Cloud Gavin, hailing from Danville, Illinois, Newport, Indiana, and Nashville, Tennessee, sure aren’t an easy band to track down. And even after you track ‘em down, it’s hard to keep them around very long. They’re a busy bunch of dudes.
I got about five minutes in with them as they were scrounging for a place to crash for the night in northern Florida. It was just enough time to establish that if we were going to do an interview, then it would have to be done via email. Their responses came through after waking up in St. Augustine, Florida, on their way to a gig in Atlanta at Union EAV.
The boys have two more months to go on their three-month tour in support of their new full length album, Fermata Supreme.
The true essence of their slogan: “A Band With Midwest Blood” truly shines through on the record as well as in their sense of adventure and dedicated work ethics. Here is what they had to say about their pride for having scattered Midwest roots:
There is a huge “unwritten myth” that a lot of unique music comes from the Midwest, which, I think is very true. We all are just not anywhere near a “city boy” or “country guy”. The Midwest is a weird place where you just exist and don’t really know how oddly comfortable (or uncomfortable) it was to grow up there. Plus, we are all from different areas in the Midwest. We hope it means that we take pride in being a Midwestern band. It may not mean anything logically, but superficially, we’ve had so many people say “you’re from Illinois? You guys must have a really Midwestern early 90’s-00’s sound.” It makes sense to me, but I can see no one else getting that at all if they don’t really look up a lot of music. Bands like American Football, The Junior Varsity, etc. have made that image. It’s all superficial, but I think it’s a prideful thing to be behind.
Their sense of in-betweenness; the in the middle feeling of growing up in the Midwest, can be seen clearly in frontman, Zach Hudson’s intent for the album:
I definitely want people to be swallowed in the “vibe” or “atmosphere” of the album. I want it to dig up your darkest days and remind you for the first time, or over and over again how those times have impacted you and reflects you as a person. I just hope some sort of epiphany of darker feelings emerges from the core of you. We all have had dark days and it’s good to reflect on that sometimes, in my opinion.
The tension between light and dark and the desperation for grasping middle ground leaves the listener swimming in dream-like states only to abruptly crash in torrential downpours of anger, madness, and hostility; taking the best and worst of both worlds, intermixing, resolving, and destroying again. Sweet clean intricate guitars, tight rhythmic grooves, whispered vocals, break-downs, screaming distortion, and harsh vocal pleas come and go like spontaneous Midwest weather and storms. The album is beautifully relentless in its change, as is the band’s touring schedule.