ONE met up with Apes of Wrath vocalist and guitarist Rob Kent for our Issue #13 Sound Check interview. Hanging out on the patio of the bar where Rob can often be found slinging cocktails, rain falling beyond the awning, the band’s history and quick rise to notoriety came into perspective. But there’s three more things the casual reader should know about the band: Apes is getting more and more attention around San Diego, their rehearsal space is in the Rat Tail warehouse, and the guy pounding the skins is Jon Elliott’s brother. — ONE

I’m here on a dark and stormy night in San Diego with Rob Kent, lead singer and guitarist for Apes of Wrath. And Rob, so, a lot of things have been happening for you guys lately. Can you start off telling us how Apes came to be?

Well, it all started really when Andrew and I met, because I came to San Diego looking for a band. Depending on whose perspective you’re looking from, but you’re asking me the question, so I would say when I moved to San Diego and within a year I met this guy Andrew, who was in the music program at San Diego State, and we played with this kinda whatever band and, um, I definitely noticed a certain level of creativity in him and an ability to play together. I’d played with several different people here and there, but I never really had been able to put a band together. I wanted to be super-choosy about it; this is an important decision I’m making here, you know. It was him, and then it wasn’t until a few years later that we met Jake, the bass player, and that’s when things started to solidify. Like, OK, we can write a song and run it by this guy, and he, what Jake was really good about was saying, “Do it like this. Play it like that every time.” We were still in our infancy as songwriters. We still are; we don’t know what the fuck we’re doing. But Jake had all this jam band experience and was really good at being like, “This is this part, and this is how the song goes, period. Let’s move on to something else.”

So he introduced some structure.

Yes, he introduced structure.

Let’s take a step back. I want to know if you can describe how you knew there was a connection with Andrew. Was it just strictly a comfort thing, or comfort plus creativity? And I’m sure there’s a trust issue when it comes to forming a band.

Oh, absolutely. Especially in the very beginning, when you first meet someone, and you run band names by each other and you’re like, “I like that,” and it’s like dating, it really is. I have three wives; they’ve become my wives, and we can’t fight. We have to be respectful and loving of each other. It was definitely a feeling from just everything about him. He was just this soft, intellectual guy. I felt like I could learn a lot from him and maybe he could learn from me too.

Tell us real quickly, you mentioned Andrew and Jake; what do each of them do?

Andrew is the lead guitarist, and Jake is the bass player.

Rob, what were some of the fundamental phases you guys went through after meeting up with Jake?

Then we cycled through, like, three or four drummers that just weren’t right, and I think we all knew they weren’t right, but it was better than having a drum machine, and we picked up little things from each one…

Drum machines are so hot right now though.

It is, it is, but then so is Dustin Elliott. (Laughing.) Drum machines can’t take their shirts off and flex, so, but when we met Dustin it was so obvious that he was the one. He didn’t even play, he just did a little, like, shakedown, and I was like, “That’s it. This is the guy.” Just from his dexterity and his ability warming up, his ability was just… and then came his tastes that were really up my alley at that time. I didn’t even come around to punk until the last two or three years, I didn’t have that education. I’m from Orange County; I was very sheltered.

What are your influences?

Nirvana and Motown were the two big ones, and just good sensible songs. Not necessarily pop, but songs that stick in your head. Whether it’s Stevie Wonder or Smashing Pumpkins, like, if you’re showering and singing this song and start thinking, “Why am I singing this song?”

They’re anthemic.

Yeah, and I’m still trying to get to the bottom of why songs stick in your head. What is “catchy,” anyway?

Emotional connection. That’s the thing that’s catchy, right?

Yeah… and we met Dustin and by this time Andrew and I already had all this stuff, these ideas — we’d been playing together for four years…

Are you guys playing shows at this point, playing out?

No, no. The first show I ever played in my life was with Dustin and the Apes. I’ve never played with another band; I’m a total rookie.

When did you guys officially become Apes of Wrath? How long have you been a band?

I’d say going on almost two years now. But the first year was more of just us being egged on by some awesome kids like Peter from Roxy Jones, Dave from Vitro. They would hear little bits of what we’d do and be like, “Dude, do a fucking show with us. Get out there!” We’d be like, “No, we’re not ready, we don’t want to start yet,” and they really just shoved us out there and we started playing. And it was probably the best thing for us, because we found out that we sucked on stage. We were afraid, we were intimidated, and we didn’t know what it meant to be a live band. We could practice together, we could nail it, but putting on a show was another thing. So it’s a good thing they got us out there a year before we thought we were ready ’cause now here we are two years later and we’re just now realizing how to put on a good show.

What is someone’s experience at an Apes show?

What I get a lot is, “You guys play really tight.” Which is a compliment. For me at least, when I see a show there are so many other factors that it takes to impress me.

Top three shows you’ve seen?

Deerhunter at the Beauty Bar; The Spits at the Casbah… I dunno, it’s too hard to say.

How about the best place to play in town?

Beauty Bar, since we’ve played there so much, or the Casbah; actually gotta go with the Casbah. I don’t know, we don’t really know what the fuck is going on.

That’s the best quote I ever got in an interview, man.

I wake up in the morning smiling, because I don’t know what the fuck is going on.

Rob, we’ve been at it for a bit, so let’s wrap this up. Where did the name come from?

Dustin. It just popped into his head. He said something like, “It would be funny if we were a metal band and we were called Apes of Wrath.” And we loved it, so it stuck.

Perfect man, that’s 20 minutes. Let’s call it a wrap. Thanks for taking the time, Rob.

Sure thing, thank you, guys.

Interview © 2009 Justin Eisinger

Photo © 2009 Jon Elliott