Golden Apples’ Russell Edling Talks New Album, Collaboration, and Community (8/7 at PhilaMOCA and 10/17 at UA)

“With this record, I was like, ‘I’m gonna make this song and I’m gonna see who’s around to help out,’” says Golden Apples’ Russell Edling of Shooting Star, the...

“With this record, I was like, ‘I’m gonna make this song and I’m gonna see who’s around to help out,’” says Golden Apples’ Russell Edling of Shooting Star, the Philadelphia indie rockers’ fourth full-length, which drops September 19th on their longtime home, Lame-O Records.  The album was recorded across various locations and with various collaborators, which were eventually made whole with the help of mix engineer and longtime collaborator Matthew Schimelfenig, also known for his work with local phavorites Slaughter Beach, Dog; Gladie; and Anika Pyle.  “I think, in a lot of ways, it is more collaborative.  I’m the primary songwriter, and I’ve changed the way I worked with the band over the years… but for this one, the general personnel is wider,” Edling explains to me during a recent phone chat.

With the LP’s June announcement, Edling proclaimed Shooting Star to be a collection of “songs about writing songs,” a concept akin to many cinematic superlatives (especially noteworthy in Sight & Sound’s definitive rankings), so I’m curious if he has any favorite albums about making music, and after a moment of pondering, he mentions the final release of an often forgotten aughts indie outfit: “The first thing that comes to me is from The Narrator, this band from Chicago, and they played in my town when I was 18, and they had this album All That To The Wall…  Right after that record came out, they broke up, and they talked about how as they were making the record, they realized the record was about making music and being in a band and being exhausted by it.”  Edling admits that he was equally intrigued and bummed out to learn this of a band he’d gotten to know in his teen years.

It was around that time that Russell relocated to the City of Brotherly Love and Sisterly Affection to attend Temple University’s Tyler School of Art (which he’s a big fan of): “I moved here for college in 2008, and I love it.  It’s such a vibrant music community, but it’s small enough that bands are sharing members and people are getting to work together and collaborate.”  And I find out that Edling’s collaborations with Lame-O Records and founder Eric Osman – founded in 2012 with the intention of releasing Modern Baseball’s debut LP, Sports, as a one-off – run deeper than simply putting out all of Golden Apples’ music dating back to 2016 debut EP Gloom: “He used to play drums in the band.  We developed a friendship from just being in bands and playing in the city.”  Edling tells me he found inspiration in the fact that Osman was interested in putting out a collection of songs that he debated even releasing.  Russell has even become part of the Lame-O team: “I do a lot of design for the label.”

Last week, Golden Apples released “Mind,” the second single from Shooting Star (following “Noonday Demon”) – a track which Stereogum praised for incorporating a psychedelic, garage-rock revival aesthetic into the band’s traditionally-characterized-as shoegaze sounds – and announced a September West Coast run with Wicca Phase Springs Eternal, the solo output of former Tigers Jaw member Adam Mcllwee, another old friend.  And Russell tells me he’s exceptionally excited for the jaunt with his longtime buddy: “We haven’t played anywhere further West than Ohio…  Actually, we used to be called Cherry, and we did a West Coast tour, but I don’t know if that really counts…  Our drummer, Melissa, has never been out West.”

However, Golden Apples have two big upcoming local appearances, including this Thursday (8/7), when they’ll be supporting Finom (pheaturing our phriend Macie Stewart) at PhilaMOCA, a space that has come to play a significant role in Russell Edling’s musical career: “I used to be in Kite Party, and we had two of our record release shows at PhilaMOCA, and it’s always felt like a cool homebase spot.”  Edling tells me that fans at that show will hear a sampling of Shooting Star, but says that those at Golden Apples’ next hometown show can expect to hear a lot of the album.  On October 17th the band will be playing a sold-out show as part of Philly Music Fest supporting The Wonder Years (alongside Dryjacket and Public Works) at Underground Arts, a venue Russell has an especially amusing memory of: “I was in the pit one time — which is really out of character for me – for Hot Snakes, and somehow, in that moment, I got hit by a wayward limb…  I don’t think that’s gonna happen at this show, though [laughs].”

In addition to Golden Apples, Russell Edling has been putting in time with Fishtown’s brand-new (as of March) art shop, Freehand Art Supply, on Girard.  “The shop was started by my friend Kim Quinn.  We used to work together at a design studio in Fishtown,” Edling tells me of his connection to the shop and Quinn, who had long wanted to open an art supply store and was finally at a point in her career that enabled her to do so.  “She asked me if I wanted to help with the branding, but then it just went from there.  I mostly work on the visual side of things, and sometimes I’m in the store,” explains Edling, who says he’s just happy to be able to help give fellow Fishtown artists something they’ve long needed: “Going to Tyler and being an artist, I got sick of riding my bike down to Dick Blick all the time…  It’s really cool to be able to give back to the neighborhood and the community.”

*Get your tickets to 8/7 at PhilaMOCA here.

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During the day Izzy Cihak teaches transgression, subversion, and revolution at Temple and Drexel. At night he haunts Philthy's best venues to cover worthwhile acts for PHILTHY MAG. Morrissey is everything to him and, in their own heads, all of his friends see themselves as Zooey Deschanel.

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