The Apollo Effect came on to my radar when they uploaded their video for “The Honeymoon is Over” (posted below) to BNBTV.  Their sound is a little bit of 80s glam, a little 90s-Brit angst, and maybe a little 2000s era post-grunge/pop-punk.  Basically, the band sounds a bit like if The Killers’ Hot Fuss-era Brandon Flowers, Oasis’ Liam Gallagher, My Chemical Romance’s Gerard Way, and Foo Fighters’ Dave Grohl got together and made some music. You know, nothing too specific.  Hailing from Toronto, Canada, The Apollo Effect is fresh off a signing with American based label Spectra Records, and they’re as ready as ever to get their music out there.

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Claire Gallagher: Alrighty, who’s who? What are your names, what instruments do you play, etc.?

The Apollo Effect:
Brent Lunney (sounds like Funny) – Lead Vox/guitar
Shawn Van de Sande – Lead Guitar/vocals
Jay Harvey – Bass
Andy Lucacescu (Luke-a-chess-coo) – Keyboards
Justin Dillon – Drums

Where are you from and how did the band come together?

TAE: Brent and Jay grew up in New Brunswick, [Canada], Shawn in Nova Scotia.  Andy and Justin are from Toronto. We all met in Toronto through various bands and chance meetings. Brent and Andy have been in bands together on/off for over 10years.

The band was initially formed by Brent with other members but about a year after its formation it was time to search for a new guitar player. After a very impressive audition, Shawn Van de Sande was offered the job. Andy re-joined on bass on an interim basis as the previous bass player relocated to the other end of the country. After watching the band live one night Jay Harvey joined to fill the vacant bass position. Andy returned on keyboards sometime later and introduced the band to drummer Justin Dillon whom he had met while on a spiritual excursion overseas.

CG: Who are some of your biggest musical influences?

TAE: A-ha, U2, Filter, Van Halen, Kasabian, James, Seal, Duran Duran, Tool, The Fixx, Tears For Fears, Talk Talk, Oasis, The Cars, Lindsey Buckingham.

CG: Did growing up where you did influence your music at all?

Not particularly. In fact, we mostly rebelled against the musical trends that were popular where we grew up.  We would obviously love to get back and play our hometowns respectively; however, we don’t feel any deep affinity towards them. They’re a nice place to visit…and that includes Toronto.

CG: What bands do you think you sound like, if any? Ever gotten any strange comparisons?

TAE: For all of our musical influences and heroes, we truly don’t sound like any of them. We have been compared to many artists we like and many we don’t. We’ve never heard anyone say the same name twice by comparison. It’s always someone different which may be a good thing because some artists are trying to be a carbon copy of their influences. We’re always interested to hear who people think we sound like but no one has been able to pinpoint our sound when compared to someone else.

One major incongruent comparison would be Bon Jovi. We sound nothing like Bon Jovi, nor would we want to. We’ve heard the Goo Goo Dolls mentioned as well, and that’s ok. We respect them for sure, but we don’t really sound like them.

We’re inspired all the time by countless artists. We like to incorporate many elements from many different artists into one song. Upon reflection, I don’t think we’ve ever nailed it though. It always comes out sounding like…us. However, we did have a definite game plan in mind for the new record Escape Plan. We wanted to incorporate rock, electronic and dance. Basically doing what we do with a lot more electronics, loops, programming yet focusing on groove. In the vein of bands like Kasabian, The Music, and Duran Duran while being inspired by the edgy nature of bands like Filter, Muse and The Chemical Brothers.

What do you think you would be doing right now if you weren’t a musician? What did you want to be when you were a kid?

TAE: Like any true Canadian boy Brent dreamed of playing hockey in the NHL, but then music came along and changed all that. However, since he obtained his Bachelor of Arts Degree he would likely be teaching somewhere.  Shawn wanted to be a vet and a Ghostbuster as a kid. He grew up right beside a vet clinic and went there often. He can’t imagine what he’d be doing right now without music as he has been playing music since he was a kid. He’d probably be home in Nova Scotia running a restaurant.  At the age of 13, Andy discovered music as a tangible vehicle to engage with others in this capacity.  Though he has a degree in Physical Health and Education, he had to choose between continuing studies in education and forging a career as a working musician. He has not once looked back on his decision with regret.  Jay would likely be back home on the East Coast helping out with the family business.  Justin would be doing music, period.

CG: What has been a personal high and a personal low about your musical career so far? Any particular moments of awesomeness or embarrassing blunders?

TAE: Our high is also our low. Winning the Great Canadian Band Challenge in 2007 was a huge high for us. We were told a lot of great things were going to happen and we believed it. A lot of promises were made, but unfortunately many of them weren’t honored. Eventually it became a huge emotional strain on the band, which is why some members decided to leave. Once we got out from under that company things started to turn around for us.

Our recent tour of St. Kitt’s (Caribbean) was incredible. We connected as mates again and musically we discovered a side of the band we hadn’t before. The response from the crowds was unbelievable. There were some sketchy moments with some of the things that happened while we were there, but as a whole, the tour was just what the doctor ordered.

CG: So what’s the story behind the name Apollo Effect?  How did it come about?

TAE: The consequence of the effect of music. Apollo was the god of music, and music is such a universal thing–it effects everyone. We want our music to reach people and effect them in the same ways it has effected us.

CG: Tell me about your upcoming album, Escape Plan.  What can listeners expect?

TAE: The songs were written with a different mindset than [our 2008 album] Antisocial Disorder (ASD). It was a far more emotional state of mind. It was written while the band was facing its most challenging existential crisis. Fittingly, on the heels of our biggest success (winning the Great Canadian Band Challenge) and the ensuing broken promises by a number of people in the music industry, we had felt betrayed and abandoned by those who had promised us so much and delivered so little and it very nearly drove the band apart. Recording the album was, in essence, an exorcism. Brent was going through a very rough time personally and that becomes very transparent when you get inside the songs. Musically the songs are grittier and edgier on Escape Plan, which is a direct result of everyone’s emotional baggage collected throughout the 2 years since ASD’s release. I think the spirit of TAE is obvious on the new album. The voice is the same; our approach to writing songs is the same, so in that respect it’s definitely an extension of ASD to a degree. However, from the opening track straight through to the last note, the growth and evolution of the band are without question. That’s what everyone will notice instantly.

CG: What is next for the band?

TAE: We just signed a worldwide deal with Spectra Records based in the U.S., so we’re pretty excited about that.

CG:  Ha, no big deal.

TAE: [laughs] Yeah. The band wants to tour. We really feel like we’re at our best right now and we’re extremely proud of the new album and we want to share this with an audience. So management is working on touring plans. As for projects, we’ve accomplished what we set out to do musically with Escape Plan, so we’d like to shift gears again and do something more acoustic based. We’ve got a handful of songs already written with this in mind.  Completely unrelated, Brent’s working a couple of screenplays as well as an idea for a reality based baseball show.

Be sure to keep an eye out for The Apollo Effect’s new album Escape Plan, due out this summer.  If you’re in the Toronto area, you’re in luck because the group is playing a show on Tuesday, May 10th at The Horseshoe Tavern at 11:30 pm.  For more info on tickets, click here!

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