With a recently released single and a slew of tour dates this spring, Arts Fishing Club has been busy. The Nashville-based band — composed of lead singer and rhythm guitarist Christopher Kessenich, guitarist Chris Dunkley, drummer Jody Lee Oliver and bassist Matthew Chansey — is currently here in Charlottesville and will perform Feb. 26 at the Southern Café and Music Hall.
Known for songs like “Tupelo Honey” and recent track “Supernatural Groove,” Arts Fishing Club brings a unique indie folk/rock balancing act to exciting live shows honed by years of touring. The Cavalier Daily sat down with Kessenich in advance of their upcoming show, discussing everything from touring and creative processes to the effect one’s hometown can have on their art.
To start, what did the path to forming Arts Fishing Club look like?
It was the first kind of band that I’d ever really been in. I started music a bit late, after I got to go to college. I’d always wanted to do music, and I was working on it in college. And then after [college], I kind of named [Arts Fishing Club], and wrote an EP and recorded it in Nashville. Then, I started just meeting other artists around Nashville and just kind of pushing and just pushing and pushing — there’s been different iterations of the band.
How long have you guys been this iteration?
We’ve been together for three years now.
Have you played in Charlottesville before?
Yeah. The first ever tour that we did, we played a brewery outside of town and one person showed up. There's a song that we released recently called Blue Ridge Skyline that's all about that experience. I talk about how I got a funny feeling [that] we'll look back at all these empty rooms and we'll laugh — because there's nothing sweeter than doing this.
Where are you from, and has that had any kind of influence on you musically?
I’m from Appleton, Wisconsin, and people in Wisconsin are insanely friendly. It's a very open and giving the shirt off the back, type of energy. We have that as a band, we have that energy. The shows are a good time, and I think people feel very comfortable with us pretty quickly.
Musically — Bon Iver. Everything that guy does, just how he carries himself, and his love for Wisconsin. He writes purely from the soul. You know, you can feel that. He's not writing to make the best song. He's writing as an expression of his soul. And that is the type of writing that I'm interested in.
What does the songwriting process look like for you guys?
Historically speaking, I've been the singer-songwriter. So I would say the way that I write is I start on guitar and I just, you know, I’m in my bedroom or whatever, and I'm playing guitar, and I find a riff or chords, and I just start singing and move forward. Then, I'll bring those songs to the band, and that's where we'll arrange and mix and match.
Are other band members bringing their own influences to the table?
Matthew Chansey, the bassist, he's had a huge, huge influence on the band. He's brought a lot of soul and groove elements to the band that him and I really connect on, as well as spicing things up and making chords more interesting. Trying to push us musically further, as opposed to just being straightforward.
Does your most recent single, “Supernatural Groove,” signify any shift in creative direction? Or is it a continuation of a consistent artistic period?
Our last record, “Rothko Sky,” is very cohesive in its sound. It leans more folk. [Now], I think it's just a bit more mature of a sound. We kind of actually opened it up again, and are going a little bit more rock. Which are the types of shows that I like to see live.
How has this tour been going so far?
This year is going to be a big, big, big touring year for us. It’s been going great — touring is, we always talk about, high highs and low lows. Just the fact that a van becomes your apartment that you share with four guys, essentially for a month on or two months on end, and every day you have to wake up and rinse and repeat and just drive. There's been a couple tougher ones, in brand new markets that we had never played. But those have kind of been few and far between. The more and more shows that we're playing, the better and better they keep getting.
Are there any silver linings you take from those unexpected experiences?
I mean, it’s just humbling, right? Like, the music industry is the single most humbling entity that I've ever experienced in my entire life. And there's a part of me that actually really loves that — I think it forces you to stay grounded, and it forces you to to really, actually dig deeper within you. There is an element when it is really tough, where it tests your kind of grit. Looking back, those are the moments that I'm most proud of.
What can audience members expect out of an Arts Fishing Club live show?
They can expect to have a lot of fun. They can expect to dance. We do a great job of also bringing a depth to the show, and a seriousness at times too. Hopefully, it hits home on a soul level. You get a lot of flavors when you come to our shows.
Looking ahead, where are you hoping to take the band this year and in the future?
We're just trying to really lay the groundwork on a national level. I set a big goal for us to headline Red Rocks in three years, one year ago. It is a big goal — but it's also attainable, and that's been one of the most fun things about music. I have this undying belief that anyone can kind of do whatever they want, and that the biggest thing in their life holding them back is probably themselves. It's their community, but ultimately it's buying into the doubts that other people have. Obviously, there are things that are out of people's control at times — but it just seems like people from every way, shape or form have made it, in different sorts of ways.
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