The following is a concise account of how The Birth of The Apex Beat (and consequently, the Apex Beat Generation) came to be:
The idea of the Apex Beat dates back to the summer of 2004. Charles Blazevic (then 19 years old) approached long time friend, Omar Ashour (then 18 years old), with a proposition -- to start a band that is driven by sophisticated composition, stylish arrangements and choice musicianship. Ashour accepted said proposition and that marked the official beginning of the group - at least conceptually. In addition to the latter, Blazevic and Ashour also wanted these compostions/arrangments to represent their esoteric and eclectic tastes but in an accessible manner. Both went to work on writing individual compositions and demoing said material with the goal of forming a band to play these compositions on record, and perhaps even in a live setting. After months of desperate searching, the Apex Beat recruited two individuals who would eventually play an integral role within the project. Long time friend, Steven Harris, joined the team and agreed to lay down all of the wonderful drums and percussion to tape. After Steven came Ian Mosher, who agreed to provide his idiomatic fender rhodes touches for the group. With all these components in place, the Apex Beat began recording what will eventually be our full-length recording debut, during the last months of 2005. Between 2005-06 we arranged and tracked for tons of instruments; wurlitzer, violin, cello, viola, guitar, bass, trumpet, trombone, drums, various vocals, vibraphone, glock, marimba, tympani, fender rhodes, etc. In the midst of recording - around late 2006 - a few line-up changes took place, and the Apex Beat recruited local jazz vocalist Katrien to provide vocals for this in-progress recording. The record is now completely tracked/mixed and nearly ready for mastering. With unique combinations from a variety of inspiring deep sources - including soul/funk, 60's vocal pop, bossa-nova/MPB, jazz, soundtracks/easy, and other esoteric rare groove delights - the Apex Beat hope to bring you, the listener, a record that will surpass superficial categorization and also a record that will achieve a balance between sonic/stylistic sophistication and pop accessibility. These optimistic goals combined with sheer honesty, healthy cynicism, and beautiful harmonic/melodic textures, will surely attract open-minded music lovers and even some of the most jaded music listeners! Take note, 2007 will be the year that The Apex Beat will fulfill these goals and release their debut recording!
We hope you will join the Apex Beat Generation
Love,
The Apex Beat
