Heroes of local indie scene hang up the skates
Apollo Ghosts are a band that have carved out a devoted following in a city of music snobs. The quartet, who stylistically fall somewhere between jangle-pop and lo-fi punk, have put out three full-length albums and a handful of EPs and singles.
— Courtesy of Apollo Ghosts
Along the way, they’ve played countless shows in and outside of Vancouver, and even received a nomination for the prestigious Polaris Prize in 2010. Principle songwriter and front man Adrian Teacher feels weird about that nomination.
“The Polaris thing was strange. In a nutshell: the real prize is writing the songs and performing them in front of an enthusiastic audience. That has always been the real, truthful thing.”
Vancouver audiences have connected with this attitude. Teacher reflects on the band’s beginnings, admitting that he didn’t have particularly ambitious hopes.
“There were never any bigger or loftier goals than to play a few shows and maybe put out a record. We played in front of about five people at the Princeton and got heckled at our first show, and now we’re playing our final show at the Rickshaw theatre. This totally blows my mind. It got way bigger than any of us ever expected,” he said.
This Rickshaw show, set to take place on May 10, will be the band’s last. The venue, Teacher explains, comes with its upsides and downsides.
“Originally, this was just going to be a regular show at the Rickshaw. But then I decided to end the band. Ideally, this would have been an all-ages event. I feel bad because some younger kids have e-mailed to say they won’t get to see us. But hey, I expect that the night will be pretty magical.”
While Apollo Ghosts are, as a band, disappearing from the Vancouver music scene, its members will continue making music under different guises. Bassist Jarrett is playing in the band Tough Age, and guitarist Jason Oliver plays in Collapsing Opposites.
Teacher explained that drummer Amanda Panda is “learning world beats on the drums with some crazy book she got out of the library.”
As for Teacher himself?
“I have something else in the works but it might be awhile before I debut anything. Not really sure. Maybe that’s it for me?”
A band’s final show is a bittersweet combination of celebration and departure, where smiles and tears are interchangeable. Though a staple of Vancouver’s live music scene is removing itself, the legacy of Apollo Ghosts will be kept alive in our iPods and memories.
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