Go on, pour your heart out
Longevity has never been the most important thing for a band looking to get in with London’s hipster scene, but The History of Apple Pie are trying to change all that. With the twinkle of optimism still fresh in their eyes, since the band started gigging back at the tail end of 2010, The Guardian has picked up on them, they’ve joined Group Love on the NME Radar Tour and White Heat are hosting their single release later this month at Madam Jo Jo's
With promo shots depicting five twee-looking youngsters with absent grins and funky barnets, are The History of Apple Pie just another stop-gap to keep us busy while we search for something of great substance? Well, no, not exactly.
Their newest single, ‘You’re So Cool’, brazenly ambles through wholesome bass lines and candied C86 guitars as Stephanie Min slouchily rattles off seemingly care-free lines like the ghost of Lush. Veering towards stoner pop, the History of Apple Pie wouldn’t look out of place in the backyards of late ‘80s America, chewing the fat with J Mascis and Kevin Shield of My Bloody Valentine.
Although on the surface they may seem doe-eyed and innocent like Pains of Being Pure at Heart, there’s a hint of grittier ideals in HOAP’s music. Whilst surrogate, neo-grunge day dreams make for delightful sun-stroked alt-pop, heavier shoegaze seems to hang over their music like the sword of Damocles. Give it a few months and I swear that these guys will be sounding like Spiritualized meeting Mudhoney, making them potentially the most awesome band ever.
There’s a lot more to come from this band, they just need to let the music do the talking…
So how long have you guys been together?
Umm, with all the members and everything? About four months
So quite a short space of time, considering things are picking up for you…
Yeah, well, we’ve had the songs for a bit longer. Aslam, the most recent guitarist, he joined last. We’ve just spent a lot of time rehearsing…
How did you all come together? Did you go to University together or something?
Erm. James and Aslam did but we just got them all off the internet. We put ads out on Gumtree and James replied to it and he’d been in a band with Aslam before, and erm, so he already knew him…
Ok. One thing that people notify your band for is a distinct lo-fi pop sound. Is that something you initially set about creating?
It kind of just happened because we recorded it at home. That’s the reason it sounds like that, it’s not a conscious effort.
Is that something you think will change when you step into a studio to do the album?
Erm. It depends what’s right for the songs I guess. I would like to make them a bit bigger but they might just suit sounding like that. Whatever’s best.
What else are you listening to?
Blur’s self-titled album, all the time.
Can you explain the name to me?
We just wanted to find something that didn’t mean anything at all. We looked on the internet and just saw that. We thought no one would have an opinion on it, but they do.
How would you describe ‘You’re so Cool’?
Umm, it’s a nice pop song I guess…
It’s a song about a friend who knows all the words to ‘True Romance’. Do you prefer or find it easier to write songs about real situations?
I think Steph likes making situations up, not really character-based in the same way that Blur songs are.
How do you see the London music scene at the moment?
There’s not really a cohesive thing going on in London at the moment. None of the bands are really similar, there are lots of really good bands but none of them really sound like each other.
How was the NME Radar tour?
Really good. The Koko show was amazing. It’s a huge stage and it feels like every stage should be like that. I guess it helped our exposure.
What are you doing this summer?
We’re doing Field Day and Indietracks Festival. And, err, something in Cardiff as well. We're going to do a few shows around London and we have our single launch at White Heat on the 28th June.
Cool. Any plans for an album?
I think we’re going to do another single first…
Click here to see all London live music
Click here for London gigs
Click here for things to do in London
Add an event
Frieze Art Fair to launch new section for young galleries in 2012
Frieze have today announced details for the 2012 edition, their tenth art fair in London. Taking place...