Sometimes RAW talent is just that: RAW! It can be seen, heard, and appreciated across the interwebz. In the case of Madison Apart, these guys SCREAM indie grit, through and through – and its about time they got on someone’s radar!
Straight out of Northern Virginia, Madison Apart has been pushing their indie sound and style since 2003. Across the years they’ve shared the stage with some powerful acts such as The Devil Wears Prada, Emery, among others. Boasting an indie status, they have come this far, and they are definitely out to get in your face and make some noise.
With word of mouth, social networking, keeping their noses to the grindstone, and staying true to their sound, they are definitely a band worth a mention as RockRevolt’s Indie Band of the Week. Winning contest after contest, these guys have talent that is just waiting to break through! Put these guys on your playlist, because man! These guys mean to bring it with everything they’ve got in 2014! They are here to party, so lock up your daughters, because it’s gonna be a WILD ride! Meet MADISON APART, RockRevolt’s Indie Band of the Week!
Jeremy and I (Zakk Farkas) formed Madison Apart in the basement of my parent’s house in 2003. I was actually at my prom when Jeremy called me to try out for his band. I tried out a week later, convinced Jeremy we could do better than what his band was doing, and I guess he felt it too. Almost overnight we gained a massive amount of support and were deemed the hometown favorites at local venues. We had a killer street team and die hard friends that supported us 100%. We never played in front of less than 100 people and for us we’d accomplished what we set out to do. For over 10 years we busted our asses playing shows, promoting shows, and treating the band like a business with no help from any production company or promotional company. We were young but we did it all ourselves, which we’re very proud to say! Naturally tension / pressure was always very intense but we toughed it out, and it made us a very strong family. We took a year off and regrouped in 2012 and now we’re stronger, wiser, and completely recharged. We’re glad to be back but we’re also glad we gave ourselves the time we did to reflect, learn, and not sweat the small stuff.
We’ve been asked that question time and time again (laughs). We usually make up some elaborate story and we’ve heard some really funny inaccurate rumors but we honestly do not have an EPIC story for you. We like the way it sounded and that’s the story we’re going to stick with.
Jeremy Morehead: VocalsKyle Farley: Guitar/Vocals
Zakk Farkas: Guitars
Wes Grant: Bass
You have described your style as “hardcore/screamo”. Would you care to expound? Can you give us examples of where your music falls into these styles?
It depends on what site you find us on. Here’s the thing about styles and genres, unless it’s a free response under “Genre” (normally it’s not), we’re left with what the site has pre-selected and nothing more. A lot has changed since we first started. It seems like there’s 100 different genres for what we simply called “Metal” and “Rock” back in the day. I guess we’re old school but we really don’t understand why bands continue to segregate instead of come together under one roof. We know they’re trying to be “different” but that’s not even possible anymore. We’re not saying what we’re doing hasn’t been done before but we’re not trying to do what everyone else is doing right now (write that one down) (laughs)
I guess we were getting sick of the heavy Kei$ha covers, so we decided to go throwback style and put our spin on an 80’s classic. We were all kind of jealous of Jared, he didn’t have to wear a wig to fit the part (laughs)
Watch Madison Apart’s Love Is A Battlefield (Official Music Video)
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Jared and myself are the video guys and the ideas/concepts usually come from us. We generally do what we think would be fun and we pretty much always see eye to eye so there’s really not much time spent on debating things.
We entertain. The whole reason someone buys a $15 ticket to a local show is because they want to be entertained. There’s a ton of people that can play the guitar, drums, etc but do they always entertain you? We’re not everyone’s cup of tea when it comes to our sound but we guarantee you’ll be entertained! I mean come on, we use toilet paper attached to leaf blowers on stage (laughs) We all thrive off the energy of the crowd and if they’re moving we’re going ape shit. From the moment we step on stage, we go banana sandwich from start to finish.
You basically said it for us. Word of mouth has played a huge role in getting us to where we’re at. We post, tweet, and “like” a lot but word of mouth has definitely been the top dog. We’ll admit, it has given us a little swag in our step but we’ll always remain humble in that we damn sure didn’t obtain the recognition ourselves. Our fans not only support us but they spread the words “Madison Apart” to the masses, like a flesh eating virus. We’d be nothing without our fans.
Watch Madison Apart’s The Show Stopper (Official Music Video)
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We are 3-1 for contests. Most of them were battles. We don’t normally like to do them but if we’ve got nothing going on, we’ll suit up. The one that got away was “The Last Band Standing” Battle at the 9:30 Club about 4 years ago. We placed 2nd but we had a blast doing it. Playing the 9:30 Club was a dream come true for us, we were honored to play on that stage.
Obtain some distribution deals and maybe sign with a management company. Touring again would be fun too, we just have to see how things play out.
It’s complicated…We’re old enough and mature enough to know Rockstars are a dying breed. The “big” record deals aren’t what they used to be and a lot of that has to do with the industry itself. Bands come and go…if they can’t hang by killing themselves on tour to come home to a bill that’s owed to their label then BOOM! Somebody else kicks in the door and is ready to take their spot for less money. You do that enough, you’ll end up with what’s happened to the industry today. We could literally write a book to answer this question but to sum it all up, we play music because it’s fun and it’s what we want to do. Unless it’s in front of us and the terms are spelled out, it’s too difficult to say.
In terms of the music industry, what have been some of your biggest pet peeves?Again, we could write a book but I guess one thing that stands out would be the bullshitters that promise you the world and act like they’re only trying to help you become “successful”. Tell us what you can do, tell us how much it will cost (because nothing is for free), write up a contract, and we’ll get back to you.
We make more money than all of them but our name isn’t on the wall next to them at Hot Topic (laughs) All joking aside, every time we play with a National act, we talk to them. I don’t mean, “Hey dude, uhhh, do you think you can get us signed? Uhhh, or like, uhhh, let us go on tour with you?”, I mean we actually talk to them. They’re still people and we talk to them like people, they actually appreciate it. We’ve learned so much from our big brothers and sisters and it’s because of them we handle our business this way. When we talk to them, we ask them if they’re label is supporting them, if they’re being taken care of, do they need a place to crash instead of the trash can of a van they call home for the night? We appreciate what they do because it’s what they love. Nothing but respect for anyone that takes the time to share their stories with us. The truth of the matter is, most of them are on slave deals, and make little to no money. They’re happy to break even when they get home. This is not the life for someone seeking millions of dollars but it is the life for someone that’s happy to be doing what they love…we get it but we still have 9-5 jobs because of it.
We measure success by how many kids are waiting for us to sign their shirt when we get off stage. How many smiles from unfamiliar faces we see in the crowd. How far people will drive to see us play on a week day. How many songs we can write in a month. How many times Wes can be beat in MarioKart (laughs) In our group, there’s a lot of ways we measure success. Are we successful? Sometimes we are.
