Interview: Dominick Fox of Bad Luck

-What got you into music, and if you had not gotten into music what would you be doing today?

Me and my brother Joe, who plays bass in BL., have both wanted to be in a band together for as long as we can both remember. If we didn’t play in music I don’t know what either of us would do or who we’d be. It’s truly the only thing we’ve ever wanted or tried to do with ourselves.

-What do you like to do when you are not playing music and how does that influence your creativity?

A lot of my life is music. When I’m not working on Bad Luck. stuff, I try to co-write, write, or produce for other artists and bands. Generally speaking I’ll help with vocal stuff but if it works in a way that I can do more of a full project or record, I’ll do that as well. We also all play in another band together for fun called D.O.G., it’s a metalcore band with super short and heavy songs. Outside of music I absolutely love pro wrestling, NY sports (Yankees, Knicks, Giants, and Rangers) and spending time with my partner and people. I’ve been messing with film photography the last year or so too and that’s been fun. I’m very proud of be from New York and love living in NYC so I think that + all the things above, music related and not, influence my creativity and the way I overall express myself.  

-How long has your band been around?

I started the band as an acoustic thing by myself in 2011, we started as a full band in 2012. From late 2015-mid 2018 we weren’t active. So as a band we’ve been around for over 10 years but not actually. It’s more like 7 or so.

-Where are you based out of and how did that influence your music?

Me and my brother kinda moved around a lot as kids in different parts of New York, from Queens to Long Island and even upstate a little. But we spent most of our young lives on Long Island and were lucky to grow up at a really great time for alternative music in the tri-state area. I think it’s directly influenced our band in terms of music (bands like The Movielife/I Am The Avalanche, glassjaw, Jets To Brazil, etc.) but I think it more so environmentally and culturally has influence who we are and how we sound.

-How did you come up with the name of your band and what does it mean to you?

Outside of it being an idea I had that I felt applied to parts of life in ways, it became definitive as our name because of a Bayside song called “Blame It On Bad Luck”. The bridge lyrics specifically. They always resonated with me as a listener and really inspired the idea behind the band when I first started it.

-Tell me about your most memorable shows.

We’ve had too many to narrow down to one or a few. Not to give a non-answer but they’re all memorable for one reason or another. Any time we did something for the first time it probably was a little extra special whether it was playing in a city or state, selling out a venue, playing a release show, etc., for the first time. I guess if I tried to think of one that fits that category I’d say playing the final Bled Fest in 2019. It sucks that their last was our first but we’ll all always remember that day for sure and are glad we got to play one before it went away.

-What is your favorite venue to play at, and do you have any places you want to play that you have not already?

Well we’ve always really enjoyed playing at the Knitting Factory here in Brooklyn but have sadly heard recently they’ll be closing at the end of this summer. On a similar note, we used to truly love playing Soundbar in Orlando but that closed last year too. We really enjoy Masquerade in Atlanta, they have some of the best staff, the sound is always great, and the shows have never not rocked there. There’s some “newer” place in LA we played in the last couple of years. Wood Lodge or something? I can’t remember the name but it was huge and the show was great and the catering was insanely good. We’d like to play some of the bigger venues in NYC ASAP. Webster, Gramercy, Brooklyn Steel, or even Elsewhere Space. Happy to play any and everywhere though.

-If you could play any show with any lineup, who would be on the ticket?

Green Day, blink, The Bronx, glassjaw, Drug Church, Tunrstile, The Beatles, Fugazi, Northstar, Kanye West, Jawbreaker and Blackstar all opening for us and then giving us all of their money.

-What is some advice that you would give to someone who is just getting into playing in a band and some advice that you would give to your younger self?

Go do something that you and your friends want to do or want to exist and then listen and learn from other people’s advice and mistakes but continue to do what you want and don’t worry about anyone that doesn’t understand how you express yourself. You can only be you.

-What is the creative process for the band, and what inspires you to write your music?

I write most of the songs myself and then will bring demos to the other guys. If or when they have something to contribute, we see how it fits or if we can work it in and generally do. It’s a group effort but they trust me enough to lead the way and do a lot of the “foundation building” if that makes sense. I’m inspired by any/all things. Sometimes it tends to be negative things or happenings that make me want to write but I’ve definitely written a fair share about positive experiences as well. Lately I’ve been inspired by a lot of heavier stuff than I’ve let myself be in the past and I think it’ll show in our newer music and going forward. I’ve always liked heavier music but kind of always kept it separate from the BL. influence and now I just wanna see how we can push ourselves creatively as a band. We feel like our live show and overall energy has always been more aggressive, while still being catchy and what not, than our records have been able to convey. We definitely don’t want to be put in a box in terms of our sound or overall band so I think our newer music is going to reflect that and the inspiration I’ve had as of late.

-What kinds of messages do you like to get across in your music?

Nothing specifically I suppose. I’m just expressing myself and hoping people can relate to it or get their own meaning out of it, even if it’s different than mine. I try to just write songs about my life or the people close to me. Sometimes they’re stories, sometimes they’re just a bunch of metaphors, and sometimes it’s nonsense that either only makes sense to me or doesn’t even and winds up making sense to me later. Art and specifically songwriting is awesome in my opinion for all those reasons and “possibilities”. But we have no directly intended “messages”. We’re just people trying to connect with or relate to other people.

-Do you ever have disagreements in your band, and how do you get past them?

Well like I said, my brother is in the band so naturally we probably disagree the most but in a pretty mundane way. We’re only a year apart and we’ve always been best friends and have played music with one another, so we have a built up respect and if needed tolerance for each other. Same goes for the other 2 members, Michael and Charlie. They’ve played music together their whole lives and the 4 of us have been friends because of touring together in different bands for the last 10+ years. They’ve been in Bad Luck. since 2018 and I can definitely say we’re our most patient, logical, and reasonable since. If and when we do disagree, it’s normally either for the sake of passion driven debate (maybe we disagree about a songwriting idea and/or some kind of creative display or expression) and that gets squashed with the best idea being the right idea. Kind of the way it should always be resolved in my opinion. And then personal disagreements or issues are always handled ASAP. We all get along and love each other a bunch so we don’t really like to drive around the country in a metal box of tension.

-What are your plans for the future, and do you have anything that you want to spotlight that is coming up?

In September we’re playing the first ever Ohio Is For Lovers Fest with a lot of great bands like Descendents, New Found Glory, Motion City Soundtrack, Bayside, Hawthorne Heights, Knucklepuck, and a lot more. That’s going to be really great, we can’t wait. In a few weeks here in Brooklyn, I’m playing an acoustic show with my friends Jimmy and Skylar. They both normally play in a band we toured with called Taking Meds but this gig will be for both of their acoustic acts, Jimmy Montague and Growing Stone. That’s on 7/6 at the Kingsland, should be awesome. Outside of those 2 announced gigs, we’re working on hopefully doing something else locally later this summer and going on a few more tours before the year ends. Last but definitely not least at all, we’re working on writing and recording our best music to date ASAP this year. I can’t wait for people to hear it.

Thanks for the interview and your time, have a good one!