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Photograph by Kevin A. Roberts
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Nights at the Venice Café can be special for any number of reasons, even on those evenings when the room’s less than packed. On a recent frigid weeknight, local songwriters Rebecca Ryan and Mike Apirion were setting up for a night of alternating sets, sharing the gig with a mutual collaborator, guitarist Scott McGreer. Though they were an hour away from beginning, the audience was sparse due to the night’s chilled weather. That’s the kind of situation that can stress some players, but Apirion has seen plenty in a quarter-century of playing to St. Louis audiences; when it comes to the live setting, not much is going to faze him these days.
If anything, this kind of scene allows him to appreciate the moment, focusing on where he’s been and where he’s going.
“I’m sure that I’ve played here in the past, though I don’t remember the iteration,” he recalls. “Probably a duo, or even sitting in. A lot of legends have played here. I can remember coming here when they didn’t have a liquor license.”
Coming of age as a performer in the popular St. Louis funk/rock band The Unconscious, Apirion spent a big chunk of his teens and twenties with the group, earning a reputation as one of the best showmen to call St. Louis home. But in the ’90s, for about six years and over the course of two different stints, he lived in Los Angeles. He says that was a time that changed his approach to music, both as a performer and as a writer.
“I wanted to learn about songwriting, about harmonies,” he says. “I found a folkier scene, which was not very popular in the music industry at the time. The people I knew doing that were very dedicated and a hospitable group of people. We learned a lot from one another. And I learned about the recording industry, learned how to put things together more cohesively. I’ve even had phases when I was really into country music. Not that I ever pushed myself as a country artist, but I was able to go to open mics with friends and play some covers. I can’t say that I’ve never tried to have a sound or make a play to have a certain sound at the correct time. But I’ve learned that’s a mistake. You do what you feel, and if you stay with it, eventually your time will come around.”
During the past decade, Apirion’s tried a few approaches to building a more lasting, ready-to-roll band, even as The Unconscious was playing a series of reunion shows. He’s currently settling in with a group for electric shows that includes either Rich Stuppy or Mike Gregory on bass, Butch Lloyd on drums, and McGreer on guitar, whom, he says, “I’ve been playing with for 10 years. He’s such a great player.
“At this point,” he adds, “I want to work with professional people, guys who have soul and creativity—but also that suit up and show up for the gig.”
While he’s beginning to appear onstage here more frequently, Apirion is also interested in upping his recording quotient. In recent years, he’s worked with national players on a number of recordings; for example, he cut some tracks featuring Vassar Clements before the renowned fiddler passed in 2005, capturing what was likely his last recorded work. He’s also captured studio sound from members of the Dirty Dozen Brass Band and various Nashville session players, always looking for the right, complementary support. He says that for his part, he’s finishing what’s essentially a full album’s worth of material, but that he’s leaning toward “releasing three songs at a time, every four months or so. I’ve seen a lot of artists turn to that approach. The industry seems to be going that way. Everyone’s attention span seems to be shorter, and people don’t want the filler, anyway. You want to keep people around and interested—and the idea of putting out a big album every two years is probably over.”
The Mike Apirion Band will appear with Ransom Note at the Broadway Oyster Bar on Saturday, March 23. To hear song samples, go to reverbnation.com/mikeapirion.
Now Hear This
Ransom Note, It’s You!: The cover of this album features an image of serious simplicity: a rosebud, not quite in bloom, lying atop a plain, grayish background. But the neo-soul contained in this Tower Groove Records disc is a far cry from that minimalism, with tracks of densely layered R&B and funk, played by a cast of seasoned local rock performers. It’s a surprise, considering the musicians, but also a real treat, regardless of whether you know these cats by name.
The Heebie Jeebies, STL ’91: The Best of The Heebie Jeebies: One of the busier groups in the heyday of Cicero’s Basement Bar, this pop/rock outfit has rereleased some of its recordings from two decades past, featuring the country/folk-tinged songwriting of Kip Loui and the crack guitar work of Alex Mutrux. It’s like audio time-traveling.
Née, Finches: Available as a digital download on Bandcamp and iTunes, the five-song Finches EP was a proper intro for many to this local dance-music outfit, featuring the lead single “Pretty Girls” (whose over-the-top video you should check out on above). The group enjoyed a well-received opening slot for Santigold at The Pageant last year; look for the group to increase its in-and-out-of-town visibility during the balance of 2013.
