Q: What was the inspiration for the new video (3.1) and how did it come together?
A: We wanted a straightforward performance video rather than something narrative or gimmicky. I had been talking with director Lance Drake for nearly a year about doing a video as he had been a fan of the band since the early 00's. He and his director of Photography, Andrew J. Whittaker flew out from LA for just under a week and shot the 3.1 video and a video for the track 'All Mine' - both on an absurdly low budget.
Q: What is the song about?
A: Jealousy in a long distance relationship.
Q: In 2007 your line- up changed. Talk about what happened, the process of rebuilding, etc.
A: Our lineup has always been changing. However this time we had a lot of issues with creative direction - some of us wanted to go different places than others. We kicked someone out at first, then ultimately talked it over with them, told them our issues, they thought about if they wanted to actually stay or not, but ultimately left. With that, someone else quit who had said under no circumstance that he would. So we dealt with it, had to find a new drummer and guitar player, who are both excellent musicians and within only a few months rehearsed 16 songs for an already-booked 6 week European tour. It was a lot of hard work but we made it happen.
Q: How has the move to Cape Cod effected you all both musically and personally?
A: It helped me grow up in a lot of ways. I had 2 years of a lot of idle time, being unemployed for most of it and with little to do socially I learned a lot about myself and about where I wanted to go with the band. Spent a lot of time outdoors. It was also horrible. Long quiet winters and quite a bit of relationship issues / emotional instability. Though as much as I couldn't wait to get out of that place by the time I left...I miss it deeply in a lot of ways. Some of the guys still live there.
Q: Talk about the impact of the re- release of “spirit.”
A: ATP/R rereleasing Spirit did exactly what they intended - allowed it to reach a much larger audience. It's been great that it's gotten out there and circulated so much more than the original release. The only issue I have with it is that people often bill it as '9 years in the making' - when really it was written between 2005 and 2006. That's it. After we wrote it we made another album called 'Eras' which was put out on vinyl-only and limited to 425 copies on a label called Equation Records. It is the link between Spirit and the new record Climb Up. People wonder where the big change came from between the two records, when really if they listen to Eras it's plain to see how we went from A (to B) to C.
Q: The new album is “Climb up.” Tell me all about how it came together and what some of the struggles were in writing it.
A: It came together as a mix of existing demos-turned final tracks and also out of recording hours of improvisation, cutting up the 4 track recordings, layering on top of loops and then rerecording them from scratch. There were a lot of struggles in working this way and 'solving' some of the various songs proved to be really challenging. Since we did everything ourselves as usual, we had complete control but it was also thus a very difficult record to make. It was made in a garage, a living room and a basement with limited equipment and no input or advising outside of the band.
Q: The album has been called, “a step out of the darkness of 'spirit'.” Would you agree?
A: Absolutely. It is still dark and at times strange, but in a much different way than Spirit. We have always experimented with more pop-oriented and electronic elements but never fully delved into it until now and I'm glad we finally have.
Q: I am very impressed and drawn to the use of electronics on this album. What is the inspiration and motivation for incorporating these kind of aspects into your music? Did you listen to that kind of music growing up?
A: We all listen to so many different kinds of music, which has a lot to do with why our sound is so varied. Inspirations are coming from many different places. Different genres, cultures, eras in music. Electronic music has a special place I think in all our hearts and so we wanted to incorporate electronics a lot more on this record than ever before. Who knows, we may one day do an LP or at least an EP that is almost entirely electronic and vocal based.
Q: What can we expect from the band moving into the new year?
A: Not so sure where we're going to go next. I've been working on new material and I know so has Jed. We might put out an EP sometime in the first half of next year. We're doing a 2 week tour overseas in December and a much larger European tour in the spring but I'm hoping we'll do a proper U.S. outing in between the two.
Ok, plug your websites, albums, label, anything and everything ya want:
www.myspace.com/apse
http://www.atpfestival.com/
http://apsecraft.tumblr.com/ - music blog I started a year ago to release peripheral recordings, soon to be updated regularly now that the new album is out.
