A Primitive Evolution (often identified using the abbreviation A.P.E.) is an

alternative rock Alternative rock (also known as alternative music, alt-rock or simply alternative) is a category of rock music that evolved from the independent music underground of the 1970s. Alternative rock acts achieved mainstream success in the 1990s w ...

band based in

Toronto, Ontario Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

, Canada.

History

Formation

Formed in the Fall of 2007 out of band Lye (and before that Aphasia), vocalist Brett Carruthers and bassist Stephany Seki began jamming with drummer Stu Dead, founder of Playdead Cult, a clothing brand and creative lifestyle house located in Toronto. Playdead's involvement in horror culture led to inviting the owner of Darkside horror shop's Dimitri Anastasakis to jam along on guitar. With this line up, they first publicly performed for Toronto's Queen Street Fire fundraiser alongside

Billy Talent Billy Talent is a Canadian Rock music, rock band from Mississauga, Ontario. They formed in 1993 with lead vocalist Benjamin Kowalewicz, guitarist Ian D'Sa, bassist Jonathan Gallant, and drummer Aaron Solowoniuk. There have been no lineup change ...

and

The Creepshow The Creepshow is a Canadian rock band from Burlington, Ontario. The band formed in 2005 when the four original members got together with the purpose of starting a psychobilly band. The Creepshow writes the majority of their songs about horror fi ...

. In 2007, the band self-produced the video for "Death on Wheels" alongside Frankenstein cheerleaders as part of the 2007

L'Oréal L'Oréal S.A. () is a French multinational personal care corporation registered in Paris

Fashion Week, which was voiced by Martin Streek. "Death on Wheels" would initiate, The Death Girls, cheerleaders and super-fans that dance and sing at A.P.E events, sometimes by joining the band on stage. Notable Death Girls include models from the adult website

Suicide Girls SuicideGirls is an online community website that revolves around pin-up photography models known as the Suicide Girls. The website was founded in 2001 by Selena Mooney ("Missy Suicide") and Sean Suhl ("Spooky"). Most of the site is accessible ...

. A Primitive Evolution would later appear on the adult news channel,

Naked News ''Naked News'' is a Canadian news and entertainment program owned by Naked Broadcasting Network. It features nude female news presenters reading news bulletins derived from news wires. The show's production studio is located in Toronto. There a ...

. "Death on Wheels" was also featured on

Alan Cross Alan Krawec (Alan Cross) is a Canadian radio broadcaster and a writer on music.

's "Five Songs You Gotta Hear Today". In 2008, A Primitive Evolution played a

Canadian Music Week The Departure Festival + Conference, formerly known as Canadian Music Week, is an industry conference and music festival held in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.David Friend"Canadian Music Week buyers rename event Departure Festival, expand its scope" ...

showcase at The Bovine Sex Club. In 2008 the band continued writing and recording their debut album and worked on another music video for the song "Beyond True". In May they posted a demo for the song "Empty Holes", which would later also have a corresponding music video. Brett said in a 2010 interview that during these early years the band worked "just writing and figuring each other out". In the spring of 2009 the group founded the music festival VIVA LOS MUERTOS (2009 line-up featuring

The Birthday Massacre The Birthday Massacre (abbreviated TBM) is a Canadian rock music, rock band formed in 1999 in London, Ontario and currently based in Toronto. The current lineup consists of lead vocalist Sara 'Chibi' Taylor, rhythm guitarist Michael Rainbow, lea ...

, for whom Brett had performed live keyboards for during their Fall 2004 tour). The festival included "Major merch sales, dancing Playdead

mascots A mascot is any human, animal, or object thought to bring luck, or anything used to represent a group with a common public identity, such as a school, sports team, society, military unit, or brand name. Mascots are also used as fictional, repres ...

and an eclectic long-weekend crowd that collectively offered plenty for the live eye". The festival had an "overwhelmingly good response", according to the band, hoping to further secure the creation and maintenance of a dynamic "

Death Rock Deathrock (or death rock) is a rock music Rock is a Music genre, genre of popular music that originated in the United States as "rock and roll" in the late 1940s and early 1950s, developing into a range of styles from the mid-1960s, prima ...

