Apiary are 5 guys from California with the purpose of making spine shatteringly heavy music. With their album "lost in focus" on the shelves, the band are heading in the right direction, but what are they about? when can you see a show? and are they any good? Ash throws the questions to Mike via electronic mail.
Apiary - Mike McClatchey
Your debut album sounds very different to those being released by other recent metal artists. was this a deliberate strike against the common sound or just the way you wanted to be?
- When starting this band we had talked in great detail about what we wanted this band to sound like. It seems the further we went toward what we wanted to do the further away from that common metal sound we went. At the same time I'm sure a lot of people think we sound as cookie-cutter as everyone else. We just wanted to be Anti-Melodic. We wanted our sound to be hard to listen to, and provoke uncomfortable feelings and images.
The new album is relentlessly heavy! have you always been like this or has your sound developed?
- Peter, Dave and I were in Clearing Autumn Skies together and that band was significantly different. The development actually happened in Clearing Autumn Skies. The end of that band was the original blue-print for Apiary. CAS went from a mildly heavy, insanely simple, and very all-over-the-place band to writing the prototypes of Apiary songs within 2 years.
Your songs have a metal base, with a definite mix of hardcore and thrash to them. were your influences for this sound from other similar bands or are you more individually inspired?
- We all have different influences. We rarely ever like the same bands. Some of us are influences by other artistic mediums, some by life experience, etc. I personally aspire to make albums as good as 90's-era Ministry or Godflesh. I have a LONG way to go.
Any plans for more tours to promote the album? how about coming to england?
- We are touring again starting August and throughout the rest of the year. Our goal is to head overseas by early next year. Hopefully we will be on the road most of 2007.
How are sales of the album going? are things going well in europe or are most of your fans from home? (San Jose USA)
- The sales are going as well as could be expected. We are a brand new band, with only minimal touring under our belts. Honestly we have a lot more promotion in Europe than in America. I think European audiences are much more into Apiary than the US. Locally we have a couple of die-hard fans but we do better in other cities than our own. The Bay-Area scene is much more into the politics that go into a lot of cookie-cutter bands, and we aren't really a part of that.
As a band your style of metal is more traditional, a solid block of noise like the bands from the 90's. what do you think of bands who have a more modern sound such as Trivium or Bullet for my Valentine?
- Most of those bands have great musicianship, the songs just don't connect with me at all. They seem like a formulaic version of the bands before them. I think Testament still blow all of them away for that genre.
You've played with some pretty big bands (machine head, lamb of god and soulfly) next time around do you plan to go it alone or work another support slot?
- I think for the next couple years or so we'll be doing support tours. Right now we are setting up tours with friends of ours with a rotating order, since we are all small bands. But we're defiantely looking to play opening slots. I hope Machine Head is reading this. Let's head out guys!!!
Each element to your band (guitar, drums, bass, vocals) has a very strong and individual place in the songs. do you write your parts individually or is it more of group effort?
- We tend to write individual parts, but once we are together to write songs every part tends to change into something new. It is completely a BAND effort, so that we all get our personal stamp on everything in every song.
The songs from "Lost in Focus" are very forceful in their sound. Was there any message or idea you were trying to put across in your songs? or just (successfully) trying to blow a few metal fans' heads off?!
- We definately have different reasons for having the sound that we do. I personally like to paint pictures with music. When I listen to music I want it to take me somewhere I haven't been to before. When listening to the bands I did while growing up these albums took me somewhere I liked to be. Ministry, Sisters Of Mercy, Foetus, Throbbing Gristle, Swans, bands like that are very visual in a sonic sense. I definately want to do the same thing by making very visual music.
It's pretty difficult for new bands, especially ones with a heavier sound, to get noticed. are you getting much air-play at the moment and do you have any plans for a video?
- Actually we have been doing pretty well with radio. Fortunately Music Choice (Cable TV Music Channel) has been pushing the album a lot, so that has helped us. We are talking about doing a video sometime soon. Hopefully that happens this Summer.
As your music is undoubtedly brutal.... are your fans pretty crazy when you play live? it would be a shame if they're not!
- This is an odd topic. The band really gets energy live when the crowd is going crazy. And that happens a lot. At the same time a lot of other people just stand and watch because they are paying attention to what we are doing rather than what thje pit is doing. I personally enjoy seeing a bunch of people just watching, bobbing their heads and trying to learn our songs, and really getting into the performance. Metal kids tend to pay attention to the songs, and hardcore kids tend to go crazy when the breakdowns come.
Although you've been playing together for a while, Apiary itself is a very new concept. did you expect to have released an album so soon?
- Not at all. We thought we were starting over fresh and that it would be years to get back into the swing of things. It feels incredible to pick up where we left off and for wonderful things to happen in a short amount of time.
Lastly, give those who are yet to hear you some words of encouragement.....
- Download a couple songs, if you dig them, buy the album and come see us live. Take care.
Cheers guys!
Mike McClatchey
Ash...
