Picking up a guitar in college and thinking you can start a band sounds easy enough right? Try making that a profitable venture, add in school, a job, bills, parents, and the threat of crashing and burning and wasting a whole lot of time and money. Now you’ve got yourself a recipe for disaster. Jacksonville’s own alt-indie rock group, The Dog Apollo, decided to grab the bull by the horns and to say the least, the band has done pretty damn well for themselves so far. Chad Villarroel and Chris Rudasiol, who have known each other since their middle school band class, said they had been in several bands throughout high school but never took anything too seriously until they got into college.
“I went to school up here at UNF in 2010 and Chris was still back in Orlando,” Chad said. “When he came up, we knew that we wanted to do something more serious.”
After gathering a few more members, including current guitarist and vocalist Chris who graduated a year later and moved to Jacksonville, the group decided to begin performing at venues across the city. Daniel Mauger, who was high school friends with Chad, was already up in Jacksonville at the time and joined the band, forming The Dog Apollo. Kenon Seymour was the last member to join the band and was introduced through a mutual friend.
“We met at Chik-fil-a and the stars kind of aligned,” said Chad. “We met Kenon and we all really hit it off.”
With all the pieces in place, The Dog Apollo began their rapid rise to success.
Since forming in February of 2012, the band has played shows all over the city in places such as Jackrabbits, Freebird Live and 1904 Music Hall. The Dog Apollo’s current roster is comprised of Daniel Mauger on rhythm and lead guitar, Chad Villarroel bassist and backup vocalist, Kenon Seymour the bands drummer, and Chris Rudasiol the lead vocalist and guitarist. The band has done well for themselves in their brief time together, and has performed at huge events in Jacksonville such as The Big Ticket, where they played the same stage as Anberlin, The Joy Formidable and 21 Pilots. When asked about their favorite venue in town, The Dog Apollo unanimously agreed upon Jack Rabbits almost instantly. At Jack Rabbits, the band has frequently played alongside big names such as Capital Cities and Churchill. The group said that it’s their preferred venue because they love the atmosphere and the staff genuinely wants to see the band succeed.
“When we played our first show there, I think that’s when we really started to be a real band,” Chad said. “We felt like a part of the fabric of Jacksonville’s music scene. I think that’s why it holds a special place with us.”
“We’re just doing really bad interpretations of people we look up to you know,” Chris said with a laugh. “We take it all and make it our own.”
The Dog Apollo is always looking to continue expanding their fan base, and with so many performances racking up at several of Duval’s most popular venues, the group said they are ready to branch out and begin playing all over the state. Recently in Orlando, The Dog Apollo opened up for British-indie rock group Bloc Party, which was the band’s biggest show to date. The group said they performed exclusively alongside Bloc Party in front of over 1000 people during their set. The Dog Apollo said their sound is difficult to pin down due to the diversity of its member’s backgrounds, but they are often compared to bands from a wide array of sounds such as Cold Play and Interpol. Chris said some of their influences sound nothing like them, but the group takes pieces from all of the bands they listen to, and mix them into their own unique sound.
Watching a rock band perform on stage while their fans lose themselves to the music around them is an experience everyone should try at least once, and with such an expansive sound, a Dog Apollo show will be sure to deliver such an experience. Chad said that a lot of their group’s success comes from knowing what people want from a live show.
“They want to have an experience where they can connect with people and even themselves. Music is more powerful than just about anything else.” Kenon agreed, adding in that creating such a powerful experience for their audience is what The Dog Apollo is all about. “To see them react to what we’ve created and watch how it affects them, that’s really cool.”
The Dog Apollo will be performing in both Orlando and Jacksonville this summer at several places. Orlando venues include The Social, one of Orlando’s top indie music venues. The band’s most recent EP titled, “Piriah” was released on their bandcamp page at thedogapollo.bandcamp.com on April 6, 2013 and is available for free. More info on The Dog Apollo, as well as upcoming show dates can be found on the group’s Facebook page.
Just like the band’s Facebook reads, “Whether we’re playing for 1 person or 1000 people, we’ll give you a show you will never forget,” a Dog Apollo show is a high-energy performance that is sure to deliver a memorable performance no matter where you see them.
