Indie pop shamans Apostle of Hustle have always been one of my favourite bands on Arts&Crafts. They fearlessly explore the boundaries of indie rock by way of Cuban, hip hop, and psychedelic inspiration. As exciting as all that sounds though, it's all filtered through amazing songwriting and musicianship - the 2 most important ingredients.

Eats Darkness (out today!) is a concept album about "some struggles people go through". It's clear when you listen to this amazing collections of songs and interludes that the band has more to say about modern day society than ever.

Apostle of Hustle are amazing live and they are pulling out all the stops for their album release show on May 29 at the Music Gallery. I spoke with bandleader (and Broken Social Scene member) Andrew Whiteman about the new album and there's a contest to check out.

blogTO: I love the new album! Where did you find the audio clips for all those interludes? Especially "Snakes". That's one angry lady! Where's that from?

Andrew Whiteman: The soundscapes were sewn together from several places... a lot of what you hear on the record was just me re-creating various chunks of sound and dialog inspired by random stuff I found on the web. The lady's voice on "Snakes" is a woman I met who lives in Montreal.

Is "Eazy Speaks" about Eazy-E? What inspired that song?

Yes, kinda. It's about Eazy-E as a Quebecois personal saint for some kids living in the country who need a hard ass friend from California.

There's lots of great lyrical imagery in "Xerses". What's that song about?

It was an Oulipian game where I tried to use the names of as many multinational corps as I could in the song and then map that whole thing onto an historical event of some antiquity. It's a typical "us against them" jam.

Is "Blackberry" a critique/venting session about Blackberry users? What do you think of this current Twitter craze?

It's actually more of a formal concern that explores the site of the 'indie rock strumming thing'. I don't Twitter.

You've said that each track on your album is "like tapas at the banquet of conflict". An amazing description. What songs by other artists would be at that same banquet?

Good question!

Did any new pieces of gear inspire certain sounds on the album?

My trusty Dr. Sample 202. YES! Plus, I know Julian uses a Boss Octave pedal and then a Boss Super Octave pedal. Plus, we ran Dean's techno kit through an MXR delay into Julian's bass head and then distorted it. I could go on. Gear is fun. I'm a Ginzu master on Pro Tools.

Which guitar and/or piece of gear can you not do without in the studio and/or on stage?

None and/or all. The sound is in the fingers.

What do you like best and least about living in Toronto?

Kensington Market and... well, I don't live in Toronto anymore, so why say anything narsty?

What can people expect to see/hear/feel at your Music Gallery shows?

We have twisted some of our older tunes into entirely new time signatures. We learned every song we ever recorded. We are gonna jam and segue. Things are feeling slightly fresh and there's a wind that's coming from across Lake Ontario that we hope to get circulating in the venerated Music Gallery.

CONTEST:
We have two prize packs to give away. Please read carefully...
Be one of the first two people to post a comment below, at or after 4pm blogTO time today, containing your 3 favourite Apostle of Hustle songs. One entry per person, please (we'll be watching IPs). Please use a valid email address on the comment form, so we can contact you for prize claim details. Must be an Ontario resident. Good luck!

1st prize:

- 2 tickets to the May 29th show at the Music Gallery
- AOH Eats Darkness LP
- AOH Eats Darkness poster
- AOH T-shirt

2nd prize:

- AOH Eats Darkness LP
- AOH Eats Darkness poster
- AOH T-shirt

Apostle of Hustle: Eats Darkness Album Release
Friday, May 29
The Music Gallery
197 John Street
Doors: 7pm
Tickets: $22 advance at Criminal Records, Soundscapes, Rotate This
Ticket + digital album: $25.50 at Gallery AC

Call & Response is a series of Q&A's with bands from or playing in Toronto.
Photo: Aaron McKenzie Fraser.