Reviewsic [ri-vyoo-zik] -noun: Music worth talking about

A combination of everything from alt country to 70’s glam make up the ever transitioning sound of three piece band, Fire Zuave. Originating in South Florida and currently hailing from Athens, Georgia, the physical relocations are well suited for a band that has also seen a number of line-up changes since its inception. As they solidly stand today, Fire Zuave is made up of lead singer/guitarist Chuck Andrews, bassist Peter Alvanos (aka Fabulous Bird), and drummer Jason Fusco, with all three contributing to the harmonies that have begun to shape their sound.

Just three years into their making, Fire Zuave has already hit the road with big names like Of Montreal, and while Andrews relation to Kevin Barnes certainly doesn’t hurt, the band has begun to prove themselves worthy of standing on their own two feet. With two full lengths already under their belts, a slew of checked off locales on their “to play” list through extensive touring, and an elaborate stage show complete with props, Fire Zuave is without a doubt a band worth a minute of your time.

While their first release Sand Fastened, has a more definitively alt country sound behind it than anything else, it also offers a glint of 70’s era folk whimsy, making it more accessible to listeners who may not be a huge fan of the more southern style. In fact, one ofFire Zuave’s tracks most loved by fans comes from the debut album. With its western bass, hi-hat heavy drums, and echo-y vocals it is no surprise that “Starving Like a Pack of Wolves” quickly fell in step with the tastes of the indie set, along with songs like “Gypsies” and “Way We Were Before.” Nonetheless, tracks like “If You Were Gold”, “Colors of the Sun”, and “Emily“ exude a certain country charm that dominates the album.

If Sand Fastened can be narrowed down to the genre of alt country, then the best box to put the sophomore release Oscillation Isolator into would be one of Psychedelic 70’s folk, complete with raspy vocals, buzzing guitars, and cymbal filled percussion. It’s in this second album that one begins to see the band focus more on harmonies, which are delivered beautifully on almost every track. Oscillation Isolator also sees more production effects as the songs come and go, though the middle of every track seems to stay pretty organic and unaltered. Songs like “Down By the Sea” and “Will You Ever Understand That I’m Not Afraid of Who I am” are quick to worm their way into the center of your cerebral functions, insuring you’ll be humming for the next week, while “By The Side Of A Mountain” revisits those alt country vibes of the past.

It’s not often that we throw our hands up in surrender to a band, feeling unable to properly describe it, but Fire Zuave is a group that definitely has us pinned. Not quite this and not quite that, the trio is still exploring their options, experimenting, and constantly at work on new material. The hours of practice and studio time put into this band is apparent not only in albums they’ve put out, but in their live show as well. One of the tightest and most in sync bands we’ve seen in a long time, Fire Zuave has a very solid set that necessitates almost no conversation between songs, implements a number of effects while still maintaining a natural sound, and comes across just as polished as their mastered tracks. This three piece also can deliver one of the best renditions of Talking Heads’”Psycho Killer” that we’ve ever heard a band pull off.

A truly hardworking band that’s willing to play anywhere, the newly made Georgians have had that ethic rewarded by being featured in Polyvinyl’s showcase at SXSW this week. While label support is a hope for the future, the thrill of getting signed is anything but the forerunner of their intentions. In our time spent with Fire Zuave frontman Chuck Andrews, we learned of the singer/songwriter’s bigger picture: one that involves being part of the inevitable new incarnation of indie brewing in the underground world of small clubs and venues. His dreams of doing something new, and better than ever before, may seem whimsical to some, but hearing anyone be that passionate about an idea sure makes it hard to knock. So watch out- Fire Zuave just might change rock n’ roll forever.

The previously mentioned Chuck Andrews was kind enough to spend some couch time with us to talk about the budding music circuit in Athens, his favorite albums, and his PSA to fellow musicians.

Reviewsic: Tell us about the beginning of Fire Zuave.

