Jesse Gallagher, Apollo Sunshine, John Mayer, Sufjan Stevens... and you. there is an individual in the music business that has revamped my way of thinking about it.
-well, actually, there are several.

but there is one in particular that has never quite influenced my choice of music so much as my way of thinking about it. musicians, band members, John Mayer - these are real people. they go on dates that fail, they forget appointments, they freak out and throw things into walls, they go home and eat cereal out of measuring cups with the (soy) milk still out (um. maybe that's only me). they like basketball, at five they ran around naked at family parties, they get scared by irrational things. like clowns. shudder.

thank you, Jesse Gallagher.


jesse, sam, jeremy
Jesse is the voice you hear most often when you pop in an Apollo Sunshine album. he's gone through stages when his friends say he looks like Jesus - only with incredibly blazing red hair. he's about nine feet tall and nine inches around. he was class president of the world, was the lead in highschool plays, and he's always looked up to The Beatles, specifically John Lennon. now those who know him - even just know of him - call him Crazy Jesse. that's because he is crazy. but he's crazy about what he does.

i've never in my life met someone as passionate and full-throttle as this guy; his work is so much of everything that he loves, absolutely loves, and so much of himself and his amazing relationships with his band members Sam Cohen and Jeremy Black. what they do and the energy they come up with is fucking astounding, and it's really just more infectious than anything else; when they're on that stage in front of you, regardless of whether you can sing along you WANT to sing along. you want to know every word, everything about these cool and comfortable and insane guys that go to such lengths to bring it. i mean, bring it.

in his own way, Jesse demanded more of me when i tried to interview him once. when you're new to the game, you need someone like that - someone to mess up with. someone for you to realize: Sufjan Stevens wipes his nose, too. and so i'm better for it. i'm never just some random fan, now, shuffled in among the crowd. i'm someone that wants to know these people, as real people, ones that can have conversations and whose lives extend far beyond their music careers (alright, maybe not far).

do you see, then, that we're really just all humans? idolization is so twenty years ago.

remind me of this if i ever see Paul McCartney in concert, alright?

all this to say: go see Apollo Sunshine TONIGHT! they'll be at the Paradise, and so will i. i'm telling you, you will not be disappointed - you will never be disappointed. you will love yourselves some sunshine.  shan  8:32 AM  |  view comments (0)