Exit Clov
With a repertoire of titles like “District Menagerie,” “Moving Gaza,” “Strippers and Politicians” and “Communist BBQ,” Exit Clov is arguably the quintessential D.C. indie band. Grounded by the harmonies of identical twins Susan and Emily Hsu, Exit Clov has achieved a difficult balance of accessible (yet sporadically dark) pop-rock and insightful political discourse. On their Myspace page, the band claims to “write songs inspired by the madness of our city. Tunes of resistance, ennui and societal idiocy.” Despite the power of their lyrics, Exit Clov’s style is more reminiscent of a violin-infused Blondie than a fist-pumping successor to Rage Against the Machine. The quintet released their fourth EP, “Response Response,” in 2006.
Get to know (Susan of) Exit Clov:
Who are your primary musical influences?
We're kind of like the Breakfast Club; five people with extremely different music tastes. There's classic rock, jazz, Britpop, punk, postpunk, synthpop, prog/experimental, classical, and we like bands like Talking Heads, The Beatles, Blur, Rufus Wainwright, Devo, Mars Volta, Blondie, The Smiths, Fugazi, Flaming Lips, Beach Boys, Andrew Bird.
What is the biggest show you've ever played?
I'm not really sure. I remember some ridiculously fun ones though. All Good Festival was fun. That year it was still mostly jam bands so people were semi-offended by our short songs. I think it interrupted their fluid dancing every 3 minutes :) But the response was really great, and it was nice to be able to stand out just by being ourselves.
What's next for the band? Continuing to tour? Back to the studio?
At the moment we're taking some time to chill out on touring. Em's out of the country for almost a month hanging out with the UN. John and Aaron have moved to New York and are going to school for audio engineering. Brett's working on scoring his first musical. I've been selling art, blogging like a rabid mole, and otherwise trying to study the nuances of Sarah Palin's peculiar career path.
As for recording, we just finished recording our first full-length but have no immediate plans to release it. We'll be releasing a single in the meantime, in time for our November tour with Cloud Cult. It'll probably be a couple songs from the new album. We're working on the artwork right now so and it's all really fun and exciting! Then in December, we're doing some dates with Jukebox the Ghost, whom we love.
What's one thing you'd like our readers to know about Exit Clov?
Emily and I have genetically iron stomachs so we can eat really old food and not get sick.
What's your favorite venue in D.C.?
All the venues are great. I love the history that Black Cat and 9:30 Club have here in D.C. It's also exciting to see new kinds of spaces being used for shows, like the Synagogue and Honfleur Gallery, and just new music areas like H Street.
Is there any one thing you miss most about the District when you're on tour?
I miss seeing the usual suspects at our shows, meaning our friends and the fans who come so regularly we're like buddies. It's fun to be social on the road and meet other bands and weird interesting people, but there's an overall lonesome feeling to it. It's just not home. People come and go and it's always about time to move on to the next city. But then it wouldn't be touring would it?
