Out of the primordial soup comes A Primitive Evolution (A.P.E.). Given the gift of sentience, they are here to create a constantly evolving soundtrack to our world with their dark, alternative rock music. With its current release of full-length recording “Becoming” the band’s next mutation is underway. Recorded at their self-built Desolation Studios in Toronto, the album features collaborations with writer/producer Ian D’Sa (Billy Talent) and Audio Engineer Kenny Luong (Metric, Cancer Bats). In partnership with Metropolis Records, the band and label unleashed Becoming together, worldwide on October 5th. 2018. Known to be raw and visceral, with soul and beauty: A Primitive Evolution is best consumed at extremely loud volumes!

Awarded “Best Rock Band” by the 2015 Toronto Independent Music Awards, A Primitive Evolution has toured extensively, showcased at prestigious festivals CMW, NXNE & Indie Week Canada and received strong support from Canadian Music Industry stalwarts Alan Cross (CFNY 102.1 The Edge, ajournalofmusicalthings.com) and George Stroumboulopoulos (MuchMusic, CBC). Pulling together a complex array of influences including Nine Inch Nails, Muse, The Cure, Tool, The Prodigy, Ministry, Radiohead, U2, Vivaldi, Alice in Chains, Guns N’ Roses and more, A Primitive Evolution’s rhythm-based attack blurs the lines of rock, electronica and all aspects between.

“Creation is evolution” observes A.P.E. singer Brett Carruthers, “that’s what I figure we’re trying to say with A Primitive Evolution. As evolved as we think we are as humans or animals, we are very much at the beginning of the evolution of mankind. We have so much to learn and yet so much has changed in the last hundred years. We have a long way to go as a species. We want our band to reflect that too, showing our raw emotions, doing it out of instinct and evolving naturally; not overthinking, just having some fun existing on this planet.” Here’s our interview with Brett Carruthers himself!

Beginnings:

Wow, we met so long ago now! Probably around 2006 back when Steph and I played in a band called “Lye.” Stu runs this great art and clothing line called “Playdead Cult” and at the time we really loved wearing his clothing on stage. We became friends from there and when “Lye” was breaking up Stu approached us with the concept of “A Primitive Evolution.”

Behind the name:

Stu actually had the name and the logo all sketched up and ready to go when he proposed the idea of the band to us! We instantly fell in love with the Skull logo that he had created which is sort of an APE skull with a fetus making up each of the skulls on either side. The name sort of applied itself to this package. A.P.E. for short, APE even more casually and also a deeper meaning of evolution. Progression through time and space. I always like to use it in a sentence game like “It was A Primitive Evolution within the APE species that would lead to the dawn of the Homosapien…” You know something along those lines. Sometimes I like to apply to even our music, each album is A Primitive Evolution from the last and so on.

Brett: I really love boutique guitar pedals these days. There are so many amazingly creative people making these awesome pedals nowadays. We use Death By Audio, Wounded Paw, Abominable Electronics, Industrialectric, Beetronics, Chase Bliss, Walrus Audio, and beyond. Each pedal I get will inspire a new riff or a new sound to get the blood flowing! I love it! I’m a total addict. Band wise I’m always loving Chelsea Wolfe these days, Softmoon, Boy Harsher, and Mastodon.

Steph: Dogs and food… Gabriel Fauré and Deftones.

Stu: All sorts of drums, movie soundtracks like It Follows, old school dance music, and 90’s raver stuff.

Inspiration

Inspiration behind the upcoming album:

Well, we started writing this album in late 2019 and then mid-way through the pandemic hit so it’s been a weird ride that’s for sure. I think we’ve been trying to keep the inspiration by watching and listening to other performers and also just listening to what we’ve written so far and letting it get us fired up again. There’s no one single event or thing that is most inspiring I would say. We really just want to write the best album we can and have it evolve from the last. Experiment with adding different genres and sounds and synths on this record so it’s different from the last.

Sinister Eighties Layered Death Monster

Describe the upcoming album in five words!

Fun facts:

Stu has broken both his collar bones… one just a few weeks ago! It seems to be his specialty. We confiscated his longboard but can’t steal his bike from him.
We have a really cool studio in Toronto that we built called “Desolation Studios” in the basement of Stu’s “Playdead Cult Gallery” shop which also has a vintage clothing storefront called “People’s Champ Vintage.” We share the studio with “The Birthday Massacre” and also host a radio show for our friend “Gobs the Zombie” called “Midnight Looms.” It’s a crazy little house we built down there!
Steph is a voice actress and has shown up in many cartoons produced in Toronto!

Hoping everyone can stay healthy and safe in these trying times! Music will make a comeback and we’re gonna need everyone to help rebuild their artistic communities and local businesses! Thank you so much for supporting music during the pandemic!