Arts Fishing Club will take the Proud Larry’s stage on Friday, Feb. 14 — Valentine’s Day. Oxford marks the band’s fifth stop in a jam-packed tour lineup.
The name of the band comes from lead vocalist Christopher Kessenich’s grandfathers — both of whom are named Arthur. While Kessenich has a sentimental attachment to the name, it also encompasses the band’s journey in the music industry.
“Being a musician is a lot like fishing, where you are just going out on this adventure, and you’re casting into the unknown a little bit anytime you write a song,” Kessenich said. “More times than not, you reel back, you’re empty handed and you have to have the mentality that the reason you go out fishing is to do the process, not to land a big fish. … You’re just always casting for the next one, and hopefully one of these days you’ll catch a big old fish and write a big old hit.”
Kessenich discovered his musical talents and passion at a young age.
“I always wanted to do music. As a kid growing up, it was always my dream job,” Kessenich said. “Slowly but surely, I kind of believed in myself a little bit more and then took the steps to put myself into places where music is a reality.”
Kessenich attended college in Nashville. Although he was not studying music, he spent all of his time trying to become a songwriter and guitarist.
After spending a year in Vienna playing a mix of covers and original songs as a street performer, he realized he could make a career out of his passion.
“I made a good amount of money,” Kessenich said. “Once I started getting paid to do it, I realized, ‘I know that I’m bad right now, and people are willing to throw me some money. I’m gonna really do this.’ So I started diving in straight up from there.”
While Kessenich was in Austria, he covered an array of artists ranging from folk like Bon Iver and Mumford and Sons to ska punk like Sublime.
In a review of Arts Fishing Club’s “Rothko Sky” album, Jared Eichmann of The Indy Review compared the band’s sound to the likes of Mt. Joy, Caamp and Wilderado, among others.
“I hear familiar artists in these songs such as Rayland Baxter, Jack Johnson and even some early John Mayer,” Eichmann said. “All of this complex songwriting really fits with the lyrical theme of this portion of the album.”
Kessenich elaborated on the various influences and sounds that can be found in his band’s music.
“I think that we’re pretty ’90s influenced, alternative rock influenced and a little bit more of that Bon Iver, indie influence as well,” Kessenich said. “I would say (for) most of our songs, everything else can be stripped back, and I can play them acoustically, and they’ll, for the most part, still completely work.”
Charlotte Price, a sophomore political science major from Naples, Fla., discovered Arts Fishing Club on Spotify. One of the band’s songs, “Tupelo Honey,” was featured on her Discover Weekly playlist.
“When I listened to ‘Tupelo Honey,’ I definitely was imagining myself just driving down the highways of Mississippi and just seeing the sunset and just really feeling the music. I could see myself listening to that over and over again. It was so peaceful,” Price said. “I definitely want to look into seeing them on Valentine’s Day.”
Arts Fishing Club is in the process of releasing an EP and an album. Their next release is a song called “Supernatural Groove,” which is set to come out Feb. 10.
Attendees of the Proud Larry’s concert can expect a broad range of both old and new songs in addition to the band’s improvisational approach to its stage performances.
“I’ve just always wanted to push what we can do as a live show. I think for me it’s pretty important that we’re playing the instruments and that it feels very organic and in the moment,” Kessenich said. “We like to have it a bit more open, where it’s more of our emotions of that day and that night channeling through the song.”
