Biography

The Fauves are an Australian 4 piece rock band. The term ‘4 piece’ is a reference to the number of members in the group, rather than the amount of equipment they use. There are at least 10 pieces that make up the drum kit alone, to say nothing of amplifiers, guitars, guitar stands, foot pedals and microphones.

The Fauves are Australia’s best band and their albums usually get 6 stars when reviewed. That’s 6 stars on the 5 star scale in the same way that someone might say, “I gave it 110% out there today”. Actually 6 out of 5 is 120% so it’s even better.

Since forming in 1988 The Fauves have released 8 albums and won many awards. Governor-General His Excellency Major General Michael Jeffery made special mention of the band during his speech to open the 41st parliament of Australia on the 16th of November 2004: " The Fauves…" Major General Michael Jeffery, Governor-General, Nov 2004

In 2005 the band set up accounting firm CoxCleaverLeonardNewey Peat Marwick to handle their extensive investment portfolio. They own several breweries; an apartment complex in Shanghai and a part share in three retired greyhounds.

THE FAUVES ARE…

Andrew’s interest in music began to burgeon during the middle years of high school. His first instrument was a bass guitar bought for $90 at Guitar Village in Frankston. He soon began jamming with friends in a band called Horizon that later changed its name to Taylor Maid. Andrew’s healthy ego ensured that he would never be happy pursuing a career as a sideman and the group was forced to let him go. He retreated into the introspective world of the bedroom singer songwriter, spending his late teenage years writing scores of songs heard only by his mother as she loaded the washing machine in the adjacent laundry.

Andrew was 21 when The Fauves formed. He is a vegetarian and supports the Melbourne Football club. Now 39, he lives with his parents on Victoria’s Mornington Peninsula, biding his time in the vain hope that science will eventually uncover a point to his existence.

PHILIP DANIEL LEONARD
– guitar and vocals Philip was born to parents David and Karin in Chelmsford, England on the 1st of November 1967. Philip’s father was an Australian medical student working in the U.K. where he met Karin, a Swedish nurse. Back in Australia, Philip grew up in suburban Eltham on the northern outskirts of Melbourne with his 2 younger siblings Anders and Kristina. Philip was a good-looking young boy who attracted plenty of attention from his female classmates. At one blue Light Disco the young Phil kissed 6 different girls - still a record for the Greater Eltham area. He was a gifted sportsman and a high academic achiever.

Philip took up the trumpet in his early teens, starring in the school band. Sadly his trumpet playing has since lapsed and his embouchure fallen into disrepair. In year 9 the Leonard family moved to Mt. Eliza and Phil immediately fell in with the cool crowd. He became known as a courageous, skilled footballer who lacked pace and an attacking right handed batsman who could also bowl short spells of deceptively quick fast medium. In year 12 he met his partner Monique with whom he has maintained a 20-year defacto relationship that has produced 2 children, Harper and Zephyr. Unfortunately, the two parents have eschewed matrimonial rites and continue to live in defiance of all religious teaching. Though their children are technically bastards, they are pleasant featured boys with a sunny disposition.

Philip first learned guitar while travelling around Australia with a $60 acoustic purchased in Byron Bay. Shortly afterwards he began composing his own material. He is a founding member of The Fauves. At 38 Philip is now a qualified primary school teacher. He supports the Hawthorn football club and pursues a vegetarian lifestyle.

ADAM DOUGLAS NEWEY
- drums and vocals Adam is the only son of Barry and Regina. He has a sister Saffron whom aficionados will recognise as the artist responsible for numerous Fauves album covers. As a result of a passport application, he recently discovered that he was born in Mordialloc although the family lived in Frankston. Adam attended Davey St. Primary School located on the eponymous thoroughfare in central Frankston before studying at Mt. Eliza High as a secondary student.

Adam was a precocious child who exhibited his considerable talents from an early age. He pursued an abortive career as a footballer at Frankston VFA and wicketkeeper/all rounder at Baden Powell Cricket Club before taking up the drums in his early teens. Harnessing the abilities of this teen prodigy was no mean feat and a propensity for adolescent womanising briefly threatened his progress. He quickly refocussed and began his musical career with the legendary cover band Paradox that won second prize in the Victorian state final of a battle of the bands competition. As part of their prize they supported Kate Ceberano at the Frankston Football Ground. A little known fact is that Tim Cleaver was working in an audio-acoustic capacity at the same concert. It would be another 10 years before the two members of what is now generally recognised as Australia’s greatest rhythm section would meet again.

In 2003 Adam married his long-time girlfriend Jane in a powerful ceremony. Now 36, Adam lives in Frankston with his wife. He is a founding member of The Fauves and supports the Carlton Football club.

TIMOTHY CLEAVER
– bass guitar and vocals The only member without a middle name, Timothy was born to Peter and Margaret on the 13th of July 1964 at the Queen Victoria Hospital Melbourne. Tim is the oldest member of the group and the only one who did not attend Mt. Eliza High School. Rather, his parents scrimped and saved so that he might tread the exclusive swards of nearby Peninsula Grammar on which he excelled as a military cadet. Timothy was exposed to music from a young age. His father Peter owned the iconic Frankston music store Peter Cleaver Musical, where Ted would browse and regularly borrow popular LPs to take home.

Timothy learnt guitar in his early teens, quickly outstripping his elder brother Adrian, from whom he received his first lessons. He soon became a regular on the Mornington Peninsula covers scene and was at one time part of a duo with Cameron Daddo the TV star, before Daddo broke up the duo citing an irreconcilable urge to be famous. Tim attended the School of Audio Engineering in St Kilda and soon made a name for himself as one of Melbourne’s premier live sound facilitators. It was in this capacity that he first met the Fauves and thereafter he served as the band’s front of house mixer from 1994 to 1999. Tim joined the band at the start of 2000 and is one of only a handful of people still playing the 5 string bass, an archaic baroque instrument now rarely used. Tim is 42 years old and enjoys lamb shanks, drinking beer and dry white wine.

Where were you when…?