Introduction
Apewards are a heavy fuzz band from Germany. The power trio have built quite the reputation for heavy riffs and recently released new album Liminal Choices.
We originally discovered the band after hearing them on the Dingir Zu Prophet Show. Boy was I hooked from that moment. Check out their socials below, give them a listen and enjoy the interview!
Interview
First of all, we should begin with what made you include so much fuzz in your sound? (Thank you!)
Apewards: More Fuzz, more fun. That’s what we learned over the past few years.
I am intrigued to find out where the bands name came from, and what in the end made you select it?
Apewards: There are two reasons: First: apes managed to be happier than humans, so we thought why not turn the evolution the other way. Second: they have long arms and can use their feet as hands – we can’t. So obviously we lost something and want it back.
I’m going on a bit of a deep dive… “Tales Of A Cloud Forest” featured a song called “Mermaid’s Blues”. I’d love to know if you met a sad mermaid how would you cheer her up?
Apewards: I (Frank) would play a steeldrum solo – worked for Arielle!
Are your songs written collectively as a trio or does it tend to be the case that one person brings an idea to the table then the three of you work on it?
Apewards: All of the above. We sometimes just jam as a trio – record these ideas and hash them out afterwards. But we also collect individual ideas in a shared drive and then piece them together like a puzzle.
Most of the time the songs change a lot before we finally record them. For Liminal Choices we had an extensive pre-production to really manifest the soul of these ideas.
I’d love to know what local bands you would recommend. Germany is packed full of great bands, and this is one particular rabbit hole we want to get lost in!
Apewards: From Marburg: LDMR (Postrock), Hyll (Fuzzy Postpunk), Supercobra (For more yeah yeahs), Lightning Mushrooms (Stoner), Runner (Heavy Metal).
If you want to cast a wider net: Schubmodul (Instrumental Stoner), Plaindrifter (Stoner), Wedge, Daevar, Aeon Temple… Sorry if we missed anyone, there are too many great bands.
What is the one song of yours that above all others really gets people moving at your live shows?
Apewards: Ashes, it’s that classic rock groove that seems to work well with the crowd.
If your amplifiers could speak, what embarrassing story about the band would they tell?
Apewards: Sometimes we have to pep talk our amps after the gig because they weren’t allowed to fulfill their potential.
If you could rename any of your songs to make it sound ridiculous, what would it be and why?
Apewards: Aren’t song titles ridiculous anyways? Standing a fart.
In 2019 “We the Living” got released, what is the one song on that record that as a band you love the most?
Apewards: Isolated ground, it’s been a mainstay in our setlist since then. We changed it up a lot though, because we wrote it as a four piece back in the day: see question 1 – less blues, more fuzz!
If you could play on the soundtrack of any film franchise what set of films are you picking and why?
Apewards: Black Sabbath in Peaky Blinders was nice – I think we could fit in there as well. Or maybe in the old italo-western films. Red Mountains could be a good song for a standoff.
“Last Dance” is an absolute gem on “Akrasia”, I’d love to know what inspired that song?
Apewards: Sleep deprivation and not knowing how to write songs in 4/4. We gave Frank (drummer) a bass for his birthday and he started writing weird riffs on it. We took the least weird ones and moulded them into this song. Now the weird ones are coming back to haunt us.
If Apewards was a drink, what would it be made of?
Apewards: Pisco sour. Little sour, little sweet and hits like a baseball bat in the nutsack.
You didn’t think I was going to skip new album “Liminal Choices” did you? I was just showing some “Hesitation” … Jokes aside this is a fantastic album! How has the reception been for the album as a whole?
Apewards: The reception has been amazing. We are very happy to see that people appreciate the all-analog production. We recorded on tape and did a direct transfer to vinyl. But most of all it made us really consider every note and every take every step of the way.
Sticking with the new album, would you mind telling us what your own personal “Toxic Traits” are?
Apewards: Nico is pessimistic, Frank is too optimistic, Lukas can’t decide what to write here, which speaks for itself.
Finally who out of the band is likely to mess up on purpose live just to see what the others would do?
Apewards: Definitely Frank: “I like to keep them on their toes by never playing the same fill twice. Keeps the mind fresh and the soul pure”.
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