The lore of bands is well known; egos and tempers often incinerate the best intentions.
Remaining together over a decade is seen as a notable feat in the dramatic world of music. Then there's The Fauves. Always unconventional in outlook and approach, the very same group of high school friends known as The Fauves have remained together for over 37 years.Looking back, frontman Andrew 'Coxy' Cox reminisces on where it began all those years ago. "My first guitar was my brother's. I seconded his acoustic with nylons, that only had three strings.
"I barely taught myself guitar, I just started writing songs on a three-stringed guitar, it was pretty primitive. About 15, I got my own guitar which I still own, a Yamaha acoustic."
With half of his harmonic options limited by a lack of strings, Cox began utilising the beauty of simplicity and adjustment to maximise his creative process. "Simplicity's always been at the heart of it. It's about finding other ways, alternate tunings and different sounds, more so than playing dexterity.
"I can't live without my tuning pedal, because with the different tunings we use, that's fundamental to everything to nudge things back into shape. It's a boring answer, but without that tuning pedal, I'd be shot."
Andrew reflects on the band's longevity and how prioritising mateship has kept them together. "In this career, there's a lot of down times, so supporting one another is fundamental, beyond the fact that doing it with friends keeps it fun.
"It's strengthened us in the times where it was like, 'what are we doing? What's the point in all this?' We had friendship to begin with, and the friendship does get tested. There are egos involved, so you have to find ways to navigate that.
"We found a way to put our relationship above everything. If something would further our career but someone might not be that happy with it, we always chose the friendship."
The band's thirteenth album, 'Tropical Strength', released in November, traversing face-melting intensity with a salacious dose of humour on tracks like 'Always Look For The Bad In People', while the album's guitar tones provide a treat on tracks 'Guitar Village' and 'Tell Someone Who Gives A F...'.
The band chose to make the recording process as memorable as possible, heading over to Indonesia to record. "Indonesia is a fancy way of saying Bali," Cox smiles cheekily.
"We wanted to do something different. We're at a stage in our journey as a band where we want to make everything more memorable. The main reason we chose that is fun. It was brilliant and the guys in the studio were fantastic.
"They're such great people, and the studio had everything you'd need. It certainly wasn't lacking by Australian standards. It was Antida, on the outskirts of Denpasar."
With the band prepping for a July tour, Coxy and co. have been transforming the album's tracks for a live setting, and finding new life in the arrangement process. "There's a song on the record called 'Only Wait Forever', which is pretty mellow, but as we've rehearsed it, it's become a lot more rock, more dynamic. It's gonna sound fantastic live, it has a second boost of energy.
"As we've played them at length, you find different avenues to pull back on or enhance. That song in particular is gonna sound quite different live to the record, in a good way."
Despite the obvious long-term collaboration of the band, Cox surprisingly reveals he's not too keen on collaborations. He does, however, state there is one offer he couldn't refuse.
"I'm quite a poor collaborator. I find a lot of human interaction quite awkward. I still find, even after all this time, bringing new songs in [to the band] really awkward, but I love Steve Malkmus' music.
"We could do some really good stuff 'cause we come from a kind of a similar place, but with different skill sets. I really admire him as a guitarist and as a songwriter, he's absolutely brilliant.
"If I put down the phone now and had a call from an unknown number that's Steve Malkmus, it'd be pretty stupid to turn it down."
The Fauves 2025 Tour Dates
Fri 11 Jul - Crowbar SydneySat 12 Jul - Crowbar Brisbane
Fri 18 Jul - Sooki Lounge (Melbourne)
Sat 19 Jul - Northcote Social Club (Melbourne)
Fri 25 Jul - Lyric's Underground (Perth)
Sat 26 Jul - UniBar Adelaide
