Jim Ivins (Photo by Jason Collins)
This time, Jim Ivins says he’s not hiding it.
“People would come up to say, ‘Your music sounds so ’90s,’ and I would not take it as a compliment,” he says. “It got really annoying after a while. This time, I welcome it. If you wanna say I sound like Third Eye Blind, fine. I’m totally owning it.”
Ivins’ new band, The Fan, marks an unapologetic return to the guitar-heavy anthems popular during the Clinton era. “For years I tried to mask my influences with darker, more progressive sounds, but this is what I like, this is what I am,” he says.
The Fan’s debut EP, appropriately titled “Nostalgia,” presents a more positive version of the kind of melodic power rock that he made for years in Nashville with his former band, The Ivins. The six-song release was recorded with local musician and audio engineer Pedro Aida at Lakeside’s Audio Verite, with the frontman providing nearly all the vocals, guitars and bass himself and longtime collaborator Greg Butler on drums.
The 35-year-old Richmond native started performing in the early 2000s, first in the punk-pop-ish band Busted Wire and most notably fronting The Jim Ivins Band. He eventually relocated to Nashville and formed The Ivins with his brother and drummer, Jack, releasing two records and a batch of singles. But breaking out was a struggle, despite the brothers organizing a twice-yearly covers concert in Nashville, “The Ivins Present Grunge Night,” that became a hot ticket, attracting numerous music-makers (such as Daughtry) and enthusiastic crowds. “But we could never parlay that into people actually coming to our shows [where we played] original music,” Ivins says.
The Fan’s debut EP is called “Nostalgia.” (Image courtesy The Fan)
Following years of requests to join the U.S. Department of State’s American Music Abroad program, which sends musical groups on goodwill tours where they perform in foreign countries, the group disbanded and Ivins moved back to Richmond. However, after being accepted to the program earlier this year, it was a state-sponsored trip to Sudan that steered his current course. Performing in a desolate nation torn apart by conflict resulted in some soul searching. “I was sitting there thinking about how lucky we have it in America, and I was determined to play positive music that makes people happy from here on out.”
So far, The Fan has spread its anthemic joy by performing an energetic set of the EP’s songs and selections from The Ivins band catalog on an episode of “Shockoe Sessions Live,” a weekly podcast hosted by In Your Ear Studios and Shockoe Records, and in support of synth-pop pioneers Modern English at The Canal Club. The Fan is also scheduled to perform at The Camel on Dec. 5.
Performing the “Nostalgia” songs live, with bandmates bassists Rob St. Amand and Steve Snider, keyboardist Bobby Gary and drummer Joey Arias, has changed the energy of the infectious retro-flavored anthems, Ivins says. “That’s what happens when you take something out of the studio and give it to real musicians. That’s the magic.”
For more information on The Fan and its new EP, visit jimivins.com.
