Erik Appelwik was not on time for his interview. Nor was he late. I sat at the Purple Onion for almost an hour before I found what had happened to the plans we made the day before. As 20 minutes and then 45 minutes passed, I began to wonder if he had gotten held up, if he had forgotten, or if I was being blown off. Finally my phone rang. “Jenny? I am soooo sorry. I totally forgot.” Figures. Erik was mid-move and at the top of a slew of repair people coming that day. He also had no indoor plumbing and was thus, at the laundromat. But once we managed to coordinate, he and I had a lovely conversation.

Appelwik is a current member The Hopefuls (formerly the Olympic Hopefuls) and Vicious Vicious. Both bands are comprised of other multitalented musicians, most of who are involved in a variety of other bands as well.

Vicious Vicious can be described as a sort of funk-soul sound put into the context of current music. They use lounge beats (think Beck) and classic melody lines to attract listeners and keep them interested. Songs like “Serious Thing” and “Here Come Tha Police” are approachable but innovative, with clever lyrics.

The Hopefuls, on the other hand, take an aggressive and straight forward approach to pop rock. Their sound is full and pleasant, but still with some edge. Songs like “Whisper” and “Imaginary” deal lyrically with weird relationships over sometimes melancholy but overall friendly melodies, which help the songs to not be awkward.

In both projects, smart lyrics and tight arrangements characterize their delightful likeability.

Appelwik is also producing for a few younger bands, including Tapes N Tapes, and Coach Said Not To. For someone so versatile, it’s no surprise that Appelwik got involved in production. “I was carving out musical ideas, going outside of my jurisdiction as a musician and helping make musical moments.”

Based on lack of need, Appelwik has never actually gone on a national tour. Both bands are looking forward to tours in the near future, and I speculated as to how their notoriety in other projects might effect the turn out for the shows. The Hopefuls share members with N.E.R.D and Kid Dakota, and Vicious Vicious shares members with The Beatifics and Dosh, to name only a few. Of this Appelwik noted, “Who knows what people are expecting. Who knows if anyone is anticipating us or not?” He seems to have a no-fear attitude, surprising considering Vicious Vicious isn’t actually signed to a label.

I didn’t understand why that was, so I just came right out and asked “Are you avoiding a record contract?” As it turns out, yes. Apparently, the label that is home to The Hopefuls (2024) had discussed a deal for Vicious Vicious but wavered because according to Appelwik they thought he had a “fishy track history.” Since then, they’ve reconsidered “And then by the time they got around to ‘OK, we’ll take a big chance on you,’ I was like, ‘Take a big chance? Give me a break,’ … It’s definitely worked to my advantage.”

Beyond the reasons for that label, Appelwik commented that “It’s essentially a very high interest loan. And you’re compromising your right to the material … So I’ve just forged out some other avenues for the time being. If a label throws something on the label that I can’t not take, that’s one thing. It’s not like I need a label to make a living.”

Now that their music has been heard on TV shows, Laguna Beach and The O.C., The Hopefuls have found themselves with a small California fan base. Though many fans may be critical of this form of popularization, for fear their beloved underground secrets will become mainstream, Appelwik wants nothing of their pretension. “Music should never be something that’s privately owned by a person,” he said. “It shouldn’t be like, ‘Whatever, they were on The Price is Right… they’re not good anymore.”

In that respect, a lot of bands have been getting heat lately for making small amounts of extra money here and there. A few people did Gap commercials, there was an M&M incident, and suddenly favorite bands are being branded as sellouts. “People that were pissed off about that … Those people can kiss my ass. There’s all these people that talk shit about them because they do a commercial to make a living and feed their kids and stuff.”

Our conversation ended with an apology from him for flaking out, which I think was just masked regret that he wasn’t able to meet the fascinating person on the other end of the phone. Next time, Erik. Next time.