" scene in Toronto. Playdead Cult's "Moop", would continue to be the band's mascot and can be seen dancing on stage during the band's live performances. Later on in 2009, the band's self-produced debut video for "Death on Wheels", voiced by veteran Toronto radio DJ Martin Streek, caught the attention of the production crew for the vampire musical movie

Suck Suck may refer to: *Suction, the force exerted by a partial vacuum * .sucks, an Internet top-level domain Arts and entertainment Music * Suck (band), a South African hard rock group * Suck, drummer for the 1990s Japanese punk band Teengenerat ...

. This film debuted at the 2009

Toronto International Film Festival The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF, often stylized as tiff) is one of the most prestigious and largest publicly attended film festivals in the world. Founded in 1976, the festival takes place every year in early September. The organi ...

featured the likes of

Iggy Pop James Newell Osterberg Jr. (born April 21, 1947), known professionally as Iggy Pop, is an American singer, musician, songwriter, actor and radio broadcaster. He was the vocalist and lyricist of proto-punk band the Stooges, who were formed in 1 ...

Alice Cooper Vincent Damon Furnier (born February 4, 1948), known by his stage name Alice Cooper, is an American rock singer and songwriter whose career spans sixty years. With a raspy voice and a stage show that features numerous props and stage illusion ...

and

Henry Rollins Henry Lawrence Garfield (born February 13, 1961), known professionally as Henry Rollins, is an American singer, writer, spoken word artist, actor, comedian, and presenter. After performing in the short-lived hardcore punk band State of Alert in 1 ...

The film consequently utilized the band's rehearsal space as a set for several scenes in the film. Finally at the end of 2009 the band would release their self-titled debut album. February 16, 2010, the band released their debut album digitally for worldwide distribution. In the summer of 2010, Adm Shedden, formerly of The Birthday Massacre and currently of Hunter Eves, joined to perform on live violin for acoustic shows. In 2010, the band continued playing shows in Toronto,

Hamilton Hamilton may refer to: * Alexander Hamilton (1755/1757–1804), first U.S. Secretary of the Treasury and one of the Founding Fathers of the United States * ''Hamilton'' (musical), a 2015 Broadway musical by Lin-Manuel Miranda ** ''Hamilton'' (al ...

Niagara Falls Niagara Falls is a group of three waterfalls at the southern end of Niagara Gorge, spanning the Canada–United States border, border between the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Ontario in Canada and the state of New York (s ...

, Kitchener and

Barrie Barrie is a city in Central Ontario, Canada, about north of Toronto. The city is within Simcoe County and located along the shores of Kempenfelt Bay. Although it is physically in the county, Barrie is politically independent. The city is part ...

. On February 15, 2011, the band posted on their

Facebook Facebook is a social media and social networking service owned by the American technology conglomerate Meta Platforms, Meta. Created in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with four other Harvard College students and roommates, Eduardo Saverin, Andre ...

profile that Scott Carruthers (Brett's cousin), would replace Dimitri Anastasakis on guitar. Dimitri had announced in the fall of 2010 also on their

profile that he would be leaving the band due to pursue other goals important to his life. In 2011, the band recorded a new acoustic album, co-produced by

John Wozniak John Keith Wozniak (born January 19, 1971) is an American musician best known as the lead singer, guitarist and songwriter of the band Marcy Playground. Early life Wozniak was born and raised in Minneapolis. He learned how to play the guita ...

, and welcomed back their friend, Adm Shedden for violin. The band encouraged fans to participate in its development by listening to rough mixes. The band documented the recording process with video,

MP3 MP3 (formally MPEG-1 Audio Layer III or MPEG-2 Audio Layer III) is a coding format for digital audio developed largely by the Fraunhofer Society in Germany under the lead of Karlheinz Brandenburg. It was designed to greatly reduce the amount ...

's and photo updates on their official website and also announced that 20% of the proceeds would be donated to

ShelterBox ShelterBox is an international disaster relief charity established in 2000 in Helston, Cornwall, UK, that provides emergency shelter and other aid items to families around the world who have lost their homes to disaster or conflict. Shelte ...

