APRE have spared us a moment to talk about Zeppelin influences, cheesy 80s groove and Russel Brand’s candidacy. Having begun making moves in the chess club’s backroom, Charlie and Jules offer us a taste of what to expect from them in 2020, including details of their headline tour. Here’s what they had to say…
Now then, welcome! How are things going? What have you been up to?
Things are going well thanks! had a whole summer of festivals and have been busy in the studio writing new music. We have also just released our new tune ‘5 to 5’!
APRE is French for after, we are fascinated with movements in time.
What were your musical upbringings like? What early exposure to people and songs contributed to the artists you are today?
Charlie’s dad introduced him to Zeppelin very early on and he got into anything where the rhythm and drums were integral. The Beatles too obviously. I (Jules) loved 80s bangers from Tears for Fears, Peter Gabriel and Kate Bush. Both our dads played instruments and that’s kind of how we both were introduced to guitars and drums respectively. We are both completely self-taught and can play bass and keys too so in the studio we can swap between everything all the time, which makes writing and gaining inspiration from each others playing very easy.
I understand you met at Ealing Chess Club. Now, Chess is very tactical and strategic, is your approach to creating music at all similar? Or do you instead find it the opposite, something that you have to be relaxed to do?
It is definitely something that needs to come naturally and in a relaxed environment. We find it really hard to write under pressure or to a brief, probably why our music is a bit all over the place in terms of genre.
The 80s is such an influence because of the slick and memorable hooks, along with the upbeat and GROOOOOOVY beats.
Each of the three EPs open with tracks ‘After me’, ‘After You’ and ‘After Us’, respectively. What’s does the ‘After…’ theme mean to you?
APRE is French for after, we are fascinated with movements in time.
I know you’ve mentioned it before, but the 80s influence is clear – what do with you think people find appealing about that style of music nowadays? Is the synth just quality in its own right or is there something else happening at the moment?
The 80s is such an influence because of the slick and memorable hooks, along with the upbeat and GROOOOOOVY beats. But also all the kids (including us) haven’t heard 80s tunes so it sounds so new and exciting to them, that’s why it’s come full circle and we all love a cheesy 80s synth again.
Looking at the artwork on your EP covers, there’s a duality theme running throughout, where do you guys get your ideas for your artwork? Where do you start imagining the cover?
The songs inspire the artwork, the themes they touch on we love to touch on in our artwork in a very quirky way. We also worked with a fantastic photographer to capture those themes within the photos.
‘Politics’ has been pretty crazy in the UK recently and a lot of people aren’t a fan of this Boris bloke. If you were lucky enough to pick, out of anyone in the world, who would you appoint Prime Minister and why?
I’d probably go for Monty Don. Russell Brand would be quite funny – actually he’d probably be quite good as well. Better than the last few chaps and chapettes.
Finally, what’s next for you guys? Are you working on anything exciting at the moment? Any plans for the rest of the year?
We are finishing off a number of singles to be released throughout the rest of the year and 2020, we also have a UK headline tour in February with a headline slot at Scala in London!
Listen to APRE on Spotify and Apple Music.
