Apophenia Apophenia… In line for big things?

Interview: Apophenia

Published on July 24th, 2012 | Jonny Abrams

Apophenia are set to record some follow-up material to their melodically energised eponymous debut album, so Rocksucker fired some questions over to the band’s camp to find out a bit more about the whole operation. First, though, check out aforementioned album right here…

What’s the line-up of the band? How did you all meet, and how long has the band been going for?

Thank you for having us do this interview, we’re seated at a diner in the middle of nowhere for imagery purposes. The staff seems to be in a coma, but perhaps that’s because it’s 2am and we’re having a band meeting. (group chuckles) I’m Nadeem Ahmed and I play guitar, Seamus Kerley here, I sing and play guitar, Hey I’m Charles aka Trey Norris III, Eugene Rogers also.. The third (III) Jason Norris here, I play keys for the group, do some harmonies and use a Mac Book Pro.

How would you describe your music, if pushed?

[SK] I’d like to think that our music, if pushed, would be something of a change of pace for everyone. Almost like a wake up call. Everyone has their own music taste and im not bashing anything, but it seems to me that everyone hates the pop garbage that floods the radio, yet no one seems willing to take a chance on an unknown band. I’d like to think we’d be one of the few to try to change that.

Where are you based, and what do you use to record with?

[NA] We’re based in West Hempstead Long Island, Wantagh, and Queens New York. I’m personally a Brooklyn native (always showin’ the Brooklyn love)

[SK] Our last record, was recorded at the infamous VuDu Studios in Port Jefferson with Mike Watts.

[NA] Which was an unbelievable experience, we were there while Casey Crescenzo of The Dear Hunter was there, chatted about Seamus’s Tri-force tattoo (and how cool a Zelda reference on your hand is) before leaving him to do his magic with The Color Spectrum album.

[JN] I’ve graduated from SAE Institute of Technology and went to Five Towns College before that. I record, mix, and produce professionally outside performing with the band actually so I work inside studios, always look to freelance, and record at home too.

[NA] He actually mixed my side project, Thaddeus Lowe’s debut record!

Are you signed to a label? If so, how did you come to their attention?

[SK] We want the attention of music listeners…..

[NA] I started and licensed an independent business, I work in philanthropy with my wife and friends for Elevator9 Records. Apophenia is under our operations and we currently host a small roster of bands, including a side project Thaddeus Lowe and Experimental/Soul Artist Charles Jourdan. [http://e9productions.com]

Is there a full album in the works? If so, what can you tell us about it? (Feel free to be as abstract as you like!)

[CN] Well recently we got nominated by The Deli as Artist of the Month for New York City. We were set to potentially win studio time, we lost. Haha it’s all good, cuz the powers that be work in mysterious ways. The next day we get a msg from a studio (we can’t really name just yet) that offered us a deal on a recording! FATE!

[NA] We’re going to be leaving New York for a few days to track in September though! No word yet on which this song will be but we are super thrilled. This is actually the first time we are mentioning this to anyone aside from the women and family in our lives.

[SK] That’s because we write so quickly together, the night before our Gramercy show in Manhattan we wrote a song now titled Seasons in 10 minutes… I kid you not, and played it the next night at Gramercy. People said it was one of their favorite performances of the night, it’s up on YouTube!

Where can we hear your music online?

[NA] We’re facebookin it to keep in the feed of the people who want us there haha. [http://facebook.com/apopheniaband]

Twitter: @apopheniamusic and the full length is out on iTunes [http://itunes.apple.com/us/artist/apophenia/id445736892]

Also our YouTube page gets lots of love since performing at Gramercy for Man On Earth, check out the footage at [http://youtube.com/apopheniamusic]

Which have been your most exciting gigs and/or overall moments so far?

[SK] I have to say Gramercy Theatre was a big moment for us. It felt like a breath of fresh air to finally see some reward for all the hard work we’ve put in over the years. I was awed, just seeing APOPHENIA in the marquee on the street in Manhattan. It was a truly incredible experience.

[CN] Probably our CD release show back in August of 2011 with The Kick Drums, we had that place packed! The crowd was moving at every hit.. People cried during “Mission Valley”, which made us tear up.

[Group all nodding and smiling]

Got any more coming up? (Gigs, that is…)

[NA] New York City, Brooklyn, and Boston will be getting the Apophenia treatment soon, we post all our shows on our Facebook page with events so keep up in the loop!

Are there any obscure and/or up-and-coming acts that you’d like to recommend or give a shout-out to?

[NA] Oh, for sure! Snowmine if you’re feelin trippy. I’m really digging Dry the River but you guys must know of these fine Englishmen. Then there’s our boys in Dussel Has Friends doing some great indie hip-hop, Long Island’s staple punk band All Grown Up. Lastly, hailing from Baltimore, Vinny Vegas are doing a great experimental ambient thing with group vocals that are worth every second. Do you need more talent? I got you covered.

Finally, if you were forced to spend the rest of your days in solitary confinement, but were allowed to bring the entire works of five different artists along to tide you over, whose would you choose?

[NA] Edward Sharpe to keep me happy, MIA to keep my gangsta in check, and M.Ward to keep the folk fire burning in my heart.

[SK] Nobuo Uematsu, Hanz Zimmer, Thomas Newman, Koji Kondo, and Marty O’donnell. I can’t help it, I’m a geek.

Apophenia, thank you.

Click here to like Apophenia on Facebook!

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About the Author

Editor of Rocksucker and the website's founder, Jonny is passionate about the music he listens to, both good and bad, as well as interviewing his favourite musicians.


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