just the whole mentality of how our work changed as well. By working harder you actually create better opportunities for yourself and so we’ve had a lot of ways to grow just through working hard. I think a lot of bands don’t understand, you can win the lottery every now and again but most of the time you’ve got to work really hard to get where you’re at. And that was a big lesson in general for us. That level of dedication is what it takes to get where you want to be.
