Like a lot of artists, the pandemic was a time of emotional and creative strife for Mick Fansler of The Curls. In one instance, he called it his “misery,” and the sentiment does not feel like an understatement. For Fansler, the months immediately before March 2020 were ones of immense growth and opportunity. After years of working in the city’s independent music scene, 2020 initially felt like a propulsive shot of momentum. And then everything came to a stop.
“Yeah, it was really hard. I think — similar to my friends and their projects — the timing of everything … We had a lot of stuff kind of coming up. We almost had a whole year kind of booked out for that year and a lot of bigger gigs,” recalled Fansler.
In addition to many shows, the group also had a different manager at the time. Fansler described 2020 as a potential “steppingstone year,” one that could elevate The Curls to the sort of self-sufficient level of creativity and sustainability that many artists dream about in their careers.
But all of that quickly fell apart.
“So I spent a lot of time at home. I lost my job, too,” he added.
Still, it was not all for naught. During that extended cultural shutdown, Fansler learned how to self-record, passing files back and forth between himself and his bandmates. Eventually, as things began to open up again, so too did the opportunities for the group to reconnect in person. Rehearsals soon turned into a new record, “Smothered & Covered,” released in May 2022.
However, the process of getting from musical isolation to a brand new record had a number of bumps along the way. The band’s lineup changed significantly throughout the pandemic, with the group welcoming two new members, last February in order to go on a tour in promotion of “Smothered & Covered.” The lineup now is Fansler, Jen Marshall, Matt Puhr and Steve Plock.
“We played for the first time like two days before the first day of tour, which is a whole new approach for me because I feel like I’d always been someone that was pretty prepared,” said Fansler.
Performance has also opened up the scope of what the group can do. It is easy for a Chicago band to stay a Chicago band. With a robust underground scene and numerous small and large performance venues, many artists are satisfied with largely staying local. But Fansler always had bigger aspirations for The Curls and he believes the many changes the group has undergone over the last three years have helped facilitate their expansion beyond the city’s borders.
“Well, I think pre-pandemic (we were) still playing a lot of shows in Chicago. You know, when you’re in one city all the time and you kind of identify as a local band. I was hoping to kind of start to view it more as being like a traveling band,” Fansler said. “And that’s something that I’m more focused on, breaking out of just playing in one place all the time, or only being a part of one community, as opposed to branching out a lot and being more broadly.”
Letting go of some of the control of the band’s life has made a surprising — and delightful — new experience for The Curls. “I feel like that’s kind of the moment that marks coming out of the fog (of COVID) for me a little bit,” explained Fansler. An abundance of newness — from shows to band members — also helped usher in a new perspective of how The Curls approach live music and performance in general. In turn, music-making has become a more improvisational, spontaneous and experimental process.
“Life goes on,” Fansler said. “I think that was kind of my moment where I felt like things started to feel more positive again, more possible.”
8 p.m. Jan. 20 at Golden Dagger, 2447 N. Halsted St.; tickets are $12-$15, ages 21+, at goldendagger.com
Britt Julious is a freelance critic.