I remember when he introduced me to Apostle of Hustle. "Its the dude from Broken Social Scene"....thats what you might think he said. Actually he just played me The opening track to "National Anthem of Nowhere" (2007). I remember hearing it and loving the pop-indie hooked-ness. So we went to Call the Office (legendary London, Ontario haunt) and checked out their show. To my amazement, I didn't really hear the pop-indie hookedness coming from the stage. Instead I heard this strange latin influenced almost flamenco sound emanating from the well-worn speakers.
I was really blown away by that show. There was an electric vibe......one that If you told me "hey man, goin to see this latin influenced indie band".......I would have said. "no thanks".
But thank goodness I went to that show under false pre-tenses because I opened my mind up and loved what I took in.
Fast forward a bit.....to 2009 and Apostle released "Eats Darkness". Again, my cousin Steve called me up to see if I was going to the show. By this point I was helping out a buddy at "London Calling", a local cable show. I got adventurous and called up Arts & Crafts (apostle's record label) to see if I could get an interview in addition to catching the show. To my surprise they were super nice and encouraging.
Not only was Andrew Whiteman the rock star persona I'd hoped he would be......quirky, mysterious, funny, and carrying a load of experience from the road......but he was very engaging as an interviewee. He didn't just lay down and answer our questions. He challenged us, made us feel a bit uneasy, but also gave us some insight that surprised me......told us things I thought he might hold a bit more private. We bought him a nice bottle of scotch to show that we did some homework. (he is known as a scotch man), and he enjoyed the bottle with us. He told us stories about how a trip to Cuba influenced his music, and how he had met William S Burroughs as a personal life accomplishment.
The best part of that day was that I also accomplished something cool.....I interviewed someone that I really respected as a player in the Canadian Indie music scene. Not everyone could say that I guess.
He then went on to play a scorching set in the London Music Club. Super intimate, SUPER powerful thanks to the mind blowing drumming of Dean. (I'm a drummer so thats what I tend to use as a guage of a great show).
The result is....at least 1 in 3 times that I get in the car and turn on my ipod.....apostle is the first place I click. and Eats darkness is the definite choice. So to everyone reading this....if ANYONE is reading this, check out Apostle of Hustle. In my opinion one of the most unique and vibrant artists in the Canadian Music Scene......pushing the limits of what is "indie rock".
Here is the piece I did on Apostle for London Calling. I'm especially proud of how the live music segments turned out....I hope you enjoy it too.
