Far from apathetic

Apathy Syndrome has been busy of late. After being one of the local bands tabbed to play this year’s Lazerfest at Seven Flags Event Center, the band hit the road for a mini tour and is gearing up for even more road time before hitting the studio later in the fall.

Apathy Syndrome plays an all-ages show at Wooly’s on Saturday, June 13 at 6:30 p.m.
Tickets are $5 in advance, $8 at the door.

“Yeah, we’re going to go into the studio in September,” drummer Zach Jones confirmed. “We just got back from a mini tour to Kansas; now we’re getting ready to go to Chicago and Detroit.”

But first there is home. The band has a show at Wooly’s this week, and it serves as a change of pace for the group, as it will be headlining, rather than opening for a larger act playing their way through to Chicago or Omaha. This means the focus is squarely on Des Moines music and in a setting that is hopefully more accessible.

“A lot of our shows here in Des Moines are opening for touring bands, which draws the cost of a ticket up,” Jones said. “So we wanted to do our own headlining show, so our fans can come see us without spending as much money.”

“Headlining our own show, we kind of see it as being all about the local music instead of just being a warm-up for the national act,” added bassist Tim Sigler. “It’s a completely different mindset.”

Headlining shows have been rare for the act, which has opened for the likes of Mushroomhead, Taproot, Head (PE) and Saliva. But being able to be part of so many high-profile gigs has helped the band cultivate a steadily growing fan base. However, there is one performance that the band says has helped more than any of the others.

“We played Lazerfest in May, and that really helped,” Jones said. “When we played in Algona, we had fans who saw us at Lazerfest come out to see us play. When we played in Kansas, we had fans who saw us at Lazerfest come out to see us play.”

And this weekend, fans can simply head to the East Village to see them play — and for a lot less money. CV

Apathy Syndrome plays an all-ages show at Wooly’s on Saturday, June 13 at 6:30 p.m. Tickets are $5 in advance, $8 at the door. Photo by Nicole Ervin