. In July, the band performed at Trash Fest USA, in

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

. A Primitive Evolution was recommended by

George Stroumboulopoulos George Mark Paul Stroumboulopoulos (; Greek: Γεώργιος Μάρκος Παύλος Στρουμπουλόπουλος; born August 16, 1972) is a Canadian media personality, television host and podcaster. He is one of Canada's most popular b ...

for Canadian Music Week 2011 in his Top 3 Buzz Bands out of the 800 that performed. In 2018 the band signed a record deal with

Metropolis Records Metropolis Records is a record label that was founded in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania ...

to release their album ''Becoming''. Now acting as a three piece with Brett Carruthers, Stephany Seki and Stu Dead, this would be the band's debut release under an official label. 2019 would mark the band's first major North American Tour opening for labelmates

PIG The pig (''Sus domesticus''), also called swine (: swine) or hog, is an omnivorous, domesticated, even-toed, hoofed mammal. It is named the domestic pig when distinguishing it from other members of the genus '' Sus''. Some authorities cons ...

. On this tour, they supported their 2018 release ''Becoming'' and added new live members to the band, Owen Mackinder from

and drummer Jake Hamilton.

Discography

''A.P.E.'' (2009)

The band's debut album ''A.P.E.'', released in early December 2009, was produced by Matthew Von Wagner, (

Crystal Castles Crystal Castles was a Canadian electronic music group formed in 2006 in Toronto, Ontario, by songwriter-producer Ethan Kath and singer-songwriter Alice Glass. Crystal Castles was known for their chaotic live shows and lo-fi music, lo-fi melanc ...

Ubiquitous Synergy Seeker USS (Ubiquitous Synergy Seeker) are a Canadian alternative rock musical duo from Toronto.Alpha Galates Alpha Galates, formerly The Hollow, was a Canadian progressive metal band that originated in Medicine Hat, Alberta and later became based in Toronto, Ontario. Matthew von Wagner, his ex-wife, Karen Wagner, Adam Taylor and Todd Lefever formed The ...

) and Brett Carruthers. Wagner has worked alongside the likes of

Joe Barresi Joe Barresi (nicknamed "Evil Joe") is an American record engineer and producer who has worked with Kyuss, The Melvins, Tool, Chevelle, Apocalyptica, Queens of the Stone Age, Coheed and Cambria, Tomahawk, L7, The Jesus Lizard, Parkway Drive ...

and

Bob Ludwig Robert Carl Ludwig (born December 11, 1944), is a retired American mastering engineer. He mastered recordings on all the major recording formats for all the major record labels, and on projects by more than 1,300 artists, including Led Zeppeli ...

. ''A.P.E.'', according to the band, is grounded on a few common themes: the single "Death on Wheels" draws inspiration from classic

exploitation Exploitation may refer to: *Exploitation of natural resources *Exploitation of Animals *Exploitation of labour **Forced labour *Exploitation colonialism *Slavery **Sexual slavery and other forms *Oppression *Psychological manipulation In arts an ...

horror films, while others like "Dead End" are thinly veiled love songs. "War B." explores political undertones and the Western view of war. Other songs on the album like "Beyond True" explore the

romanticism Romanticism (also known as the Romantic movement or Romantic era) was an artistic and intellectual movement that originated in Europe towards the end of the 18th century. The purpose of the movement was to advocate for the importance of subjec ...

of human interaction.

Alan Cross Alan Krawec (Alan Cross) is a Canadian radio broadcaster and a writer on music.

has referenced the band to sound like

Radiohead Radiohead are an English rock band formed in Abingdon-on-Thames, Abingdon, Oxfordshire, in 1985. The band members are Thom Yorke (vocals, guitar, piano, keyboards); brothers Jonny Greenwood (guitar, keyboards, other instruments) and Colin Gre ...

and

Nirvana Nirvana, in the Indian religions (Jainism, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Sikhism), is the concept of an individual's passions being extinguished as the ultimate state of salvation, release, or liberation from suffering ('' duḥkha'') and from the ...

and would go on to call them

The Offspring The Offspring is an American Rock music, rock band formed in Garden Grove, California, in 1984. Originally formed under the name Manic Subsidal, the band currently consists of lead vocalist and guitarist Dexter Holland, Bryan "Dexter" Holland, ...

