Ogden's Van Cleefers back in the biz

By Linda East Brady

Fri, 01/08/2010 - 12:02pm

Images

Late in the summer of 2009, things were going along pretty swimmingly for the Ogden-based rock outfit Fox Van Cleef.

The quintet, which formed when some members were still in high school, had a good four years of history together. Members of the band had a brand-new mini-album in the can, and were looking forward to playing Uncle Uncanny's, a popular regional music festival.

But the night before that Uncanny gig, guitarist Jesse Hodshire cut his strumming hand without even getting out of bed.

"I have a glass picture frame right by my bed, and rolled over in my sleep and I hit it with my arm," said Hodshire, gathered with the rest of the band at his East Bench home for rehearsal. "I shattered the glass and broke a piece pretty far into my arm."

The injury sent Hodshire to the hospital and left him with some lingering nerve problems near his thumb. But now, with several months of therapy, Hodshire is once again playing guitar.

"It's a little frustrating, but I am on the downhill side of recovery now," he said. "In a couple of months, they say, I should have the full range of motion back.

"Now, I can't lift more than 50 pounds, but I can play the guitar. And when it gets down to it, that's what matters to me. Right now, the biggest problem I have is dexterity and strength. I can play, but I get tired fast -- my hand gets worn out really quickly."

Hodshire said he also feels uncomfortable relying on the other Van Cleefers to load his gear for him.

"I am used to loading my own stuff in and out. I mean, I have five other people around (including the band's manager), so it gets done, but it is a control thing. You've got to let them do it, but it is frustrating knowing I have to let these savages," he points around the room to his bandmates, "pack my car."

This comment draws a laugh from the other members of Fox Van Cleef (Dustin Bessire, guitar/vocals; Chase Baur, bass; Matt "Fro" Froling, drums; Erich Newey, keyboards). Their camaraderie is not only demonstrated as they fluidly rehearse their new material, but also by the fact that the other four waited to release the album until Hodshire was able to play with them in support of it.

The band resumes gigging with a CD release party Monday at Kilby Court. More shows will follow later this month in Salt Lake City and Ogden.

'CTETC'

The eight-song album Fox Van Cleef releases this month is called, "Cigarettes, Terrorism, Etc." The band claims to have come up with the name of the CD over a meal at a local Mexican food joint.

"We dropped a lot of ridiculous names in there -- many of which I admit I came up with," said Froling. "But this one just seemed right, because the last five years or more of our lives have involved cigarettes, terrorism, and ... well, etcetera.

Said Hodshire: "Plus, the initials can be a palindrome -- 'CTETC.' "

The band chose not to search for a label with this outing, opting instead to do a relatively small run of the disc and sell it directly at shows and via the Web.

"Instead of relying on someone else all the time, we wanted to take this project into our own hands, keep control of it," said Hodshire. "It is difficult for a smaller band to do that still, but it is becoming far more acceptable. Bands like Radiohead, releasing free online, have shown there is a big change afoot, and a new acceptance in how you distribute music."

Though "Cigarettes, Terrorism, Etc." is getting its official release mid-January, the album was finished nearly a year ago. The band plans to go back in the studio in February for another EP-length work, once Hodshire's hand proves strong enough to handle the sessions.

The Foxy crowd

Fox Van Cleef has built a diverse following with its diverse sound -- a combination of hard-rocking drums and rhythms, soul-based vocals, and fluid guitar-driven rock over a foundation of keyboards.

Said Baur: "Our MySpace site says we appeal to people 18 through 24. Well, that makes sense, because we ourselves are 21 to 24."

Bessire added, "But I have also seen elderly people at least find a song that reminded them of a prior time in their life and really enjoy it."

And Froling said: "And then, during one of our shows, a 10-year-old boy was pretending to drum behind me. It was great. I talked to his dad for a long time about drumming, and how into it he was. ... Seriously, we do have a pretty large demographic."

It's a demographic the band hopes to keep building in a steady fashion. Which leads to this question -- when the band is twice as old as it is now, where would band members like to see themselves?

"Well, I want to know these guys are in my life," said Bessire. "I want to be in this self-sufficient traveling band with them, making enough to get by -- which is not hard to make, with how we live. But I seriously want to travel. So this time in five years? I hope to be sitting in some little town in Minnesota waiting for a gig."

Added Froling, "Hey, since we're wishing, I'd rather find myself in Europe by then, and not Minnesota."

The band members all laugh at the prettier picture Froling has painted of road life.

"Seriously, it would be nice to have already been to Minnesota -- to have a few national tours under our belt by then at least," said Froling. "Nothing fancy, mind you -- just get in a van, go to the East Coast or the South for a swing here and there. Build an audience that way.

"It would be good to have at least one full-length album by then, too. But if we don't seem to have any real forward momentum by then, I will be unhappy. I think that feeling goes through to the bone, in all of us."

PREVIEW