Novus Folium Reunite For String of Shows
by Tim Wenger
Novus Folium is back, at least for a little while. And by back, they are back without the vivid personality of Jonathan Lee holding down the duties of front man. Instead, Anthony Hamilton, who in addition to his spot in the band Nemesys has sung in a handful of Denver acts, will fill vocal duties. The band will be doing a reunion show May 3 at @Cheers Pub with Blind Strike, Resonance and Your Own Medicine. The show is presented by Trevor Rocks Denver.
Remaining members David Roy, Aaron Sittner, Matt Rivera, and Van Verhoevan, had been in court with Lee over disputes over the company that was formed in the name of the band, and its assets, ending in an out-of-court settlement. This settlement has put the band in a place where they can play a few shows in a limited time frame in hopes of giving fans one last look at the band. “Unfortunately, we weren’t willing to play together as the original five piece,” says Roy. “We’re running the business again for a short amount of time. It’s our goal to get as much of the money back with the assets that we have.” Those assets, in addition to playing shows, are merchandise and equipment sales. “The best thing for us was to play a handful of shows.”
“With the problem being that we were looking at this mountain of debt, starting to look at legal fees to figure it out was only compounding the problem,” says Roy. “It made sense to settle out of court and come to an agreement amongst us. It took some time. We actually walked from a mediation table without an answer and figured it out later.”
The band hopes to perform four or five shows in the near future. The gigs will be spread out, and the band hopes to make quite a big deal out of each one. “The core of our fan base is up in Longmont, and that is a place where, financially, we have always done really well,” says Roy. @Cheers Pub is a logical choice for the band’s reunion show because, among other things, it is about half way between Longmont and Denver, requiring just a short commute for fans in both places. “That’s either going to work really well, or they both won’t come out,” Roy says with a laugh.
The band will be performing in Longmont on July 6, with a couple other dates to be announced. As can be expected with a limited amount of time to play these shows, the band is being very selective about where and when the gigs take place. “We’ve got a lot of offers, but we’ve had to be super picky about stuff,” says Roy. “I think we have a chance (to sell out @Cheers).”
“Our fans really got the raw end of the deal,” says Roy. “There was a tremendous amount of disappointment for us not being able to keep it going and get along. I know that that hurts everyone in our band. They wished us well on the tour, which was supposed to be the next big thing, and we came home early and then announce that we are playing our last show. It was a super awkward show for our fans. The camaraderie that they really used to soak up when we were onstage, and how much fun we had together, wasn’t there. It was the most awkward show we’ve ever played, that’s for sure. I feel like our fans kind of got stiffed on that, and I’d like to show them a few more good times. I know it’s not going to be the same thing. There is a tremendous amount of fans that resonated to Novus because of Jon.”
Novus Folium, on both sides of their disagreements, has dealt with the disappointment expressed by their fan base. The remaining members hope that these upcoming shows go over well despite the lack of their charismatic original front man. “There are some folks that are really disappointed that Jon’s not a part of it anymore, and there’s some folks that are ready to see something new,” says Roy.
Working with interim lead singer Hamilton has been a breath of fresh air for the guys. “He brings a little levity to the situation,” says Roy. “At a time when we all came back with our tail between our legs, to have someone around like Tony who’s really gregarious and fun to be around, it’s lightened the mood up again and made the practice room fun again.” Following Lee is not an easy task. “[Jon] will always be the right vocalist for our sound. It’s a difficult task, what Tony’s up against. I’m excited to see how it comes together onstage.”
As far as the split with Lee, the band members have expressed that they wish him well. “I don’t feel bad blood,” says Sittner. “We take everything with a grain of salt. There’s no real reason to do any personal attacking.”
“In terms of our internet presence, I’ve been trying to keep things really diplomatic,” says Roy. “I barked at a few of our fans who had some negative stuff to say about Jon. It’s not a forum for people to bang on Jon. It’s just to inform our fan base of when the shows are and what’s going on with us. We’re trying to keep things super neutral. I don’t have ill will towards Jon at all.”
Stay up to date on the happenings on their Facebook page. “I hope [the fans] will continue to support us for this next little while,” says Lee.
Online: facebook.com/NovusFoliumBand
Category: Buzzworthy2
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