Jimmy Smith is the guitarist for the Oxford band Foals, and grew up there. Nowadays, he lives in Oxford when he’s not touring, and when we met him at one of the good-but-kind-of-shit bars on Oxford’s High Street somewhere between the band’s massive tour and their sell-out shows with Bloc Party at the London Olympia, we decided it would be a good idea to grill him for info and educate people wanting to have a good time in this student-infested university city:

Right, then… Oxford. What's your earliest memory of out-of-school socializing in our fair city? Did you go along the St. Giles-and-pool-parties route, or more of a Gloucester Green and Port Meadow thing?
I remember we used to go to 'shitty' parks and drink tequila. I think it’s actually City Park right next to Little Clarendon Street. I got in a ruck with a bum who called himself Dad there once -- he held me up by the neck against a wall, just for a cigarette. We just hung around everywhere really.

What is it about Oxford, do you think, that engenders so much creativity? - for such a small place, a lot of high quality people have come out of Oxford: Radiohead obviously, but also Julian Opie, Supergrass, Young Knives etc. and now Foals.
I think because of the size of the city everyone ends up bouncing ideas off each other, with Youthmovies for example. There is always something inspiring and creative going on, and in Oxford you don't have to look very hard to find it.

Would you say Oxford's influenced your sound? The amount of academic and intellectual energy in Oxford surely had some kind of effect?
I don’t really know what influenced our sound at all. Just our surroundings I guess, writing songs cooped up in a tiny room in St. John's. Our biggest influence was each other. But Oxford always represents a place of refuge and escape for us -- we treat it like the Shire, so it will always influence us as long as we stay here.

Now for the more basic stuff, I guess. How would you describe Oxford to an outsider who knew nothing about it?
Shit nightlife, good people.

What's the music scene like?
Once you filter out the crap it’s a healthy scene. People who care about the right things seem to pull the strings.

Student population -- good or bad?
Annoying sometimes, but essential for Oxford.

How about art? Any galleries or Oxford artists you particularly recommend?
I only went to MOMA twice, but that’s a pretty cool space, always some good things running there. Andrew from Youthmovies showed me this book he's making with friends, a collection of art and words called "Midscene," I think that’s pretty much the best thing happening right now.

What do you most miss when you're out of Oxford?
Being able to stand in the center, walk for 10 minutes in any direction and be in a field. I miss my friends too, so much.

Oxford's got a lot of pubs and bars, considering its size. Which are your favorites, and why?
The Star is my favorite, it’s like Cheers for me there. I like some of the old pubs. We are way more of a pub band than bar band, I hate shiny yuppie bars. But if you like them, Oxford has a whole heap of them.

What about eats? What's the best restaurant in Oxford?
The Old Parsonage is good, Gee's is supposed to be amazing. Both are hugely overpriced, but give you a fake feeling of success. Try the Oriental Cafe and Mongolian Wok, cheap and awesome.

Anything else you think deserves a special mention?
The river. People should spend more time on and around the river, it’s so calming. Best thing to do is get a row boat and row to the pub up the river, the Victoria Arms, take a shandy and then head out for the great unknown. Or just go to Primark.

~Christopher Harding


Foals play the Olympia in London on 11th and 12th April with Bloc Party.


First photo by Jenna Foxton
Second photo by Bachspics via Flickr
Third photo by Garrettc via Flickr
Fourth photo courtesy of Gee's
Fifth photo by gab3x Split via Flickr
Sixth photo by James_Christie via Flickr