Ape House

J. Forté: Vocals + Guitar
GP Shook: Drums
Gil Hegwood: Guitar
Steve Shook: Bass

Official Website:
http://www.apehouserock.com/

What can people expect at one of your shows?

J: Fifteen loud & catchy two-minute tunes with several beer break interruptions.

GP: If we play at Chief Ike's people can expect to get clobbered at Ms. Pac Man by our bassist, Steve. He's got the right stuff!

Do you have any good groupie stories?

J: Nothing too impressive. A girl once wrote her phone number on my jeans at a show. GP, our drummer, made out with a gal at the first Ape House gig.

Do you have any big projects coming up?

J: We just released our second full-length CD, Tired of Style. Please buy it!-we have too many boxes of our last CD lying around! Our tune "Are You Buzzed?" is also on the new Red Stapler comp that just came out. In other news, we're playing at the International Pop Overthrow in Philadelphia on November 20th. We're also hitting the studio this month to begin work on a new EP. Oh yeah - there is also an offer on the table to play Budokan in Japan.

Sammy Hagar or David Lee Roth?

J: No contest - Diamond David Lee Roth was the better VH frontman. I must admit, however, that I caught the Sam and Dave tour a couple years ago and Hagar put on a much better show. While I hated every single song he played, he was funny, drank a lot and had topless women onstage.Dave took himself too seriously and creeped the crowd out.

What are you listening to these days?

J: I listen mostly to stuff that's catchy and/or rocks. Some current faves include A.C. Newman's the Slow Wonder, Robert Pollard's Fiction Man, and the Legends' Up Against the Legends. I've also been listening to a lot of Kinks and Bowie.

GP: I've been enjoying the new cd from Matt Pond PA as well as some Swedish soft rock-- Club 8, Acid House Kings.

Is it just me, or does Johnny Cash really suck?

J: I have to take offense to this question. Johnny Cash was a true American hero (and I mean that in a good way). He wrote great songs, did a ton of speed in the 50's and 60's, then met June Carter Cash who straightened him out. His demons would still get the best of him from time to time though. I suggest you purchase Live at Folsom Prison.

What do you hate most about sound guys?

J: Our sound guys have generally been pretty cool. The only bad experience we had was with a guy in Baltimore. He refused to let us play unless we turned down the volume and he got really worked up about it. What a shitty gig - we played with these high school kids who couldn't drive past 10pm so the line-up got screwed up. Then the bar didn't pay us, though we had brought in quite a few people. We had to convince our bass player Stevie not to throw a brick through the club's window.

Who are some of your favorite unheard of bands?

There's a handsome power-pop quartet from DC called Ape House that I'm really into…