Finn Foxell [@finnfoxell] talks West London, Elevation Meditation, ‘Alright Sunshine’ EP and more
We sat down with West London’s Finn Foxell ahead of his headline show and the release of his latest project ‘Alright Sunshine’.
Finn Foxell is an artist who has his local area embedded in his core and saw the areas potential even as he was growing up. Coming from a musical family he was surrounded by music from an early age – and a wide variety of it at that. From Grime and Rap to Rock and Pop, Finn cities artists he remembers listening to early on being names like David Bowie, The Beatles, Joe Black, Tupac and T2 amongst others. With such an eclectic set of influences and so much music all around him, it’s no surprise Finn Foxell is the artist that we know today – and why he dreams so big for himself and his sound.
A key part in him taking the journey more seriously was of course the people around him when he was younger and starting out. At those early stages sometimes you need that extra bit of encouragement to believe in what you’re doing, especially when you start out on your journey young – that’s where Elevation Meditation comes into the story. The collective that we all know now was initially formed back when Finn was around 15 and the beauty of it is that they came together organically. They didn’t go out with the intention of starting a crew it just happened with the different members knowing each other in various capacities and bringing everyone together because they had a shared passion and supported each other.
The forming of the group was also helped by the fact that all of the members, apart from Louis Culture, are from West London. It’s impossible to discuss Finn Foxell without having a mention of West London in there because it’s played such a pivotal role. Although not always touted for its musical scene West has always had music in and around it. Rock bands like The Clash did quite a bit of recording there and West London is also home to iconic record store Peckings Records. Peckings Records was one of the first to import records from Jamaica to the UK and was even doing it two years prior to Island Records founder Chris Blackwell doing it.
Today you have Next Door Records, WSTRN, Central Cee, Lava La Rue, and more flying that West London flag and keeping the torch and traditions of the area alive. Finn soaked all of that up and brings it into his approach to music where he doesn’t care about trying to make music that makes him seem like the hardest. Instead, he just wants to showcase that he’s the waviest as other West London pioneers have before him.
Besides those influences even in the home, he had a direct point of reference to music as an industry as his dad was a songwriter which gave him something to aspire towards that was tangible. At 22 he’s already fulfilling that dream as an artist and he feels like he’s not even fully in his bag yet. The music he’s sitting on right now he says is “100 times better” than what he’s dropped before. Finn‘s Alright Sunshine EP is the first glimpse at that with him feeling that it has a bit of a more mature sound to it than maybe some of his other work did, but that’s not to say that he isn’t still a kid at heart.
This is still really just the start of Finn Foxell‘s journey as we know it so keep your eyes peeled and check out the Alright Sunshine EP below.