TWENTY YEARS TO ROCK

TWENTY YEARS INTO THEIR CAREER, IT SEEMS THERE’S NO STOPPING THE FAUVES. AND AS FRONTMAN ANDREW COX TELLS CRAIG SPANN, THEIR BEST MAY WELL BE DECADES AHEAD OF THEM.

The date July 23 1988 isn’t exactly a date that’s etched into the collective Australian psyche. Yet on that day, in the rather illustrious surrounds of Victoria’s Mt Eliza Football Club, Australian rock institution The Fauves walked on stage for the first time. And now more than 20 years down the track, it appears there’s no stopping them.
While their profile may have peaked in the Australian alt-rock heyday of the 1990s, The Fauves continue to churn out some this country’s best music. You need look no further than the band’s latest album When Good Times Go Good released earlier this year for proof. Their ninth album, its release is an impressive achievement for The Fauves when you consider almost all of the bands that were contemporaries in those early days – Custard, Snout, Sidewinder – have long fallen by the wayside. For his part though, frontman Andrew Cox doesn’t seem particularly enamoured with the idea of marking milestones – even big ones like this. When the anniversary rolled around early this year, Cox says there wasn’t a misty eye in sight.
“We had a bit of a self-indulgent weekend back in July where we pulled out a bunch of old stuff to look at… just disappeared up our own arses, really,” Cox explains in his trademark laconic tone. “But the whole milestone thing, in terms of some major celebrations, it was pretty low-key.”
The Fauves have never been the kind of band to get too carried away with pomp and ceremony though – they’ve always been at their best when at their most irreverent. After signing to major Polydor in 1993, the band became the unlikeliest of success stories thanks to a batch of brilliant singles including ‘Self Abuser’, ‘Dogs Are The Best People’, and ‘Don’t Get Death Threats Anymore’. Then came Future Spa, the 1996 album that was without doubt one of the best records released in the country that decade. Looking back on that period, Cox says that no one was more astounded by The Fauves’ rise than the band. It, he says, just didn’t seem to make a lot of sense.
“In the aftermath of Future Spa, we were pulling some really big crowds to shows,” he says. “But I think essentially, were weren’t cut out to be big, we were just never professional enough.”
Then when then Polydor was absorbed by the global Universal Music behemoth, the band was “let go”. Cox explains though there was never any chance that losing major label backing would spell the end of the band.
“We joined up with Shock [Records] and we’ve made five albums since then,” he says. “I think a lot of people who may have dabbled with us in the 90s would be shocked to think we’ve had all those records since then. It’s been our most fertile period.”
The fact the band is still around is even more remarkable if you’ve managed to catch the hilarious and vaguely unsettling documentary The Fauves: 15 Minutes to Rock – a film that managed to capture the often-brutal reality of the Australian music business. The film should be mandatory viewing for young bands, but Cox hasn’t seen it for years.
“I think I gave my copy to someone,“ he says. “But I do remember at the time it being a bit of an hour-long cringe session. It’s kind of become this whole cult item now though and we still get heaps of emails from people trying to track it down. I think people in other bands more than anyone else really identified with it, with what happened to us.”
What appears to have happened since the Polydor split has been something of a creative awakening for the band. Cox explains they were in fact relieved to be free of the “baggage” that came with being signed to a major label.
“We do it now, because we want to do it,” he says of making music. “Ten years ago I think we were still at the tail end of trying to make it big at some stupid, ill-conceived level. The past decade has really been more about getting back to why we are a band. We sort of left all those commercial dreams behind us and now it’s just more pure personal enjoyment.”
Perhaps the key to the band’s longevity has been the maintenance of the close creative unit that is Cox, guitarist Philip Leonard and drummer Adam Newey. The only line-up change the band has seen came when bassist Andrew “Jack” Dyer left in 1999 – replaced by Timothy Cleaver. And Cox says he doesn’t expect any new faces in the line-up, ever.
“We are really good friends and the thought of having to get somebody else in one day… well, if for some reason someone decided to leave the band I think we would find a way to go on as a three-piece,” he says.
From writing to rehearsing, The Fauves are driven by a low-key philosophy. Cox says while they are known for doing the “absolute minimum required” when it comes to rehearsing, they’re always writing new songs. 
“Then we just come together when its time to do a record, when we think we have got the songs.” he says. “We are fairly harsh judges of our own stuff and we wouldn’t just make an album for the sake of it.”
Making When Good Times Go Good saw the band re-unite with producer and long time cohort Wayne Connolly who has worked on more than half of the band’s releases. This time around, they also brought in producer and Midnight Oil member Jim Moginie for the studio sessions. Cox says Moginie’s influence on the record was subtle, like the man himself.
“I think we were somewhat intimidated by the idea of having him involved,” Cox says of Moginie. “But from the moment we met him, he was just the loveliest guy with no ego at all. He’s was not about changing our sound… we’re pretty stubborn about that anyway. He just had some great ideas that really put the polish on the record… he played some piano on the record and a bit of guitar here and there.”
The result is certainly the strongest Fauves release in years and one that gives Cox confidence the band is anything but done.
“Maybe we’ll end up doing our best work around the 40-year mark,” he says.
The album’s release will also give The Fauves’ dedicated (read: slightly obsessive) fans the rare chance to see them live once again. While Cox says the band is more than aware of the strength across their back catalogue, shows of late have tended to draw heavily from the last few albums.
“I think the main restriction though is just being able to remember playing some of those older songs,” he says. “A huge chunk of our catalogue remains dormant because we just couldn’t remember how to play it.”
That approach is also further evidence of the band’s determination to chart its own course.
“There’s no planning taking place with this band and that’s the beauty of it,” he says. “The Fauves can just go off and do whatever they want. Really, the world just doesn’t care!”
WHO: The Fauves
WHAT: When Good Times Go Good (Shock)
WHERE & WHEN: Shark Bar Friday Oct 17, The Troubadour Saturday Oct 18