Joseph said he is looking forward to playing the show tonight. He said in the past, the band had been playing 150 shows per year and has not been playing as many shows lately. Tonight will be the band's first show in a couple of weeks.
Joseph said it is always great playing at any college campus, particularly Penn State, because the energy is good and the crowd is fun. The last time they played in State College was February of last year, at Crowbar, which has since closed.
"That's a shame," he said. "That place was really cool and always comfortable. It was one of those places we almost felt was our own."
Joseph said The Clarks will begin the process to create new songs in a couple of months and that he is excited to get started.
He said his favorite bands right now include The Fray, Sons of William, and the Zac Brown Band.
"It's rock and roll," he said. "I'm going through a more rootsy phase of listening to music."
Joseph said the band recently played with each of those bands and knowing members of the other bands makes it more fun for him.
Garret Bogden, the drummer/percussionist for Cloverleaf and a member of Penn State Marketing Assocation (PSMA), said the band played for a PSMA show last year and he was approached this year to play again. He said he was given creative control to plan the event and apply for the funding from UPAC to help cover costs of the show and make it free for students. He said it's been a long process, but UPAC is covering about 80 percent of the costs and PSMA is covering the rest. He also contacted The Clarks to play the show.
"It's been a very long process, but I'm excited for the show," Bogden said.
Bogden and bandmate T.J. Cornwall met as freshmen at Penn State. Cornwall plays piano, acoustic guitar and does vocals for the band. He said he has been playing piano for about nine years. Cornwall described the band's sound as "piano music" because all of the songs start on the piano.
"I write songs on the piano, the rest of the band tears it apart, and we put it back together again," Cornwall said.
He said he feels the sound is more important and the lyrics will eventually fall into place, so he usually mumbles words that are later replaced with real lyrics.
In addition to Cornwall and Bogden, Cloverleaf includes Jon Rigatti (bass), Ted Molnar (guitar) and Jon Hollis (trumpet, keys).
The band released its debut album, entitled first.class.mind.ride, last March, and plans to release a live DVD in the next month featuring a performance with Yellowcard and other random events.
The band shared the stage with Yellowcard last September, and although they have played with several other well-known bands including Anberlin and Virginia Coalition, Cornwall said it was probably the best show for them.
"It was fun to play in our hometown," he said. "We felt like rockstars on that stage...and signing autographs after the show."
Bogden said it was a great feeling to be accepted by 800 people who had never heard the band's music before. In the short time together, the band has had many other accomplishments, including recognition on MTV. According to Bogden and Cornwall, last year, the band competed in the "Best Band on Campus" contest on mtvU.
Although they said they ended up not winning, it gave the band music national airtime.
Its song "226 Miles" was selected to be played in the background of the 2006 MTV Woodie Awards.
"It was pretty cool to be sitting watching MTV and hearing your own song," Cornell said.
Bogden, a self-taught drummer for eight years, said the best thing for him so far has been becoming best friends with the other band members.
Cornwall agreed, saying it has been cool to be recognized on campus going to class.
Joseph said to be successful, it's important to be persistent.
"Things were never handed to us as a band," he said. "Initially we had setbacks, but we broke through."
He said it was important to see the whole thing through because you never know who will make it in the industry.
"Some great bands never do, and some of the average ones become successful," he said.
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