With the release of their debut Demo 2026 in February, Southern California's Fox Thoughts have introduced themselves with a collection of songs that feels as personal as it does unpredictable. We caught up with vocalist Laxon Sumawiganda to discuss the band's DIY philosophy, the emotional themes behind the record, balancing melody with heavier influences, and what they hope listeners take away from this first chapter.
Interview
Kanan Peri sits down with Laxon Sumawiganda
Coming out of Southern California, how much do you feel like that environment actually shows up in the sound of the emotional tone of this EP?
Living and growing up in Orange County - and I suppose living anywhere in Southern California—there is such an extreme melting pot effect. Not just musically, but ways of living, art, cuisine, culture, entertainment. Being open and eclectic is so normalized I feel like it was natural for that to manifest on the release.
Also, I don’t think it’s just the varied nature of California, but the fact there’s an abundance of resources. It’s easy and accessible for someone to become radicalized in any way they choose. If we were to take the local scene in Orange, LA, and IE, I can remember thinking, “damn, there’s five popping shows tonight.” There is the choice of hyper exposure for whatever kind of DIY music that piques my interest. You take all this and factor in that the majority of the songs were written on an acoustic guitar in isolation, I think you get Fox Thoughts.
With Demo 2026 feeling intentionally unfinished and in-motion, why introduce Fox Thoughts to the world in that kind of form? Is this a starting point you’re actively building on, or did it just come out that way naturally?
Fox Thoughts was never meant to see the light of day. It’s been nearly a decade or more of writing songs, doing half assed recordings, and sending it to close friends and family. It wasn’t until sometime last year where my wife was drilling it into me that I had dozens of songs finished and that it had to do something other than waste away on my laptop. Since July of last year, I was able to connect with the guys in the band. Mainly thank you to George for being able to get the bulk of everyone, and it just had to come out. It was just time.
There’s a clear tension on the EP between more indie pop-punk leaning moments and these jagged, hardcore edges. How did you decide which songs should live in each space? Was that something you were intentionally shaping while writing, or did it reveal itself once you got into recording and production?
I love listening and playing all kinds of music and I really want Fox Thoughts to be a representation of all of that without sounding too disjointed. So this collection of songs was about how many different influences can we throw on a demo while still being clear that this was all coming from one band. Initially, I thought it could be done in 3 to 4 tracks, but that didn’t feel like it was enough, so we ended up with 6 you’re hearing now while still calling it a “demo”. There was a lot of consideration to the types of rooms and shows we’d be playing too. I personally love playing with hardcore bands and beatdown bands and the energy that comes with the territory and we had to make sure that the songs we’d be playing live could translate to playing with those kinds of shows.
You [Laxon] mentioned chasing a sound that felt “polished but still visceral and imperfect”, and ultimately deciding to build it yourselves. Do you feel like that specific vision only really worked because it stayed fully DIY, or do you think an outside producer could have helped shape it in a similar way?
In short, I believe the demo only worked because it was fully DIY. It’s crazy cause when we all first sat in a room together last July almost all the songs were already written. The reason it took so long to even release anything or play a show is because we spent so much time figuring out the live aspect and how to best represent these songs from a production perspective. There was a significant trial period where we gave Lotus and Tourniquet stems to four or five engineers and producers. We even did our own mixes internally. The outside producers, on a technical level, did a much better job than I did. There was clarity and punch, and all those buzzwords you would associate with a good mix, on their versions. However, there always seemed to be something lacking in certain parts of songs. Sections would sound objectively great but wouldn’t “feel” correct. It could be my own neurosis. Who knows. But considering how varied each song was, we thought it would make more sense to do it in house and really take the time to give each song exactly what it needed. The demo is a demo in the truest sense of the word. We now have the ability to demonstrate and self-reference our own tracks when we work with producers in the future.
“Out in the Wind” is written from the perspective of Laxon’s mother. What was it like trying to step into another person’s experience, and did the process teach you anything about how you approach storytelling or writing?
Any story is worth telling when there is an emotional, universal truth that can resonate with the human experience. We’ve all experienced being manipulated to put in more effort into a relationship than the other person. The regret you’d feel for staying, leaving, or realizing you have to make a conscious choice to do either. That’s what Out In The Wind is truly about and my mom and her story is the vessel to share those themes.
This isn’t something I’ve learned, but I appreciate more from sharing stories through music, conversations, or whatever. It’s that when you share a story that hits and resonates with the listener, they will gift you with a story of their own. And the intersection between one person’s reality with another person’s reality is one of the most beautiful things we have.
On “Tourniquet”, there’s this idea of creativity starting as a coping mechanism, and eventually becoming something more compulsory or even like an obligation. How do you personally navigate that shift, especially when something that once felt like an escape starts to come with expectations, deadlines or pressure?
I’ve been talking about it with the guys a lot and I don’t know. I know music has saved me. It’s given me purpose, community, friends, discipline, and a lot of positive things, and at the same time, it sometimes feels like this self-sabotaging process.
I’m not having fun and I’m not necessarily happy when I’m doing it, but I think I have a fucked up values system where I don’t care if something makes me happy or not. I think I’m driven by what compels me. Why does music do that? I’m not sure. Maybe music only gets written because I still don’t know the answer.
When someone is finished listening to Demo 2026, what do you hope they take away from that experience?
That these songs, this project is about much more than me or everyone in this band. Fox Thoughts has become such a passion project for all of us to the point that every single person in this band has their friends and family heavily involved in one way or another. That’s why the covers my daughter, my wife took the photo and did the font. That’s a big reason why it’s self-produced and recorded at mine and Erich’s house. I’ve shared this at shows, but I don’t believe in the idea of the self-made man. Anyone worth a damn is where they are because of all the people that helped put them there. I’m extremely proud of this band, this release, and I really do think of every single person that’s had a hand in pushing this thing.
Check out Demo 2026 on all streaming services and follow Fox Thoughts on Instagram