2008 Woodie Awards
Taking Out the Scene Trash with The Apathy Eulogy
Christopher Henry
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Punk rock to the core, The Apathy Eulogy's keyboard player Mitch Ryan spent two days of their last tour in a Kentucky jail, arrested and held for shoplifting. For a band that redefines pop punk as a post-emo genre, antics on- and offstage are nothing new for the latest craze coming from Baltimore's Scene Trash Promotions.
Scene Trash, a local magazine that spotlights and targets up-and-coming hipsters, has led the charge promoting local giants like B-more's own, The Apathy Eulogy (TAE).
The band seldom sets foot in their native homes, being knee-deep in a full-time tour schedule promoting their third album after two successful sell-out EP's from 2006 and 2007. The full-time musicians will tour again in March and April to promote their newest album, a collection of three EP's that will be released separately on tours throughout this year.
Taking the reigns of rock grandeur, TAE does what no other rock band can do—they rock the house (OK, emo can't rock a house, but it sure can make swooning girls want to dance) with one hidden weapon. Saddam be damned—TAE's secret weapon of mass seduction is percussionist Brian Curlee's Cajon, a rare South African beat box that replaces the standard drums, removing the brash orchestra of a full drum ensemble.
The band's singer and guitarist, Rob Kelly, takes pride in his songwriting trade; he calls his songs "a poetic recital, not like the halfhearted mentality thrown into today's lyrics…our songs are intellectual, strongly built personal snapshots, and show our maturity on the road."
With this driving creative force, TAE has created an epic following from coast to coast.
Garnering a ridiculous amount of national media attention, the band took center stage with national acts such as Dashboard Confessional at last year's Tigerfest at Towson University by beating out almost 100 local bands at 2007's Battle of the Bands, also held at TU.
The band continues to headline shows in the region. Taking the lead as one of Myspace.com's largest emerging bands, TAE has turned down multiple record deals, keeping an independent image for do-it-yourself fans.
TAE pulls influence from unlikely sources. Talib Qwali, The Shins, Scene Aesthetic, Guster, Girl Talk, and Animal Collective are all vaguely interspersed throughout TAE's sound, but the constant strumming of rich, lush guitars over a beat box drum prevents any stereotyping or genre-casting.
With a plethora of advertisers, promoters and sponsors at their beck and call, TAE has aligned itself with some of the best sponsorships in the business. Martin Guitars, renown through the music industry as the guitar of choice for acoustic professionals, began a running sponsorship with TAE in 2007.
With a country to tour, a screaming mass of dedicated fans, and a tri-album concept to promote, The Apathy Eulogy is kicking off 2008 with something its name entails—a farewell to apathy, because the road ahead seems full of promise.
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The Apathy Eulogy
web–www.myspace.com/theapathyeulogy
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