Apollo Up!

Nashville post-hardcore outfit Apollo Up! fuses raw punk drive with an affinity for intricate arrangements and abrupt shifts in dynamics, yielding an intellectually charged yet emotionally charged aesthetic that echoes both the subtly approachable innovations of Ted Leo & the Pharmacists and the measured force of Fugazi. Alabama-born vocalist and guitarist Jay Leo Phillips, bassist Mike Shepherd, and drummer Jerome Frey established the trio in late 2002 after Phillips had spent years performing in small-scale local groups including Lotushalo and the Shakedown Cruise. The band secured a deal with the Nashville indie Theory 8 Records—home to acts such as the Carter Administration and the Sincerity Guild—in 2003. Their first full-length, Light the End and Burn It Through, emerged in January 2004 under the guidance of local engineer Jeremy Ferguson, whose prior credits include Be Your Own Pet. Once the record appeared, Phillips divided his schedule between Apollo Up! and a parallel position as bassist and keyboardist in the Nashville dream pop trio Forget Cassettes, maintaining an active tour presence with each project and contributing substantially to the sessions for Forget Cassettes’ sophomore effort, the 2006 release Salt. Upon resuming focus on his main band, Phillips guided Apollo Up! through the June 2006 arrival of Chariots of Fire, again produced by Ferguson and issued via Theory 8.