Apache Beat

Apache Beat are the newest musical parcel of eclectic electronic fused rock from Brooklyn. Their debut album, Last Chants is out now, stuffed full of enough material to keep any short-attention-span muso enthused with a mélange of styles varying from 80’s inspired post-rock to abrasive punk tunes, neatly packages between atmospheric soundscapes and driving tribal beats. Disorder talked to Mike and Ilirjana about how it all came together…

I’ve heard the name Apache Beat is taken from a quote by Klaus Dinger describing Kraftwerk’s music, is this right? How did the band form and become what it is now?

Mike:

That’s partially correct. We’re big fans of pretty much everything Dinger and Rother have done. Phil, Ilirjana and myself all got together for some impromptu jam sessions and discussed starting up a musical collaboration. We ended up drifting and not coming back to the concept of working together for at least a year and during that time, Phil & I had a band called Ahoi. We were listening to a lot of La Dusseldorf and Harmonia. It was on heavy rotation. As a tribute, Phil called a tune “The Apache Beat.” This is a term Dinger came up with for the beat he established with Neu! Kraftwerk later adapted this into their sound on albums like ‘Autobahn’. When the three of us reconvened along with Neil and Christina, Ilirjana spotted the title on a set list and suggested it for our name. It was organic and just kind of worked and somehow fit the sound we were shaping. This was especially due to Neil’s modified kit and style of playing.

Ilirjana:

Phil and I met years ago! Initially we bonded over our teen love of bands like Suede and Echo & The Bunnymen. So with similar thoughts on music and writing we decided to start playing together. After some practices we knew we had to have a bass player, so Mike came into the picture and henceforth the band very slowly rolled into what it is now. And yes, it is Dinger reference though, and as Mike explains, it was not taken so directly. Whatever the story however, we do love Neu!

Your music hints to a whole range of sounds, how would you describe it?

Mike:

Sonic, gentle, primitive, exotic, contradictory….growing. Our influences are all over the place and span so many genres and eras. I wouldn’t say we wear them on our sleeve but I’m sure many elements subconsciously surface in our writing efforts. I hear it once in a while. Sometimes we’ll get a comparison to something and even though this comparison may be completely off the mark from what we were going for, I’ll think to myself “was this an influence?” I think the new batch of songs is going to push our range of sounds and rhythms into a much broader orbit.

Ilirjana:

Our backgrounds vary so much that I don’t know how to describe it. We tried to balance creative with sense. I mean we could have just gone mad with experimentation and at varying points we did, but we learnt to pull ourselves in from “the too much” issue and instead figure a better resolution that retained the same ideas.

It must be a relief to finally release your debut album, what have you been up to since you finished recording?

Mike:

Yes, it really is great to finally get the album out. It’s been quite a while for us. I recently listened to it for the first time in months and the mastered version sounds fantastic. Lately I’ve been getting in the frame of mind to start writing for the next Apache Beat album. I culled about 15 potential songs from improvs we did at practice and have been slowly arranging some of the material into actual songs. A couple of them are really coming together and I’m psyched to work on new tracks with the rest of the band. We’re gearing up to start touring a bunch so rehearsals for that are going to eat up a lot of time.

Ilirjana:

To keep my sanity I’ve been working on my other projects, like my magazine, record label and such, but working on new songs and our live set for Apache Beat has crept back to priority status again. I am really psyched for people to hear the album and come to our shows.

What influenced you when writing the album?

Mike:

That’s hard to say. There really was no definitive influence. It was more like situations and recording environments. The songs pretty much materialized from rehearsals and ideas written at home but they really came to life during the recording process. A couple of them were still just concepts when we went in to track. Actually, the whole process was kind of loose. We cultivated these little sonic forests for each track: not knowing what shape the song would end up taking.

Ilirjana:

For me it was everything and nothing. My mood, what I heard about that day and things that have been on my mind. Our writing process varies and we all really don’t have one way of doing things. In the end, the aim was to make a good song, so we had no desire to stick to one idea. Methods and influences changed constantly, hopefully this shows on the album.

Is the album thematic in any way? Is there a story behind the lyrics?

Mike:

I wouldn’t say it’s thematic in any sense of a thought out concept. It’s more thematic in terms of tones, sounds and how it flows. We wanted the tracks to meld from song to song and kind of slip into one another. There are at least three other numbers we recorded that didn’t make the album because of this. The vibe just didn’t work. I think there’s a story behind all the lyrics. I think to some extent there’s room for the lyrics to be interpretative. I like that. Even though I know what they’re about, I’d like people to listen and turn them into something that is meaningful to them.

Ilirjana:

It was not conscious decision to make a theme for this album. I think by default of us writing together, there will always be a certain sound and way we present ourselves which runs through out. Lyrics to me are glimpses of personal stories that should be open to interpretation and experience. Meaning changes depending on when, how and where you hear them, and that is kind of amazing.

Will you be coming to the UK?

Mike:

Yes this November. We’re looking forward to it.

Ilirjana:

We aren’t only doing United Kingdom though, this time we get to play loads of shows in Europe. That is something we’ve never really done before.

http://www.myspace.com/apachebeat

Apache Beat spoke to Julian Von Nehammer