Chuck Andrews: I grew up in Cleveland and started my musical career there, picked up guitar when I was about 10, but I didn’t really come into fruition as a musician until about 25. I moved out to Colorado and I had this sort of awakening after I had a relationship with this girl and she left, then it was like…BAM I could sing the way I wanted to sing, and I could do everything I wanted to do. Over the course of time I ended up in West Palm Beach, FL and was just hanging low, gathering my thoughts, deciding what I wanted to do when a guy approached me and said “I heard your stuff at an open mic night and I really liked it. I have a studio and I play guitar, would you want to do something? And I remember at the time it was about noon so I said, “Well, what are you doing in like…an hour?” And that was literally the beginning of the band. We hit the ground running and never looked back.

You can take a band one of two ways: It can be this fun hobby that you do and kind of fuck around in your own time when you’re not doing whatever else it is you want to do in life. Or you can make it just be this, that this is your life and everything else is your fuck around time like…paying bills. I decided to take that route.

We had a drummer quit and eventually got Jason. He had been following us down in Florida, when we were literally playing seven shows a week, just anywhere we could. We didn’t even have a rehearsal; Jason just came with his kit to play and already knew all the songs. Two months later we’re on the road with Of Montreal, playing in front of 2,000 people every night, and then came the last album, Oscillation Escalator. From there we moved to Athens, Georgia, got a new bass player, and the past year has been even more exciting.

Reviewsic: How would you describe Fire Zuave to someone who’s never heard your music before?

C.A: Well lately its kind of…Fleetwood Mac meets Television. A lot of bands these days its like all you need is a ton of reverb on your vocals, have a keyboard player holding one note down, everything just swirling- and I don’t knock that, I actually really love it. But we don’t want to be that, and we also don’t want to be that folk-y band either, or flashy-dancey. But as we started writing as a band we went down that folksy M. Ward road, and then to this weird glam-rock, and just kept branching out. It’s been a constant shedding of the skin, not exactly knowing what we want to be doing, but really want we don’t want from what we’ve already done.

What we’ve tried to do is really put our true selves into the record and the live show. We’ve tried really hard to connect the live show to the album so the listener can relate to the energy of both, sort of interchangeably.

Reviewsic: What are the last three bands/musicians you listened to?

C.A: Christopher Cross, I’ve been really hooked on that song ‘Sailing’. The new Midlake album, The Courage of Others- so disappointing. Midlake is one of my favorite bands ever, and I wanted more of that Trials of Van Occupanther but instead it’s just this weird Jethro Tull thing. Also, Grizzly Bear’s last album, and Fiery Furnaces are two I’ve been digging on a lot too.

Reviewsic: If you could book a tour with any three bands, who would they be?

C.A: I would say Minus the Bear, they’re just incredible. Panda Bear for sure, and maybe Beach house, I’m a pretty big fan of them.

Reviewsic: What’s the music scene like in Athens?

C.A: I’ve noticed two kinds of Athens: There are people like me- there’s a gentleman by the name of Booray, who’s an incredible act. There’s these types of guys that play so much, work so much, and record so much that it’s like if they have one bad show, its just “Who gives a fuck, its one show?” You just keep going. But then there’s this other crowd in Athens that plays one show a month, maybe, and take on this “This town sucks” attitude and are always the guys at the bar drinking instead of working.

But really there is just so much- a really cool country thing, indie thing- a little everything. There’s a great scene in Athens. You go out on a Friday night there and you’re going to see bands that are playing exactly where music is going in the next five years. There’s this whole new thing that’s growing and breathing, and you can see it. Go out on a week night and see who’s opening for bands in the non-big market town, in the B and C rated clubs, and you find the people who are truly taking music seriously. Because they’re not making any money, they’re not playing for thousands of people- they’re just there because they love what they’re doing and want to share what they’ve made. It’s about the art. That’s what we love and want stay a part of.

Reviewsic: Who are a few of your favorite local bands?

C.A: Booray is probably my favorite musician in Athens right now. He’s this really awesome sort of renegade country, which is so different from what we are, but we’ve put on some really great shows with him. We also play a lot with a band from Nashville called Hay Penny, and this other band from Brooklyn called Deleted Scenes, and they’re both awesome. But my favorite, favorite band right now is from Chatanooga, and they’re called Moonlight Bride. They’re just fucking incredible, you have to check them out.

Reviewsic: Tell us a little about the writing process behind Fire Zuave.