Grunge Grunge (sometimes referred to as the Seattle sound) is an alternative rock Music genre, genre and subculture that emerged during the in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington, particularly in Seattle and Music of Olympia, Washington, O ...

in his May 21, 2010, ExploreMusic podcast. (searchable on iTunes)

Tracks

# "War B" (4:40) # "Beyond True" (4:19) # "Death on Wheels" (4:02) # "Just Begun" (4:59) # "Dead End" (3:59) # "Still Waiting" (4:26) # "Coming and Going" (3:03) # "Show Me" (4:41) # "Train Wreck" (4:45) # "To Be Lost" (5:17) # "Empty Holes" (4:27)

''The Prize'' (2012)

The band's sophomore album ''The Prize'' was released on September 11, 2012. ''The Prize'' still includes reworked versions of songs found on APE's debut, but also features three new songs. The album was produced by the band and

Marcy Playground Marcy Playground is an American alternative rock band consisting of three members: John Wozniak (lead vocals, guitar), Dylan Keefe (bass), and Shlomi Lavie (drums). The band is best known for their 1997 hit " Sex and Candy". History Early ...

at Mushroom studios in Toronto, ON.

Tracks

# "Lord Of Reason" (4:05) # "Show Me" (The Prize Version) (3:52) # "I Feel It All" (4:52) # "Won't Let You Down" (4:10) # "Falling Far Behind" (4:28) # "Dead End" (The Prize Version) (3:59) # "The Prize" (4:26) # "Coming and Going" (The Prize Version) (3:05) # "Train Wreck" (The Prize Version) (5:36) # "We Are Lost" (4:31)

''Becoming'' (2018)

The band's third album ''Becoming'' was released on October 5, 2018. Recorded at their self-built Desolation Studios in Toronto, ''Becoming'' features many exciting Canadian collaborations including writer/producer Ian D’Sa from

and audio engineer

Kenny Luong Kenny is a surname, a given name, and a diminutive of several different given names. In Ireland, the surname is an Anglicisation of the Irish ''Ó Cionnaith'', also spelt ''Ó Cionnaoith'' and ''Ó Cionaodha'', meaning "descendant of Cionnaith". ...

Tracks

# "I am an Infinite Cycle" (1:16) # "Who's Your Maker" (4:47) # "The Beauty" (4:19) # "Close Your Eyes" (4:11) # "Ghost" (6:17) # "Dead Skies" (5:22) # "We Are The Truth" (4:38) # "Becoming" (3:56) # "Skeleton" (4:50) # "Picturesque Hell" (4:28) # "Better Off Dead" (5:09) # "Live Forever" (5:05) # "Echo" (5:38)

Members

*Brett Carruthers –

guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

vocals Singing is the art of creating music with the voice. It is the oldest form of musical expression, and the human voice can be considered the first musical instrument. The definition of singing varies across sources. Some sources define sing ...

keyboard Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Mus ...

s (2007–present) *Steph Misayo Seki –

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Wood * Bass or basswood, the wood of the tilia americana tree Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in th ...

, keyboards,

cello The violoncello ( , ), commonly abbreviated as cello ( ), is a middle pitched bowed (sometimes pizzicato, plucked and occasionally col legno, hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually intonation (music), tuned i ...

(2007–present) *Stu Dead –

drums The drum is a member of the percussion instrument, percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophones, membranophone. Drums consist of at least one Acoustic membrane, membrane, c ...

(2007–present)

Touring members

* Owen Mackinder – keyboards (2019–present) *Jake Hamilton – drums (2019)

Former members

*Dimitri Anastasakis –

lead guitar Lead guitar (also known as solo guitar) is a musical part for a guitar in which the guitarist plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs and chords within a song structure. The lead is the featur ...

(2007–2010) *Scott Carruthers – lead guitar (2011–2013)

References

External links

*
Playdead CultThe Darkside Store
{{DEFAULTSORT:Primitive Evolution Musical groups established in 2007 Canadian alternative rock groups Musical groups from Toronto 2007 establishments in Ontario