Brent Cowles, pronounced Coals as his email signature calmly states, was the main creative force behind You Me & Apollo. That is until his friend Tyler Kellogg heard his tracks and they made a band. Well, they tried to. After some lineup changes they finally have a solid group and are making moves in the Denver music underground. In advance of their rooftop show at MCA Denver, we got to sit down and chat with Brent about fruit and hot dogs. It was a riot.
AudioVore: If you could have any person or animal to be your band mascot, who or what would it be?
Brent Cowles: A penguin
AV: Just any penguin?
BC: Ah, no. What are those called? The ones with the yellow mohawk-y ear things? I think they’re just called Awesome penguins.
AV: Would you choose invisibility or flying for your super power?
BC: Flying, definitely.
AV: Why flying? What would you do with it?
BC: Well invisibility, I mean you could do some cool stuff with that but I think it’s going to turn creepy no matter what. I mean, being able to see people who can’t see you can just cause some issues I think. I’d much rather just fly around, go wherever I want.
AV: So what’s going on with the band right now?
BC: Well right now we’re just doing the festivals that are left this year. We’ve got Higher Grounds Festival and Four Corners Folk Festival and a few more in the works. We did just release a 7” vinyl with two singles on it that we’re kind of pushing. We’re probably going to release more and hopefully have an EP with six songs out at some point.
AV: Did you release the 7” yourself?
BC: Yeah, we’re doing it ourselves since it is only two songs and we only made 500 so it’s a limited edition thing. We hand printed every one of the covers so their all kind of unique in their own way.
AV: Worst job you’ve ever had?
BC: That is a tough one. I would have to say it was being a barista, not that being a barista is necessarily a bad job but when you work for a very large coffee corporation it can be a little taxing on your hope in humanity.
AV: How long have you been a band?
BC: Well You Me & Apollo has been a project for the past five years and in the last year of that it just became a full band. In the last year myself and Tyler Kellogg met and got really excited about it and was like “lets make a band!” and we’ve had a few member changes since then but now we have a solid six piece lineup.
AV: What’s the worst band you’ve ever been in?
BC: In middle school I had this band called Seeds in Cement, which I think is an actual band which is why we broke up, because the name was already taken. We were just like “screw it man! We’re over.” It was a two-piece and we both played electric guitars with lots of distortion and we yelled a lot.
AV: What is the best place besides the MCA rooftop to play in Denver?
BC: Besides the MCA rooftop I’d say the best place to play in Denver is the Hi-Dive
AV: The good ole standard.
BC: Yeah for sure, it smells like a venue and it’s got a good bar and good food next door, not much more you can ask for.
AV: Favorite bands in Denver?
BC: Churchill is awesome, they’re killing it right now. JJ Matott and the Artic, I’m a fan of theirs. God there are so many. I mean The Photo Atlas, I’ve been a fan of theirs for a long time.
AV: Who out of those three would win in a kung-fu fight?
BC: Oh man, definitely The Photo Atlas. They’ve just been in the game for a long time. I feel like they would have some good moves.
AV: Can you think of any movie sequels that are as good as their prequel?
BC: Uhm. Rarely. I’m trying to think of one. No. Yeah I don’t think there is. It just doesn’t happen, the original is always best. Maybe Troll 2.
AV: Favorite hot dog place in Denver?
BC: I haven’t had a hot dog in like six years actually.
AV: Is it a conscious choice not to have a hot dog or is it just not your thing?
BC: I don’t know. I don’t think I’ve had the opportunity to eat a killer hot dog, I think I just got sick of them as a child and I mean, it has to be something special for me to eat a hot dog these days.
AV: How many servings of fruit do you eat per day?
BC: Servings? I don’t even think you can call it servings. I think it’s just chaotic splurging.
AV: Who’s body is nicer when exposed on stage: Aaron Collins from A. Tom Collins, Avery Raines from Mr. Pacman, or Iggy Pop from The Stooges?
BC: Oh Iggy Pop for sure.
AV: Everyone likes Iggy Pop’s body.
BC: It’s because it doesn’t look real! You can’t not look at that guy when he’s on stage.
AV: What is the one thing you want people reading Audiovore to know about your band?
BC: Probably that we’re just trying to be real. Not trying to impress anybody with any gimmicks or anything. We’re just trying to play good music and be real people. That’s our goal.
