Against Apocalypse‘s drummer Matt “9” Raymond will be the first to admit, not even he’s sure what the apocalypse in his band’s moniker specifically is—let alone why they’re against it.
But it just didn’t seem right to call his new project Nitro Nine, he maintains, even though it contains three of the four original members who brought that name to prominence on the local circuit nearly a decade ago.
And considering the only other option the online band name generator provided for Raymond, singer Tom Connery, guitarist Dave Lamothe and bassist Tony Cruz the fateful evening they decided to get together, it’s actually quite understandable why the Apocalypse is upon them.
“Yeah, it was either that or Back Door Champions,” the personable percussionist says, laughing.
Although they opted for the slightly ominous, decidedly more serious alternative when it came to selecting a name, Raymond is quick to note that the underlying philosophy behind the project is substantially lighter this time around.
“The truth is, we all have jobs. Tom is married with two kids, and Dave and his wife have a baby boy on the way… so we have no aspirations of trying to ‘make it,’ or even tour,” he explains. “So while we still take music seriously—and love to get heavy—the focus with Against Apocalypse is definitely on fun.”
The fun begins this Saturday, May 1, when Against Apocalypse makes its live debut at Finnegan’s Pub (751 Liberty St., Springfield) in support of local heavyweights Stare Down The Sun. Wondering how that got that gig? Could be the strength of the ferocious demo the band is using as its sonic calling card…. or the fact that Raymond plays drums in Stare Down, too.
In other news, the Crawler was fortunate enough to catch up with one Colin Hay earlier this month. The former Men At Work frontman is slated to perform at the Iron Horse (iheg.com) May 4 and 5—and was more than eager to shed some light on his newest CD, America Sunshine, as well as reminisce on his ’80s heyday.
Here are a few choice excerpts:
Nightcrawler: American Sunshine has so many different feels, so many styles of your guitar playing. From the dirty, “La Grange”-esque blues of “Broken Love” to lilting, Mark Knopfler-like moments. Did you set out to make such a sprawling effort?
Colin Hay: I did, actually… I mean, [with] guitar—or more exactly, stringed instruments—the scope of expression is so wide. So yes, I purposely dragged out slides, pedal steels, whatever I could get my hands on, to try and make each tune special.
Why the decision to record with full band, but gig solo?
There are a few reasons, really. Mainly, that I have been doing solo acoustic shows my whole life. But also, honestly, the nightly compensation usually doesn’t allow for a full band, either.
You mention compensation… and I’m certainly not looking for you to break out tax returns, but I’m always curious. As someone who sold millions of records, how did you fair, business-wise?
We actually had a pretty bad deal with Sony at the time. I want to say five percent, where the standard is more like 13-15 percent, I think. But still, people bought records, and the checks came in the mail, and it was good. I honestly don’t know what to tell today’s artists aside from play live as much you can. Live performance is the one thing left that people have not been able to pirate or replicate.
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Last up, David Ruskin & Robin Batteau bring their “witty folk-pop” to Noho’s Iron Horse Sunday, May 2. The dynamic duo, perhaps best known for some of their 30 second ditties (they wrote “The Heartbeat of America” jingle for Chevrolet and McDonald’s “I’m Lovin’ It,” to name a choice two) ended a 13 year studio hiatus last year with the critically acclaimed release Red Shoes and Golden Hearts.”
Send correspondence to Nightcrawler, PO Box 427, Somers, CT 06071; fax to (860) 698-9373 or e-mail Garycarra@aol.com.
