April Cover mines '80s

Alyssa Mitchell, Staff Columnist
Published On: 10/ 7/2008

Lead singer Kipp Williams of Birmingham band April Cover gives Kaleidoscope an exclusive interview before they take the stage Friday at WorkPlay.

“We are on the cusp of something new, and the Magic City has been a great place to start out,” Williams said.
April Cover formed three years ago as a cover band ‘not planned or formed,’ but put together on the fly.

“A guy asked me to do cover songs in April 2005 and made a CD selection named ‘April Covers.’ After that, we just came together,” Williams said.

The band realized they had good chemistry and didn’t want to come apart at the seams, so they took a trip to a local bookstore.

“We started reading about how to be in a band. It’s funny because we found out people are so vague about being in a band so we kinda figured it out on our own, and now we are on a good place,” Williams said.

That good place has taken a lot of work, but the band agrees it has paid off. April Cover went on tour of the Southeast after the spring release of their album “Don’t Close Your Eyes,” and also ventured across the pond.

“It has taken awhile to get here, but we campaigned all across the U.S. and sent our CD to local college and professional radio stations. It was fun playing in England. It was like an adventure, but for the most part we played in the Southeast,” he said.

Williams likens April Cover’s sound to an “edgy pop-rock,” but that doesn’t mean they traded quality music for catchy beats.

“We draw from rock, and it is edgy enough to be rock but founded in pop sensibility. We didn’t go the scream-o route that so many mainstream bands are going these days. At the same time, you have to really prove yourself to your audience so people will be drawn into your music,” he said.

Many of April Cover’s inspirations come from the music the bandmates listened to while growing up.

“We were born in the 1980s, so we couldn’t escape Phil Collins, U2, The Police, and all of those guys. Brit rock has always been a favorite of mine, but I always listened to what I wanted,” Williams said.

He attributes his love for listening to music as part of his influence for getting into bands.

“I learned to play the guitar as a teenager, and I wanted to be in a band. I had to figure out how to play on my own because I grew up in an isolated Georgia town and then we moved to Birmingham my senior year of high school,” Williams said.

Williams’ change of scenery opened the door to a series of defunct bands that ultimately led to the formation of April Cover.

“When I got here, I would bump into so many other people that wanted to do the same thing I wanted to do and we sort of just found each other and that was it,” Williams said.

Email: kscopephoto@yahoo.com