Winnipeg Based Band Apollo Suns Brings Their Unique Blend of Jazz Funk Psychedelia To Sessions.
In March of 2020, the Winnipeg-based band Apollo Suns toured the United States for the first time. They made it all the way to Omaha, Nebraska when Prime Minister Justin Trudeu made an announcement that Canada was shutting down and Canadians needed to come back as soon as possible. Guitarist Ed Durocher described the band’s disbelief at what was happening and their hope that in the Summer of 2020 things would go back to normal. Now, two years later, the Apollo Suns are finishing what they started.
On Friday, April 8, Apollo Suns opened for Object Heavy to a small but lively crowd in the lounge at Sessions. Their unique blend of jazz and funk carried by the strong horn section of Benjamin Hill on trombone and Aaron Bartel on saxophone had the crowd changing into their dancing shoes. After their set folks gathered around the fire with the band to talk music and politics — American and Canadian. Durocher was grateful. “Americans are always trying to buy us drinks. I haven’t paid for a drink since I got here.” Hard to say what was warmer, the fire pit or the Eugene hospitality.
COVID-19 restrictions looked very different for our neighbors to the north. While the US was hosting football games and concerts, Canada was still on lockdown. Durocher said that Canada didn’t really reopen until March of this year. He commented on how Americans have an attitude of “you can’t tell us what to do,” while Canadians just waited patiently.
Keeping the band together for two years without shows was difficult but the Apollo Suns adapted. “We switched gears. We started writing a lot and in order to stay sane we needed to see the light at the end of the tunnel or something to hold on to. So I was just like, let’s rehearse as much as we can and get super tight,” Durocher said.
Durocher described the marketing campaign that the band created. “We did a lot of one-on-one outreach. We focused on social media and online marketing and we were just like, here’s some music, maybe you’ll enjoy it.”
The Apollo Suns were touring three to four months out of the year pre-pandemic and the shut down allowed them to ground themselves and pushed them to be better. Despite the ability to practice more and connect with fans over the internet, Durocher still thought about shutting the band down once a week. But the ability to get together and play music was a reminder of why he plays music in the first place.
Their hard work paid off when in September of 2020 they won Instrumental Artist of the Year at the virtual Western Canadian Music Awards ceremony. Durocher was sad about the virtual ceremony because they couldn’t hug their friends or perform but with an award like that they are able to charge a little more at their shows and feel validated in their work.
The Apollo Suns are a band of eight or nine when they play at home in Canada. The lineup of this tour consists of six Ed Durocher on guitar, Benjamin Hill on trombone, Bryn Herperger on bass, Anatol Rennie on keys, Glenn Radley on drums and Aaron Bartell on saxophone. They will finish this tour promoting their newest album, Relationship of Force, on April 30 in Saskatchewan.
