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User:Godsy/Apes of the State

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Apes of the State is an American Folk Punk band from Lancaster, PA. Their music explores themes relating to drug and alcohol recovery, social media, student debt, and interpersonal relationships.[1] "Their sound is very lyrical and melody driven, influenced by storyteller singer/songwriters such as Paul Baribeau and Everyone Except Me. Apes of the State takes the simplicity and straightforward, emotional writing style of these influences and combines it with the drive and power of a full acoustic band, made up of Dan Ebersole on the mandolin/guitar, Mollie Swartz on the violin, and April Hartman on the guitar/lead vocals" [2] The band has a strong DIY ethic They play in many small venues including house venues[3], and they founded Second Chance to Play, "[A] do-it-yourself non-profit that we started doing based on a lot of my experience and talking to other musicians that are in recovery from drugs and alcohol...A lot of people when they go through those kinds of experiences they end up pawning or getting rid, they just lose things they love. And music being one of those things, so we reach out to those people. We put guitars in rehab centers. We get them to individuals that reach out to us. Mostly through donation...With Second Chance to Play we try to reach out to people that might use music also as their avenue to see into themselves and be more introspective and figure out the reasons why in the first place they ended up where they were."[4]

Apes of the State
OriginLancaster, PA
GenresFolk Punk
Years active2014 -
MembersApril Hartman- guitar, vocals, Dan Ebersole- mandolin, Mollie Swartz-violin
Past membersColin Grandstaff- harmonica, vocals, Charlie Ballard- upright bass,
Websitehttps://apesofthestate.bandcamp.com
File:Apes of the State.jpg
April Hartman, Dan Ebersole, and Mollie Swartz

Discography[edit]

Album Art Title Year Label
File:All I did this summer was go to rehab cover.jpg
album art by Dave Mannion
All I did this summer was go to rehab[5] 2014 Self Produced
File:Things I Never Meant To Tell You.jpg
album art by Michelle Antisocial
Things I never meant to tell you[6] 2015 Self Produced
File:This City Isn't Big Enough.jpg
Artwork by Rachel Watson, photo by Mollie Swartz
This City Isn't Big Enough[7] 2016 FLUX = RAD
  1. ^ "Apes of the State". Philadelphia FolkSong Society. 2017.
  2. ^ "Apes of the State". apesofthestate.com. Retrieved 2018-06-05.
  3. ^ "2018 Tour". Bands in Town.
  4. ^ Ulrich, Joe (Sep 27, 2016 9:45 AM). "WITF Music: Apes of the State". witf. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  5. ^ "Bandcamp". Bandcamp.
  6. ^ "things I never meant to tell you". Bandcamp.
  7. ^ "This City Isn't Big Enough". Bandcamp.