Apathy Syndrome
I usually get laughed at when I say that Des Moines, IA, is one of my favorite cities to visit. It is an amazing town for beer drinkers; you have Zombie Burger and the Iowa Barnstormers. Not to mention, the people there are just unbelievably nice as can be. There is another thing going on in Des Moines that seems to fly under the radar to the outside world, and that is the music scene. Yes, we all know about bands like Slipknot and Painface, but after that, hidden in the trenches is a local scene that is just sitting there waiting to be heard.
One of those bands waiting, needing to be heard, is Apathy Syndrome. They are a five piece, mask-wearing, ball of destruction waiting to destroy you with their sound. As menacing as that sounds, they are really just five extremely talented musicians masquerading as everyday hard working folks just like you and me. I had the chance to spend some time with the guys on their tour bus on June 24th before they did their show with Motograter and American Head Charge, and yes they have their own tour bus. There were really two things I wanted to know about Apathy Syndrome: 1. What’s up with the mask, and 2. How did you start your own festival? You can hear those answers below in the interview we did on the bus.
I am going to touch on the mask thing for a second, though. When asking that question, the response came from vocalist Joe Day. When meeting Joe just on the bus, he seemed to be a very polite soft spoken young man with a bit of shyness to him, and after his response it made sense. He said that he had been playing, I think he said bass, in another band and was asked to sing for Apathy. He was apprehensive about doing so because he is a little shy about being upfront and the center of attention. So, that is where the mask came into play. Let me tell you, it worked. The reserved man I met on the bus was not the same man I saw on stage commanding the attention of everyone in the room. This was my first time seeing Apathy Syndrome, and I was blown away. You would never have thought that this was an opening local band if you would have not known. You would have thought they were packing up that night and heading to the next stop on the tour, wait they did do that. Anyway, you know what I mean; it’s as if they should have been on the tour this whole time.
I highly suggest checking these guys out. You will be hooked instantly.
