Rocketfox was formed in June 2005 by Fiona Crawford and Gary Johnstone who met at Perth College in 2002.  Having both played in different bands during their time in Perth, they decided when they finished their degree course to form a band and set out to write and perform the catchiest commercial music.  With this in mind they asked drummer Colin Macgregor and guitarist/singer Alyson Bell to be part of it. 

The first three months consisted solely of song writing and practising (and deciding on a band name!).  Because three of them lived in different cities (Glasgow, Edinburgh and Perth) this was challenging at times!  They were however determined to make it work. In September Rocketfox played their first gig in Mcchuill’s, Glasgow and after only three gigs were given the chance to support ‘Freefaller’ at Glasgow’s Barfly last December.  This fell through at the last minute due to Freefaller being dropped by their label, however Rocketfox were then given the opportunity to support the ‘Ronnelles’ that same night.  It was here that Tony Goeffin from the Daily Record along with Daniel Wylie from the Cosmic Rough Riders expressed an interest in the band.   

In early January 2006, Alyson announced that she was leaving the band in order to concentrate on the final year of her degree project and the band played their last four piece gig at Fury Murry’s before rehearsing as a three piece and advertising for a replacement female guitarist.  For whatever reason, a fourth member proved elusive, and afraid that momentum would be lost, Rocketfox started gigging as a three-piece hoping that another guitarist would be found along the way.  Not finding another guitarist in hindsight however may have been the best thing that could have happened.  After playing several gigs as a 3-piece and receiving a great response from their audience the band decided that this was the route to take.   

In April 2006 Rocketfox recorded a four track EP at Split Level Studios in Edinburgh, which consisted of 4 tracks; ‘Safe And Sound’, ‘Truth Or Dare’, ‘Bombshell’ and ‘Don’t Kiss Me Goodbye’.  The following month proved to be an exciting month for the band.  On May 10th, after much determination and persistence ‘Safe And Sound’ was played by Jim Gellatly on XFM!  In Jim Gellatly’s own words “…Rocketfox do indeed rock!”  The band were also featured in the local band spotlight section of the TimesOut Magazine, (part of The Glasgow Evening Times) advertising one of their bigger gigs supporting the up-and-coming band ‘Dresden’ on 28th May at Firewater. 

Just as everything was going swimmingly for the Fox, there were stormy issues brewing on the horizon.  As gigs were coming hard and fast, it seemed that it was too much for drummer Colin Macgregor to juggle alongside his teaching job and his role in well established Perth band ‘Phantom Riffage’.  Because of his long working hours in Edinburgh, Colin was not always available for sound checks, photo shoots and general band communal merriment.  Having said that, for the past few months he did a great job of juggling work and two constantly gigging bands.  It was just getting to the point however where a decision had to be made on what to do about the situation.  In the end and with mutual agreement the best solution for all was for Mr Colin to stick with his job and doing what he does best in Phantom Riffage.

Once again, such an event provided the catalyst for better things to come. Within little more than a week, Gary and Fiona, through a friend of a friend of a friend style meeting, were introduced to Neil MacDougall from nearby Kirkintilloch.  As if fate had led them together, he was actively looking to be in a constantly gigging band.  Given a CD with all 13 Rocketfox tunes on it, Neil did his homework and arrived at the first rehearsal a mere two days later and flew through the set as though he had been playing in the band for years.  Gary and Fiona were so impressed that they instantly asked him to play the two shows that weekend; at the Xscape Sno Bar in Braehead and a Saturday show at Barrowlands 2.

While most bands would take a break to settle a new member in, Rocketfox did quite the opposite! The band was able to accept even more gigs due to the fact that they were all now Glasgow based.

With this definitive line-up confirmed, RocketFox have proceeded to maintain their focus and since being signed up by Glasgow's SMN management label fronted by the bands manager James Edmond, RocketFox have toured all over Scotland alongside bands such as Glasgow's The Hedrons, Toby Jepson of Little Angels fame, Ireland's SixStarHotel, Frank Turner of Million Dead fame, Brady Cole (recently supported Foo Fighters!) and many more.  

With their second single release at Glasgow's Barfly on January 7th 2007, a full UK tour shaping up for March and April 2007, a headline slot at Glasgow's Barrowlands in August and major labels choking at the bit to get RocketFox signed up, things are looking more than a little bit awesome for the bands future.  Make sure you catch RocketFox at one of their few intimate forthcoming shows before it's too late! 

How good would it be to be able to say "I saw RocketFox before they won best breakthrough act 2007!"