Apollo SteamTrain Announce New Album ‘Generation Overload’
Tauranga musician Brendan McCarthy aka Apollo SteamTrain has just announced his debut album ‘Generation Overload’ - out today, 22nd October, 2021.
The album is the culmination of a considerable 6-year project that has involved contributions from multiple local musicians and production from New Zealand and England, and reflects a lifetime musical and personal journey for Brendan.
“There are repeated underlying themes across the record of motivation and perseverance brought on from becoming a father so young in life”. says Brendon. “There are also tracks that reference individual modern issues, such as our short attention spans and reliance on smartphone use, the insane progression of the housing market in New Zealand beyond the reach of our children, and the fact that many of us have become idiots, watching idiots, on TV reality shows.”
Starting in 2014 as a solo activity, AST evolved into a band with Apollo SteamTrain playing live for a number of years. After suffering the usual pressures of keeping a group of musicians together, the band split in 2019. Brendan decided to return the project to its roots and continue as a solo artist.
Recording took place over several years at three different studios beginning with initial sessions at The Colourfield Studio in Tauranga with producer Tim Julian, before moving on to Neil Finn’s RoundHead Studios in Auckland where international producer Greg Haver produced two songs that were released as the singles ‘Brain Bell Jangler’ and ‘Superstition’. Finally, production moved back home to Brendan’s home studio in Papamoa where the last tracks were completed to finish the project.
“I started out writing songs using more of a singer-songwriter approach delivered with rock guitars and you can definitely hear the influence of the nineties rock sound on some tracks but as things evolved I diversified into ballads and pop rock that introduced more piano, synth and violin – so I guess the record is a journey in soundscape as well ”
‘Generation Overload’ is available for digital download or CD at apollosteamtrain.com plus streaming on all popular services.
Listen to and purchase ‘Generation Overload’ here.
