Apostle Of Hustle: Podcast Sex And Crappy Consumerism

Broken Social Scene, Feist and Stars may be the big money in the BSS posse, but for those in the know, the most universally beloved band from that crew may be Andrew Whiteman's Apostle Of Hustle. We spoke to Whiteman before he embarked on the summer festival circuit.

ChartAttack: It's a special band that plays Lollapalooza 2007 and Wolfe Island Music Festival in the same year.
Andrew Whiteman: You don't want to pass down a great opportunity. Wolfe Island is a really awesome gig.

If you could only play one, which would it be?
I'd pick Wolfe Island for the vibe, and I'd have to say Lollapalooza for the business part of it. It's a smart gig to do.

Are those two concerns often opposed? Vibe and business?
Not really. I haven't really gotten any offers to do corporate gigs or anything that might get me and my bandmates into a place where we wouldn't have to worry about rent. That gig hasn't come up for me. Hopefully one day it will.

What's so awesome about Euchre? It sounds complicated to me.
No, it's actually bridge for dummies. If your grandma or anybody knows how to play bridge, they can play Euchre. But what's so great about it? It's right on the cusp of skill and chance. It's also something you can play when you're sober and you can play it when you're completely wasted. It works both ways. I don't know, for some reason it's muy divertito. Very amusing.

I understand that you've been collecting novelty cards to play Euchre with.
Well, we've got some. A couple of people donated their novelty decks. We don't have anything too spicy. We didn't get any nudie pictures. We just got stuff like the Liberty Bell in Philadelphia.

What else do you do when you're touring to amuse yourself?
Well, I'm a big fan of podcasts, personally. There's that moment in the day when we're driving and everybody decides to go into their own little world, their own little bubble, so I'm constantly listening to the radio through podcasts.

What podcasts are you into?
Let's see, I like CBC's Ideas, I love This American Life, I've got one called Sex Is Fun, and one called Tantric Sex something or other... Open Source Sex... there's Afro Pop Worldwide, that's a great one. Oh, of course KCRW Bookworm... I have a learn Spanish one... and of course, Stonesthrow.

I noticed a lot of sex in that list.
Well, you know, you gotta do something.

I read a quote where you said you glean a lot of influences from different sources when you write music. What went into National Anthem Of Nowhere?
I'd do a lot of name-dropping, like ancient Greek papyrus fragments, novels about gay hustlers, weird Peruvian mountain music and also touring with Broken Social Scene.

How do other kinds of art like novels or films manifest themselves in your music?
I don't know. I really don't know. I definitely consume. I'm a bit of an art junkie.

Does it annoy you to constantly be compared to BSS?
I don't know. I wouldn't have had as many opportunities without Broken Social Scene. It depends on what point in the tour, day, what the question is. Intrinsically, do I have a problem? No, not at all.

It seems like large bands with elaborate arrangements are really trendy now. Are Broken Social Scene pioneers?
It's like any band. You get a glimpse of the possible. You didn't think about that before. Also, you can say you had your last show five times. BSS is an acknowledgment of the futility of resisting change. It's impossible to quit. You can not show up, but you can never quit. It fluctuates and so it should.

We have enough proof that if you go against nature you get fucked. We try to sublimate the ego enough that we don't try to go against nature. Why try and force people to quit?

BSS takes a long-term view of the people in the relationships in that band. So why turn it into a drama if it doesn't need to be? That's the lucky thing about that band. I just think that's how the band's going to survive. My view is that we'll go on playing as a band for years, like a Neil Young and Crazy Horse kind of thing.

Does the growing success for more complicated indie bands mean Canadians are starting to like "better" music?
Indie success, that's pinhole. Those of us in the indie music store world make up one or two per cent of the population. Maybe things will change when you get "not complicated music" that speaks with a true voice. Hold out for someone like Manu Chao. He's a singer from France who's made two or three albums. His last record was a smash in Europe. The message he speaks is true. It's quote/unquote "simple music," you know?

We live in late consumer capitalism. We live in the age of vampires and dead spirits. The whole system is designed to make you feel inadequate. Our system is based on war and advertising. That's fucking disgusting. It's a hassle to live in a democracy, because democracy means going out and doing things.

Are we missing something in North America because we lack an international consciousness?
We're not, but you have to be interested. If you're interested you can find anything you want with greater global connection. People like bullshit.