IF YOU GO
The Press Room, 77 Daniel Street, Portsmouth, NH
The Press Room | Bar + Restaurant | Live Music in Portsmouth (pressroomnh.com)
Tickets: $12 in advance/$15 at the door.
PORTSMOUTH, NH – Canadian import Apollo Suns from Winnipeg are known for fusing psychedelia and progressive rock. On September 23 at The Press Room in Portsmouth, this talented band will be putting on a Monday night special. The show starts at 8 p.m. with no opener, so anyone who attends should prepare themselves to be immersed in unique sounds right from the get-go.
I had a talk with Ed Durocher, who is the founder of and guitarist for Apollo Suns, about how this band came together, what the music scene in Winnipeg is like, crossing paths with an array of talented musicians and plans going into 2025.
Rob Duguay: How did you initially come up with the vision for this project?
Ed Durocher: When I was in my early 20s, I loved Mahavishnu Orchestra, King Crimson, Jeff Beck, some “classic rock” and the psychedelic purpose of it. I originally started in a band that was doing that style, but with vocals as a four piece. We weren’t really good at singing and we eventually broke up because we weren’t able to get any momentum. We didn’t know how to play to our strengths yet so we were being something that we were not, it was kind of that band. After we broke up, a couple of the members and myself stuck together and we started playing as an improvisational band with guest musicians around Winnipeg.
It went so well and the crowd reception was way better than anything we had done before, so we figured that we’d keep on pursuing this. We started adding horns and percussion while inviting other musicians in order to have a solid lineup. Then we started recording and going on tour in 2017, so that’s kind of how it happened. We don’t want to overcomplicate it by thinking we’re singers, we just want to do what feels good.
RD: How would you describe the music scene in Winnipeg, especially when it comes to the music you and the rest of the band play? When it comes to music in Canada, you always hear about what’s happening in Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver, but not much about that particular city.
ED: The musical landscape of Winnipeg is great because there’s a lot of really talented musicians coming out of there. Unfortunately, the city itself has a low ceiling because it’s a relatively small and isolated place on the prairies. It’s kind of like the Midwestern United States, but there isn’t a heavy population density like where you have in Montreal, Ottawa, Kingston and Toronto and there’s millions of people. You have all of these talented musicians in Winnipeg who all play with each other, which is great. We do have a lot of financial support and shows here are well attended, but you generally have to leave Winnipeg unless you’re the number one or number two call guy for sessions.
There is a lot of talent like Ariel Posen and Joey Landreth, who are great guitar players and great songwriters, that have come out of Winnipeg. It’s a lot of fun, but you have to get out.
RD: I hear that. You guys have been major fixtures on the festival circuit, which has included performances at the Winnipeg Jazz Festival, Vermont Jazz Fest and Calgary Stampede. What would you say has been your favorite moment from being part of one of these festivals?
ED: Just playing in front of thousands of people who are super pumped is always great, but we were part of a festival on the East Coast a couple years ago in the green room during the morning after they were serving lobster. Being from the prairies, lobster is such a novelty treat for us so we were all stoked. There’s a lot of great festivals who are treating artists really well and when the production and the team is really great and the audience is into it, it’s one of those really magical moments that allow you to really connect with people. Hopefully it adds some joy to their lives so they can go out into the world and be lovely human beings.
RD: Who is your favorite act or musician that you’ve shared the stage with as part of Apollo Suns? I know you’ve performed with The Comet Is Coming and Mackaya McCraven, among many others.
ED: We recently opened up for Too Many Zooz at the Harvest Music Festival and that was pretty cool. There’s not really a big jam band or a bluegrass scene in Canada, but we recently played the Kaslo Jazz Etc Summer Music Festival in British Columbia and the Infamous Stringdusters were on the bill. We got to go check them out right after our set was done and that was very cool because not a lot of bluegrass comes through Canada, especially legends like them. The Cat Empire were also on the bill, we were a couple bands before them.
RD: I’m a huge fan.
ED: Yeah, totally. Out of Montreal, there’s The Brooks who are this really sweaty soul-funk band. They’re kind of jazzy, but they’re really heavy players so that’s been cool. It’s crazy that we get to cross paths with a crazy variety of talented musicians. When I was at Harvest, I got to run into Maggie Rose and have a conversation with her when we were on the same stage. She’s a great songwriter who has hung out and played with Bob Weir of the Grateful Dead, so I was like, “Oh my God! You’re hanging out with legends!”. I was kind of starstruck while not trying to be a fanboy, but her songs are great, so that was really cool.
RD: I can see why. After the upcoming show at The Press Room, what are Apollo Suns’ plans going into next year? Can we expect a new album in the near future?
ED: We got a few more dates this year. We’re going to finish up the fall tour run and then we’re going to go right into the studio to record an album that we’re going to push for a release in 2025. We’re hoping to have it out in late spring to coincide with the summer festival season, or it’ll come out in the fall. Basically, we’re trying to release an album every 18 months just to keep the flow coming, but we’ve also been amassing a ton of live material that’s also on nugs.net for anyone who understands what that site is all about. We have a lot of live concerts up there that people can just stream, so that’s been our focus along with getting the new material ready and lots of touring.
