Apollo heights

Ebony, July, 2008

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It's 3 a.m. in Japan and every member of Apollo Heights is wide awake. On a Web chat, guitarist Danny Chavis of the New York-based rock band breezes through Japanese phrases with band mate Hayato Nakao, who actually is in Japan. Huddled around a laptop in New York are: Micah Gaugh, a classically trained musician/keyboardist and composer; Monk, a Harlem-based guitarist who appeared as a dancer in the 1985 movie Krush Groove; Honeychild Coleman, also a guitarist and DJ who spins electronica; and "The Twins," frontman vocalist Daniel Chavis and guitarist Danny Chavis. Each Apollo Heights band member brings his or her own experience from individual bands. Apollo Heights is no newcomer to the game, but many may not have heard of it.

There may be several notable Black rock bands most don't know about, but the debut album from Apollo Heights, White Music For Black People (released on the Minimal Vinyl label), beckons for your attention. (If you are old enough, you might be familiar with rocker Screamin' Jay Hawkins' Black Music For White People album, which featured the 1956 hit "I Put A Spell On You." The song was included in The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's "500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll.")

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Danny Chavis points out that EBONY in the 1960s was the first major publication to introduce Jimi Hendrix to the world, in addition to introducing other Black artists who pioneered the sound of rock. Though Hendrix's legendary imprint will never fade, Black rock bands still find it hard to get a record deal, or even get noticed.

The real deal, according to Honeychild: "They feel threatened that you're doing 'the thing' that contradicts their concept of what you 'should be doing.' People get really uptight about what their concept of 'Black music' is ... because our music is so different. Here, as Black people playing alternative music, everyone's like, 'You can't do that,' and in Europe it's like, 'Oh, wow, what are you gonna do?!' It's completely the other side of the coin."

Truth is, while some people long ago tuned out, many are still spoon-fed the same 15 spins on the radio that are supposed to represent the sound of Black music.

How about going for a rock spin? Keys in the ignition, Apollo Heights takes you on a trip with eerily haunting guitar licks over Dirty South beats on the moody first track, "Winter In The Summertime." On "Disco Lights," one of the funky, head-noddin' tracks produced by David Sitek of TV On The Radio (yet another Black rock band), Hayato breaks beats and switches up the 808 from verse to chorus under blended guitar riffs. "Everlasting Gobstopper" champions as the anthem of the album, with Daniel chanting with such conviction he makes you feel each word.

Not complete without a few surprises, the disk features psychedelic funkster Lady Miss Kier (from the band Deee-Lite) on background vocals, and even Brooklyn's own Mos Def sits in and spits full bars on "Concern."

Ready to rock now? Apollo Heights takes you on a journey well worth the ride.