They’re “kind of” a jam band. Like Frank Zappa or Return to Forever are “kind of” jam bands. But for the jam-band naysayers don’t let that descriptor dissuade you from the Canadian instrumental band Apollo Suns, because there’s a lot more going on than stretching a cut into an extended guitar and keyboard solo. Apollo Suns are musically all over the map, a well-crafted and deep musical force playing dramatic Morricone-esque film-scores to video game soundtracks loaded with digital blips. There’s also funk, jazz and rock varying from prog to pop.
Apollo Suns will perform in Durango next week, pulling into the Animas City Theatre on Wednesday (Dec. 13). Opening the show is Dana Ariel and The Coming Up Roses.
Apollo Suns are a different take on the traditional “jam” band.
If you go
WHAT: Apollo Suns and Dana Ariel and The Coming Up Roses.
WHEN: 7 p.m. Wednesday (Dec. 13).
WHERE: Animas City Theatre, 128 E. College Drive.
TICKETS: $15.
MORE INFORMATION: Visit www.animascitytheatre.com.
“Not every song jams for us, but when we do, we’ll stretch out and have like 15- or 20-minute songs where it's not based around one solo, but it’s like the band expanding rhythmically and harmonically with the soloist,” said founding member and guitar player Ed Durocher. “So, I don’t know. We’re like a jam band that jams, but not specifically like a classic definition of a jam band.”
Touring behind their latest release “Departures,” both live and on LP, they’re an unpredictable, curveball throwing collective. They can be horn and keyboard heavy when dipping into 1970s era blaxploitation rhythms or something reminiscent from the theme to the 1970s television show “S.W.A.T.” Or they can be mid-tempo, psychedelic and dreamy with aggressive, fuzzed-out guitar a la Eddie Hazel, or even toy with world-beat rhythms. It’s music loaded with groove.
“The influences and the genres that we pull from are very vast. You’ve got a cut like ‘Fonxy’ that’s a New Orleans-esque type, big band kind of thing, with five horns on it and lots of counter melodies, lots of bombastic horn lines, but really trying to pay homage to that tradition. Then you’ve got ‘Horses’ that has a more Western, psychedelic kind of feel to it, like it would fit really well into a ’60s spaghetti Western-type thing. Then there’s lots of prog-rock influences. I’m influenced by prog, Zappa and fusion-jazz stuff. And then with that we have pop influences, funk, lots of jazz and different rhythmic influences, and trying to incorporate more world beats, and not just doing straight rock. Its all over the place, and nothing is really off limits,” Durocher said. “We just try to be open to all the different influences and experiences that you’ll have in your musical life.”
Then there’s the “jam band” label. While jam bands can be criticized, it’s still a style loaded with a dedicated fan-base that remains very supportive of the artists, from buying the merch to hitting the road to catch multiple shows – Durocher is down with the loyalty.
“I used to really not like to be called a ‘jam’ band because of the pre-connotations of what that meant, and then it became more apparent to me, those jam bands have a strong audience base,” he said. “They go to multiple shows a year, and we’ve seen that with our smallish but growing crowd. People are coming to multiple shows and traveling to different cities to see us, so when people call us a jam band now I’m like, ‘yeah, that’s fine.’”
Music is now more accessible than ever, and with that accessibility the lines between genre have gone from blurred to erased. That fits Durocher and Apollos Suns, as he and his band are cool creating music for the fans who dig on it all.
“Everyone is listening to everything, so, is it good music? Does it make you feel something? Great! Go listen to it and support it” he said. “That’s all you need to know.”
Bryant Liggett is a freelance writer and KDUR station manager. Reach him at liggett_b@fortlewis.edu.
