Saxsquatch. He’s elusive. He lives in the forest. He’s saxy. He’s got big feet (you know what they say). And he’s coming to WOW Hall on April 10 to deliver a night you’ll never forget.
Saxsquatch is a seven foot tall cryptozoological being who gained notoriety in January 2020 with his viral “Live from the Woods” videos, where he continues to offer sax-fueled dubstep remixes of your favorite songs as well as covers and more recently some original music.
Since then, he’s made music for video games Fortnite and Rocket League, appeared on Jimmy Fallon, collaborated with John Oates for a funky remix of “Maneater” and has grown his following into a funkadelic army of believers.
Now the cryptid is on the road to spread his hairy love for the sax by throwing Bigfoot raves all over the nation, from Bonnaroo to Eugene. Though he hails from the woods of Chapel Hill, North Carolina, he would hardly be a ’Squatch without visiting his Pacific Northwest family. Read on to learn more about Saxsquatch’s origin, relationship status, his favorite sax songs and what to expect from his show.
How did Saxsquatch get his start? Did you just find a saxophone in the woods one day?
My family is a musical family. You know, my grandfather’s name is Gigfoot, and my sister is Big Flute. I became obsessed with the saxophone when I heard the song “Urgent” by Foreigner on our radio that we had out in the woods with us. When I heard the sound, it was like a spiritual experience for me. I was like, I don’t know what that is, but I have to do that.
So I went up into the mountains and bought a saxophone from a pawn shop. Nobody believed the guy when he told them that Sasquatch bought a saxophone. But I became obsessed with the saxophone, and everyone started calling me Saxsquatch.
Enough with the small talk. Let’s get personal. I must know, are you single?
About a year and a half ago, I was just hanging out with this awesome group of people who happen to be fans after a show. About two weeks later, I got a text message from one of them that said, “Hey, I think my friend and you would be really good together, and her name is Thiccfoot.” We’ve been dating for about 15 months.
Congratulations! Do I hear wedding bells?
Tensions are there.
Speaking of love, what are your thoughts on the classic George Michael song “Careless Whisper,” perhaps the most saxual of them all? I see you have your own rendition of the song. As a saxophonist I’m sure you must feel required to play it all the time.
I assume you ask that question because “Careless Whisper” can be so overplayed as a saxophone song. But my version of it is kind of a dubstep quarter note version, like a very wubby, wonky song. People love it, and it feels good to have a room full of people screaming at the song the way that I did it.
I actually changed the key, so I tried to do it pretty artistically, and it’s got a really funky bass line, so it’s not as cheesy as you would think that it is. And to give the crowd something to hang on to, especially if they’re not extremely familiar with my originals, because I’m just getting to the point of releasing them now. I’ve been just sitting on a bunch of songs. So things are going really well with the music releases.
How are you yielded in the ’Squatch community for all of your exposure with filming yourself in the woods and going on tour and things like that. Have the ’Squatches deemed you a controversial figure?
You know, it’s not about me. It’s not just to get rich and famous. It’s to bring people together, to unify people, to create an amazing show where I can be just a vessel of art for people to digest and give back to the world. To inspire people to be whatever they believe in. And that has really come about from people believing in me.
I mean, yeah, it started out on social media. But now it’s a real world thing where at the shows, we just believe in each other. People come dressed up as something they believe in, and it’s really fun. The message is unity. And I think you can’t really hate on that.
What are your thoughts on the ’Squatch and human divide, where humans are always trying to hunt ’Squatches, but then ’Squatches are always trying to hide from us.
I think there’s respect within the music culture not to hunt ’Squatches. I haven’t felt any kind of threats or anything like that. I’m seven feet tall, and I know what I’m doing. I’ve been elusive for a while, so I tend to avoid any of those kinds of vibes, especially in my shows.
Can you tell our PNW friends what exactly to expect from your show?
To me, the show is about the audience. I mean, I’m trying to absolutely slay the live performance aspect and the effects and the production and make sure that everybody is going to be mind blown. We’ve got a laser show and four eight-foot tall trees on stage to create the vibe. It’s guaranteed to get your money’s worth, but we try to keep the ticket prices as low as we can, just to get the shows sold out quickly.
But it’s an all-ages show. There’ll be a couple kids here and there, to lots of ravers, lots of young people and college people who are chanting and singing and screaming and stuff like that.
Then there’s the Sasquatch culture people. And then there’s seasoned people who maybe fell in love with the saxophone in the ’50s or ’60s. Some shows are a giant mix of people. I mean, we’re doing 11 sold-out shows in a row right now, so a lot of the shows are expected to sell out. So get your tickets in Eugene. I really want to meet people in Eugene and see everyone go crazy.
Come out of elusiveness and be spotted at WOW Hall on April 10, for what is sure to be a wild night. Don’t forget to dress as something you believe in, because as Saxsquatch said to me as we ended our call: “Tell the people: I’m ’squatching you. I believe in you.”