C.A: I’m constantly feeling prolific and just inspired. All the time, I write, I write, I write. So the songs are there, in that spirit of an overflowing muse, I never just sit down and tell myself I’m going to write about this or that, it just comes up. It’s hard to even take credit for it, because while it’s you, it’s you doing it, you’re the vessel, but really…it’s coming from somewhere else.

Prior to this new album, everything was me. On the last album there was one song that I’ll credit to a past member of a band called The Raspberries, from the 70’s, and his son. I grew up with them and I just wanted to make something special that we could look back on when we’re older and say, “Hey we did that.” And that’s the last song on the album Oscillation Isolator called ‘On the side of a mountain’. This album started on that same road, but a couple songs crept on that are more collaborative. Primarily the backbone is my songs, my ideas, but you can see there’s been a shift in what we’re doing.

As far as recording goes…well, I love the studio more than life itself- for me, that is my canvas. But I’ve never been in a situation like we are with this band, where every single person involved- drummer, bassist- everyone wants to be there for every step. You know, we’ll all be sitting there stumped on what to do with something and our drummer needs to be at work by will have an idea for a vocal track, so he’ll step in the booth real quick, blurt out this piece, and is just like “Okay, I’m off to work!” Then we play it back and it’s exactly what we needed. There’s been serious growth between us and it’s really amazing how much we all have each other’s backs. You just don’t see that as much anymore with that option to go on your own to your macbook, open up garage band and tweak the shit out of something until you sound like…I don’t know, superman making music. But that’s a fad- just like Motzart did little piano concertos first before making symphonies, that’s just something in music that has to be grown through and eventually bigger things come.

Reviewsic: If you could put out a statement or word of advice to your fellow musicians, including yourself, what would you say?

C.A: I would say that the toughest thing to do is make an image. You have to craft an image over time, I think it’s a big turn off for bands to come out and say “Oh hey, this is what we are”- it has to gestate. To be something just for the sake of being something rather than work and see what comes out of your talent over time is just wasteful. My best advice is to just do the action- write the song, play the song, start playing out a lot. Make a decision that you’re going to play no matter what. Whether there are 4 people there or 40 people, or ever 400 or 4,000- no matter what, you’re going to bring it every single day. And THAT will be your ‘image’. I think if more bands took that sort of blue-collar approach, there’d be a lot more tight sound and craft out there.

Reviewsic: If you were to drum down your influences as a band to three to five musicians-who would it be?

C.A: I would say Fleetwood Mac, Black Sabbath, Television, Talking Heads, and Cars. There’s many, many more- those are really just the tip of the iceberg.

Reviewsic: If you were to do an album of solely cover songs, what are a few that you would absolutely have to include?

C.A: We try to do at least one cover at every show so I’m going to delete those and give you new ones. Hot Child In the City- Nick Guilder, You Are Beautiful- Christina Aguilera, any song by Sentigold, Good Vibrations- The Beach Boys, and In Your Head- Tegan and Sara.

Reviewsic: What was the first album that you personally bought?

C.A: Neil Young’s Harvest and Sticky Fingers by the Rolling Stones.

Reviewsic: Where did the name ‘Fire Zuave’ come from?

C.A: We had some lame name- we were called The Guns, and I asked Kevin to put us on his top friends on myspace and he was like, “I won’t put you on there until you change your name.” And I knew that our name wasn’t really great, so I was kind of with him on that one. I was going to make it Earth Boi, and that seemed like it was going to happen, but then our bass player actually came with Fire Zuave as a joke, but I was like “You know…I really like that.” The thing I like is that people have to look at it to try and figure it out, so it kind of sticks.

Reviewsic: If you could work with anyone in the music industry, who would it be and why?

C.A: Well once I get some wind under my sails I’d like to work on something with Kevin, not him producing me but an actual collaborative thing. There’s a guy called John Ralston from South Florida, who’s just got an amazing voice and I’d really like to sit down with him and do something. Matt and Eleanor from Fiery Furnaces, I’d really like to be part of their thought process, not as a fly on the wall but truly engage in something.

Reviewsic: This time next year, what would you like to be going on for your band?

C.A: Well, we got into SXSW, that was a big goal. And we’re playing for Polyvinyl, so they might be interested in us, but I’m not sure if we’re quite created enough to get with a label just yet. That aside, I think I just want to see what other progression comes from this album, keep working on making believers and playing out.