Apollo Landing
APOLLO LANDING was a Boston-based, feminist indie-rock band that formed in 1990 when Tufts University friends Jenny Kuhla (singer), Ken Michaels (bass), and Doug Adams (guitar) met Zeb Volpe (drums), and Tony Stiker (guitar & background vocals). The quintet played house parties and Boston clubs and recorded a demo with Eric Masanuga (of the Dambuilders) at the White Room, eventually catching the attention of Rhino Records exec Jim Neill, who then managed the band and landed them a New Year’s Eve gig on the precipice of 1991 at Fort Apache Studio in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Fort Apache co-owner Gary Smith took to the band, offering to record a demo and shop them, successfully signing the band to British label Go! Discs within the year. In early 1993, Apollo Landing recorded an album's worth of original material at Fort Apache, Dreamland Recording Studios in Woodstock, New York, and Long View Farm Studios in North Brookfield, Massachusetts. Gary Smith produced, with Paul Kolderie and engineer Carl Plaster. Although the album was never released, an eponymous EP featuring the single “Trouble” was released in the UK in the fall of 1991, but the clean, syncopated production of their songs were anachronistic in a grunge landscape that bloomed with the release of Nirvana’s Nevermind album, and the band parted with Go! Discs soon after.
By 1992, the band had also parted ways with drummer Volpe and original manager Neill. The band continued to play Boston-area clubs like the Middle East, TT the Bears, Bunratty's, The Rat, The Paradise, The Channel, and Axis. They also toured, supported, or played with fellow Boston groups Belly, Juliana Hatfield, the Throwing Muses, The Dambuilders, Helium, the Sunspots, Tacklebox, Fuzzy, Incinerator, the Flying Nuns, and Buffalo Tom. At Fort Apache, they recorded three more songs with Smith. Later in the year, Paul Kolderie and Sean Slade produced a six-song session for the band with drummer Shawn Devlin from Dumptruck, Helium, and Tacklebox. Those sessions culminated in a 7-inch vinyl double-sided self-released single: “Marianne”/”Kleptomania.”
When bassist and co-founder Ken Michaels left Apollo to focus on a career in video production, the band had one act left. Theresa Kelliher joined, playing bass for a series of shows opening for touring bands like the Beautiful South, 10,000 Maniacs, and the Violent Femmes. Local drummer Steven Albert replaced Devlin. The band recorded one more batch of songs with Tim O’Heir at Fort Apache. The group disbanded after a Halloween show at the Harvard School of Design in 1993.
In retrospect, Apollo Landing recorded some great songs and played a part in the development of the Middle East as the premier indie-rock establishment of the era, as well as the ascension of Fort Apache Studio. The band’s second manager, Gary Smith, had helped discover the Pixies and the Throwing Muses, but for whatever reason, this band didn’t find that level of musical success.
After Apollo Landing, singer Kuhla became an esteemed photography professor at Savannah College of Art and Design; bassist Michaels went on to found a media production company called Zomo, Inc. in Boston. Guitarist Stiker became a licensed psychotherapist in New York City, and Adams, an elementary public school teacher in Massachusetts. Several of them have continued to write and record music, much of which can be found online.
By 1992, the band had also parted ways with drummer Volpe and original manager Neill. The band continued to play Boston-area clubs like the Middle East, TT the Bears, Bunratty's, The Rat, The Paradise, The Channel, and Axis. They also toured, supported, or played with fellow Boston groups Belly, Juliana Hatfield, the Throwing Muses, The Dambuilders, Helium, the Sunspots, Tacklebox, Fuzzy, Incinerator, the Flying Nuns, and Buffalo Tom. At Fort Apache, they recorded three more songs with Smith. Later in the year, Paul Kolderie and Sean Slade produced a six-song session for the band with drummer Shawn Devlin from Dumptruck, Helium, and Tacklebox. Those sessions culminated in a 7-inch vinyl double-sided self-released single: “Marianne”/”Kleptomania.”
When bassist and co-founder Ken Michaels left Apollo to focus on a career in video production, the band had one act left. Theresa Kelliher joined, playing bass for a series of shows opening for touring bands like the Beautiful South, 10,000 Maniacs, and the Violent Femmes. Local drummer Steven Albert replaced Devlin. The band recorded one more batch of songs with Tim O’Heir at Fort Apache. The group disbanded after a Halloween show at the Harvard School of Design in 1993.
In retrospect, Apollo Landing recorded some great songs and played a part in the development of the Middle East as the premier indie-rock establishment of the era, as well as the ascension of Fort Apache Studio. The band’s second manager, Gary Smith, had helped discover the Pixies and the Throwing Muses, but for whatever reason, this band didn’t find that level of musical success.
After Apollo Landing, singer Kuhla became an esteemed photography professor at Savannah College of Art and Design; bassist Michaels went on to found a media production company called Zomo, Inc. in Boston. Guitarist Stiker became a licensed psychotherapist in New York City, and Adams, an elementary public school teacher in Massachusetts. Several of them have continued to write and record music, much of which can be found online.
1991 - Boston- Based Apollo Landing's first (very low budget) video.