By JILL AUGER
auger@du2.byu.edu
Clover, a rock n' roll band that began in Salt Lake City, has moved out of the local basement and into clubs and concert halls all over the state. With 15,000 records sold, Clover is planning to start touring more of the Western states.
Although they hate to be compared to other groups, their emotion-driven alternative rock started with the sound of Toad the Wet Sprocket. Some compare the big voice of their vocals to Eddie Vedder, but they are not influenced by the Seattle grunge.
The band has evolved now with a few changes from the original members. Members of the band include Jamen Brooks, vocalist and guitarist; Brant Paulsen, drummer; Mitch Glende, bass; and the recently added, Pat Young, guitarist.
In the beginning, Paulsen and Glende put out an ad looking for a guitarist to put the finishing touches on their sound. Brooks filled the position and became a vocalist later.
'He started singing because another member always flaked on practices and now the group is known for Jamen's vocals,' said Corey Fox, manager of Clover.
In 1994, the group finished its first album, 'Tanglewood,' before ever giving a live concert. They pressed 300 tapes for friends and promos. With the help of Fox, they were able to get the single, 'Mirror Lake,' on the local segment of X96. The audience loved it and the song was put on the regular rotation.
Because Clover never really publicized or sold copies of 'Tanglewood,' when the second album, 'Sun,' came out, people thought it was the first and were disappointed to find that the song, 'Mirror Lake,' was not on it.
It didn't take long for the new album to gain recognition. X96 picked up the songs again with singles 'Sun,' 'Vera Lee' and Ghost receiving heavy air play.
The group didn't really like the first album, but released it anyway due to the demand of audience members and Clover fans.
'It was a good album for where we were at the time. It wasn't intended to be an album; we just thought it would be a more efficient way to get gigs if we had a demo,' Paulsen said.
If the albums keep getting better with more experience, the release of the third album titled, 'New Grand Silver,' should be a success.
'This is our strongest material yet. Pat opens a whole new realm for us and is taking us to where we want to be headed,' Brooks said.
The new album will be released at the Kingsbury Hall performance on Nov. 24. The third album has had its set-backs due to the personnel changes and waiting for artwork.
'We appreciate all the support we still receive at the concerts without new material,' Brooks said.
Although the group claims to have no real target audience, the main fans are high school and college students.
Clover almost always plays its own music.
'We don't do covers because we are terrible at them. It has inspired us to write more music,' Paulsen said.
The originality of their music has also helped them gain more recognition.
'We have our best connections ever with labels,' Fox said.
As far as the goals of the band members, they are serious about playing as a career.
'We love to make music together and it would be great to pay the bills doing it,' Paulsen said.