!earshot Top 200 of 2021

All Purpose Voltage Heroes

1 of 2 Next>

APVHThe All Purpose Voltage Heroes are a punk band. A punk band with three frenzied keyboards and a sampler.

Until this summer, the All Purpose Voltage Heroes were landlocked in Edmonton, tied down by high school and the other pesky commitments that haunt any young Canadian. But with strong local shows and graduation setting them free to head out on two cross-country tours in six months, they are establishing a reputation for themselves as an inventive and impressive live act.

With keyboards salvaged from basements, pawn shops, and garage sales, the threesome of Kevin Chearney, Dan Poole, and Zack Poole set out just before the Christmas of 2001 to create APVH. Connor Mayers was soon added on as the drummer and eldest member. Kevin and the Poole brothers had known one another since almost birth, attending daycare together and even living on the same street in Edmonton. "We just decided one day that we should make a band and use small keyboards, and make some songs to pass the time" remembers Kevin Chearney, one of the group's keyboardists.

The Heroes' sound crams a hard punk guitarist, riotous bassist, and a pop diva into 4 little keyboards and a drum kit. Off-kilter patterns, capricious vocals, and seemingly erratic samples combine to form a sound that is "fractured, fragmented pop" notes Chearney, "they're not quite verse-chorus-verse-chorus traditional pop songs". Chearney calls it "synthpunk. We have the energy and attitude of punk music, but it�s all keyboard based".

The band name was pieced together, with each member contributing a different part of the four word moniker. This collaborative ethos extends into their songwriting as well. "Usually we each come up with our own parts and leave our drummer Conner to do his thing. But, lately Conner and Dan have been writing a lot as well and it is awesome that Conner is actively involved in the songwriting on the keyboard portion". Interdependent would be the word to describe All Purpose Voltage Heroes. Their name, dynamic, songs, and instruments all exude an unsettled symbiosis.

1 of 2 Next>