Ape School is the moniker of
Michael Johnson, a multi-instrumentalist studio wiz based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, who was previously a member of the indie rock bands
Holopaw and
Lilys. He made his debut as
Ape School in 2009 in association with Ninja Tune. Born in Miami, Florida,
Johnson moved to the Florida panhandle as a child and spent his teenage years in Gainesville. While living there, he was a member of the band
Holopaw, whose frontman,
John Orth, had collaborated with
Modest Mouse frontman
Isaac Brock in the band
Ugly Casanova. Thanks in part to
Orth's affiliation with
Brock,
Holopaw was signed to a recording contract with Sub Pop, the label that had released the
Ugly Casanova album
Sharpen Your Teeth (2002), in addition to early singles by
Modest Mouse.
Holopaw released two albums on Sub Pop,
Holopaw (2003) and
Quit +/or Fight (2005), both of which feature
Johnson as a multi-instrumentalist.
Apart from
Holopaw,
Johnson released a solo album, Nonsense Goes Mudslide (2004), on the Must!Delicious Recordings label. Meanwhile, he moved to Philadelphia, where he began collaborating with local indie rock artists including
Kurt Vile and
Kurt Heasley. Most notably, he joined
Heasley's band
Lilys for the recording of their album
Everything Wrong Is Imaginary (2006) and its supporting tour. He collaborated next with
Daedelus on the album
Love to Make Music To (2008). Thanks in part to
Daedelus' affiliation with Ninja Tune, the label that had released
Love to Make Music To,
Johnson was signed to a recording contract with Counter Records, a newly established subsidiary of the label.
Adopting the
Ape School moniker,
Johnson proceeded to release
Ape School (2009), a psychedelic indie electronica album created chiefly with an old Moog dating back to 1965 (reportedly the fourth Moog modular synthesizer
Robert Moog ever made). In 2012,
Johnson, working with drummer Eric Slick and a host of guests, returned with the second
Ape School release, Junior Violence on Hometapes.
–
Jason Birchmeier, Rovi