The Apollo Effect are a catchy five piece based in Toronto, Burlington, and Orangeville. There is a line in their bio that sticks out 'it's hard not to like these guys', and it's true, there's just something about them. Download Wake and hear for yourself. They did an email interview with me in June/06, with all of them working on the responses in a 'one voice' deal.
What kind of reaction are you getting about the LP?
The Apollo Effect: It's been a long time coming! We get numerous requests after every show we play for an album and now we finally have something that is truly representative of the band and what The Apollo Effect is all about. This disc is proof you can produce amazing sounding records on a completely independent budget.
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Promo plans for the disc?
The Apollo Effect: We're going to start with the university and college campus circuit and try to really establish ourselves with that audience because in essence we are a lot fun for a modern rock band! We've got some great people working in our corner so we're going to push this thing to every imaginable outlet and down every promotional avenue we can think of. We're big on online promotion and we'll have it up for sale via iTunes, emusic.com and garageband.com very soon.
Do you feel that you have any specific challenges or advantages being from/based in Toronto?
The Apollo Effect: Some of us are originally from the East coast and moved to Toronto thinking it might be the best place to get established. On one hand if you can make it as a full time touring band in Toronto you can make it anywhere. But on the other hand this town is so saturated with good bands sometimes it's hard to get noticed. The diversity and sheer volume of live music venues in this city is both a blessing and a curse. Very few live music venues in Toronto come with a built in crowd. You have to promote like mad to get noticed and generate a buzz for yourself in Toronto.
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Whereas smaller towns, with only one or two live music clubs, are easier to fill. We're the kind of band that can win a room over pretty quickly, we just have to work hard in Toronto to convince people the room is worth entering!
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The Apollo Effect on goals
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'Radio play! It's that simple. We want our music to reach as many people as possible. We want to play to as many people as we can.'
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Are you looking for label support? What would be your ideal deal?
The Apollo Effect: We're definitely looking for the support of a label, major or indie, and we do have some interest from both. Nettwerk is probably our dream label. Terry McBride's ideals and our ideals seem to be very much in alignment when it comes to issues like DRM, downloading and sharing music (go for it we say!) and not suing your fans. We really like what they're doing with http://musiccreators.ca/ and http://www.savethemusicfan.com/. I think we're lucky that the Canadian music business is (generally) far more progressive and forward-thinking than their counterparts south of the border.
Who are some of your favorite local bands to play shows with?
The Apollo Effect: Stereolights, Eighty Eight, Ill Scarlett. They're all good lads.
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What are some of your favorite local venues to play?
The Apollo Effect: The ones that stand out for us are The Phoenix, Lee's Palace, Club 279, Healey's and Stone's Place. We also really enjoyed our night with Stephen Stanely at Ciao Edie. The smaller clubs give you an intimacy with the crowd that bigger venues like The Phoenix are missing. The Drake was as also a super cool place to play. They had Mulholland Drive on the side screen while we were on stage and it worked very well with our set! You hear that Lynch? Call us! We'll do the soundtrack for your next flick man!
What do you hope to achieve with The Apollo Effect?
The Apollo Effect: Radio play! It's that simple. We want our music to reach as many people as possible. We want to play to as many people as we can. Our music has a big sound and it's meant to be played in big places. Moreover, we have something to say that is a little different from everything else out there and we would like out message to be heard. If the music we make touches you a little, makes you feel a little better or just makes the world a little easier to be in for a short while that'd be a pretty cool achievement. And it would be nice to be doing this full time!
Plans for this summer?
The Apollo Effect: Finishing the album was just the beginning. The work that we have to do to promote it and get our music out there begins in earnest this summer. We hope to play our asses off! Gig, gig, gig and gig again. We're going to start venturing outside of the GTA, around Ontario and into Quebec. Maybe even try to play a few shows south of the border. If we have anything at all to say about it this summer will be one big road trip. We're also working on a "remix" edition of this disc with some bonus features and songs.
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The Playlists
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Brent's Playlist
1. The Apollo Effect - Wake
2. The Apollo Effect - Eleven Brazilians
3. The Apollo Effect - Trapped In Elevators
4. The Apollo Effect - Your Finest Hour
5. The Apollo Effect - The Days Don't Last (all of which you'll find on the CD)
6. The Apollo Effect - Plus a killer cover of Burning Down The House (Talking Heads)
(What can I say? We just got the masters back so I'm indulging!)
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The Playlists
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Ian's Playlist
1. The Devlins - Almost Made You Smile
2. Red Hot Chili Peppers - Especially In Michigan
3. Branford Marsalis - A Love Supreme
4. Filter - The Best Things
5. The Velvet Undergroud - Oh! Sweet Nuthin'
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