Andrew Whiteman is a real hustler. A carpe-diem sort of guy. Apart from rocking it all over the world as lead-guitarist and songwriter of Broken Social Scene with an almost non-stop tour last year, he has managed to craft together another band. Apostle Of Hustle is sometimes folky, sometimes jazzy, always surprising.
“I just don’t really stop,” he says, admitting he made the latest Apostle Of Hustle album, ‘National Anthem Of Nowhere’ in between Broken Social commitments.
/blockquote>Soft-spoken Andrew is clearly a workaholic. “We were just in the studio finishing some songs for an EP that we’re gonna put out in June,” he says, “and we’re getting ready to go on tour in the States.” This hustler has a plan: to release four Apostle Of Hustle singles this year, taking both his bands on the road, as well as running a remix contest on the internet for one of their songs. “About 800 people voted,” he says, proud, “and what’s actually really neat is that it’s a local little hip-hop posse [that won] called Circle Research. And I don’t know them personally, but they used to have an all-night radio show, with breaks and dancehall and hip-hop and stuff, and I used to listen to it back in the 90s!” explains Andrew. “I used to be a big fan of Circle Research. And I thought it was hilarious that they even got involved.”
Finding time for both projects doesn’t seem to be a problem for Andrew, “I just don’t really stop,” he says, admitting he made the latest Apostle Of Hustle album, ‘National Anthem Of Nowhere’ in between Broken Social commitments. “A lot of the best time to write is actually at sound check,” he whispers. “So I would make stuff up at sound check, or when I would get off a Social Scene tour, and I would start recording straight away.” Last year, Andrew was relentless in musical endeavours – touring in January and February, recording in March, back on tour in April and part of May, recording some more in June, touring festivals in the summer, finalising the album in September, touring America in the autumn and finishing the album for Apostles conclusively last winter.
The debut Apostle album soaked in a lot of the energy that Andrew brought back with him from Havana – where he went to visit his godmother. “I played dominos, and you know, drank,” he says, “hung out with old people and children. They wouldn’t want to film me for a tourist commercial, like ‘Come to Cuba and enjoy the beaches!’ No. It was more like ‘Come to Havana and line up for pizza!’ Or line up for booze, or the movie theatre!” Although, it wasn’t a music trip as such, Andrew found the natural sound of Havana in the streets of the old town. “I heard music being played, so I kinda followed it, and went in the building where they were playing it, and a guy who had given me lessons two weeks earlier was sitting there with his buddies. It was a total fluke. I went into people’s homes and I had a little walkman recorder, so there was spontaneous jam sessions that I was recording.” Spontaneity is surely the word of the day.
