Sunflower Fox & The Chicken Leg 22/11/2023
MM: Can you tell us about your Band and whos your biggest influences
Sunflower Fox and the Chicken Leg is a throwback to the 1970s, a time when being in a
rock ‘n roll band was the epitome of musical freedom! We pay homage to this lifestyle by
creating and writing music together as a band that brings back sounds of the 70s rock
through a modern lens.
Band members are me! Kaity Heart on vocals, James Gross and Mike Schmidt on guitar,
Craig Holets on bass, Kyle Primus on drums, and Al Berg on keys.
Biggest influences are Heart, Led Zeppelin, Aerosmith, Cheap Trick, Big Star, Fleetwood
Mac…there are so many!!
MM: Where do you draw your inspirations and ideas from
For me as far as lyrics go-I draw a lot of inspiration from the 1970s: they use a lot of nature
analogies, a lot of occult references etc. And then also just stuff from our own lives. Otherwise
it would just be really contrived. As far as melody lines and structure…it kind of is just whatever
pops into my head.
MM: What would you say is your Bands favourite song ?
Oh it’s different for everyone. Mine off the first album is probably Shadow Girl. There are so
many different sections and everyone is featured.
MM: Plans tour and festival wise for 2024
We are aiming for a UK tour, and some work around the United States! We have just finished
mixing album two and we are writing album three. The plan is to be done writing and focus on
MM: What can we expect from Sunflower Fox and the Chicken Leg live
An entertaining, authentic show. We’ll use era specific gear wherever we can and we LOVE
putting on a show. We are all seasoned performers who have toured the US many times in
different capacities. Just get ready for some organised chaos
MM: What do you like best and worst abt touring
For me as the singer I have to really watch how much I talk, what I eat, what I drink…I can’t do
as much as the rest of the band otherwise my voice would be shot. So it kind of sucks seeing
everyone be able to have a great time on the road and you HAVE to go to bed. But! being able
to pull of a phenomenal show is worth it. The best part is just meeting all the new people. I
LOVE making friends.
MM: Which three Bands would be your ultimate touring buddies
Ha! Anyone who would put up with our shenanigans! We would be thrilled with any of our
influences honestly. Or anyone who likes our style of music.
MM: Whats the most memorable concert you've been to (other than your own) and why
I’m gonna go with Joan Jett-her band goes mostly analog. God it sounds good. Coily
cords, vintage amps…jesus it sounds like CBGBs. It’s so punk it’s unreal. It’s a real band. I
truly believe they could just kick any bands ass with their hands tied behind their backs.
MM: What do you feel has been your biggest accomplishment so far with
Partnering up with Ron Nevison is pretty insane. Like the fact that he even answered our shot
in the dark email still astounds us, and now that he’s working with us is even crazier.
MM: Which are your Two favourite Albums of all time
Dreamboat Annie by Heart and Rumors by Fleetwood Mac- and for newer albums…13 tales of
Love and Revenge by The Pierces is SICK.
MM: Can you remember the first time you ever played live and how it felt to have people
watching you?
Well I started in the world of theatre…and I remember LOVING the audience. I loved just
making people happy for a little bit. It felt so good to have that kind of energy just for a little
while. I felt more at home on stage than off stage. I knew from a very young age that’s all I
wanted to do.
MM: Growing up which Bands posters did you have on your bedroom wall.
Do you want the truth?? Hahahaha. The Nelson Brothers. New Kids on the Block. Spice Girls.
Nirvana. Sound Garden….so many things.
MM - Who do you think influenced the world of Metal / Rock more than any other person
I mean one could argue it was who ever discovered the tritone. Creepy monks?? Then who
made it popular-Beethoven? Blues out of the south really did its part. I’m gonna go with The
Rolling Stones…they really had so many different song styles right at the jump. To me, The
Beatles were so clean cut-The Stones had such an edge. So if anyone was going to influence
the genre it would be them.
MM - Whats the most important thing to the band right now?
Writing and finding our fans. We really just appeared at the end of April ‘23. We’re working on
album number three while we’re still putting out songs on the first album. All the while we are
really working hard on finding people who will appreciate this style of music.
MM:If you could do a cover of any song which one would it be and why?
We have done covers! We did a cover of Brandy by Looking Glass in the style of Cheap Trick.
We also did Mississippi Queen by Mountain and Rock and Roll by Led Zeppelin at the behest
of Ron Nevison. We like sticking to our influences!
MM: Four words to describe Sunflower Fox and the Chicken Leg:
Authentic. Unpasteurized.
Final Words for your fans and our readers
We’re doing this live. We are all in a room together-we don’t do overdubs unless we have to.
We’re trying to bring back the magic that happened in these iconic studios. It’s one thing to record
in our basements (where honestly, we totally could-the technology is totally there) but it’s a whole
other thing to go to another part of the country, and be in the same space as Kansas/Stevie
Wonder (Studio in the Country) or Nirvana/Live (Pachyderm Studios) or Sublime/Yeah Yeah Yeahs
(Sonic Ranch) and feel that energy. That’s what they did in the 70’s and that’s what we’re doing
now.
We describe ourselves as a glorious amalgamation of musical scars and triumphs, rooted
in the rock sounds of the 1970s.
