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[0:00] Robert Bannon: Are you ready? It's The Roundtable with me, Robert Bannon.

[0:30] Robert Bannon: Everybody from Little Wayne to festivals to tours, he has worked with all sorts of people, and he has this incredible new R&B, grown and sexy music that you need to have come out. He is Apollo Liberace, and he's here on the show. Thanks for being here.

[0:43] Apollo Liberace: Thank you for having me.

[0:45] Robert Bannon: You have a lot of people who love what you do. When I see the comments, when I see the follows, what's it feel like to have been working at this, I think since you're like 10 years old, 12 years old, to now have your music out in the world?

[1:01] Apollo Liberace: Yeah, it feels great. I think that's the most gratifying thing is being able to make something and put it out and see positive reactions. This is probably the greatest thing as a creator to experience. I've been doing this for a long time, but I don't take anything for granted. I feel like I still have a lot of work to do, but I definitely don't take anything for granted. I'm happy to still be doing what I do and what I love doing.

[1:34] Robert Bannon: I love it. And his new single, everyone, is called Smashing, and it's a top 40 US R&B radio smash. Pun intended. It's a smash. Tell me about the set. Your voice, you're way up in the heavens. Oh, way up there.

[1:50] Apollo Liberace: Okay, I hear you.

[1:53] Robert Bannon: With great instruments, great message, great sound. It's a whole groove and vibe that you've got going on. Tell me a bit about the song.

[2:02] Apollo Liberace: For sure. The single is called Smashing. It's out right now. Make sure you stream that. It's top 40 now on radio in the country, which is great. It's my first time seeing my name on a Billboard chart, which is crazy. Just getting started, hopefully. The single came about, I feel like it's the greatest production group in the world. It's producers called Fifty Hundred and Nothing, multi-Grammy award winning. We sat down and did the whole album. This was personally probably one of my favorite songs off the album, from production to every single thing about it. The studio, we recorded it, the whole album, and we recorded it in Paramount LA, which Michael Jackson recorded that. All of that is in the walls and you feel it in that space. It's a spiritual studio. Put all of that together and that's what you get with Smashing. Shout out to Rance, one of the greatest producers ever.

[3:07] Robert Bannon: You need to hear it. Look, when I moved from New York to Detroit, firstly, Detroit loves R&B music. Made soul music in many ways.

[3:16] Apollo Liberace: Of course.

[3:17] Robert Bannon: It's Sweetest Day. I don't know what that was, but I learned about it. It's the weekend where you're going to take your person out. It's like Valentine's Day for the fall. This is the soundtrack. You want to have a romantic night. You want to go home. You want to make sure your person is like, this is it. This is the song that you need. This is in the car. This is streaming in the car while you're on the way to dinner and on your way home. So for you, you grew up all over. You're a military brat.

[3:42] Apollo Liberace: Yeah, exactly.

[3:44] Robert Bannon: So you're American, Asia, Europe, all over the world. What is that like? How did that feed into your artistry?

[3:55] Apollo Liberace: It's something you don't really notice until people kind of bring it up. But growing up, you hate it as a kid. You hate changing schools every year. I never went to a school two years in a row for a while or three years in a row. So moving around, you finally get friends and you feel comfortable and they're like, all right, it's time to pack up. We're going to Japan or to Florida or D.C. or Maryland or Texas and to Korea. So as a kid, you know, it's rough, but you think it's rough, but it's a blessing in disguise because you get to see all of these different places and become cultured and meet these different people and create these beautiful stories that encapsulate you as a person. And then, you know, from fashion to art to the food you love, it's a blessing for sure. So I feel like that reflects in my music and my visuals. I even on the Smashing video, I have Japanese subtitles.

[5:06] Robert Bannon: The video is so good. You're a real visual artist. Your fashion is a certain look. Your style is a certain look. How important it's not just about the vocals and the production of the song. The visual element adds a whole other layer to what you do. And that's on purpose.

[5:25] Apollo Liberace: Yeah, for sure.

[5:27] Robert Bannon: 360. You want all the senses.

[5:30] Apollo Liberace: Love that. Thank you.

[5:33] Apollo Liberace: It's actually the first video I kind of, you know, I always, for all of my videos, I always do the creative, you know, the outline for all the videos, but this is the first one I actually pretty much directed the whole thing and rented the space out and came up with the concept and did everything from, you know, from being in editing to from start to finish. And, you know, some things didn't quite align how I wanted to, but I think I got the vision across for the most part, but it's something I want to step into further as far as creating visuals.

[6:09] Robert Bannon: How do you decide when you want to be an R&B soul singer and when you want to be a hip hop artist? Is it a vibe, a feeling, a moment, a day? When do you decide which is which?

[6:20] Apollo Liberace: It's probably boredom. I've made so much music since I was 10 years old, so I love rapping and I get in that bag and I do it so much. I'm like, I want to create something different, you know, and something I think is interesting. So I get an R&B bag and then I have all type of music, rock and, you know, indie folk and just anything I could create. So, you know, as an artist, you just like making things and feeling proud of yourself first before anybody else says anything. So I feel like that's another gratifying thing is making something and sitting back like, man, that's really good. You know, even if the world may never hear it, it's good to you, which means a lot, especially when you're hard on yourself.

[7:12] Robert Bannon: I get it. When I read about you, your bio, you know, music, your older sister, you were 10 years old. She was a recording artist by 12 years old. You already decided to reinvent yourself. You're already on to the next thing. You've constantly been evolving. You've been in groups. You're a solo act. You don't limit yourself to a genre or a certain box. The industry does that, though. So how do you combat that?

[7:37] Apollo Liberace: Sure. Well, I think that's what makes me who I am. That's Apollo Liberace. It's like I'm really an artist that, you know, not really put in a box. And, yes, of course, it's difficult because it's also a business and you have to present yourself as a product. So, you know, it's difficult.

[8:01] Robert Bannon: And that's who I am, and that's what Apollo Liberace is. I can't get over the name. The name's going to stick with me. You'll never forget the name, everybody, Apollo Liberace. When you were in a group, you signed with a big label, which is like a dream come true for people. But when I talk to people, it also is not always the dream that people think it is meant to be. There's a lot of rules and parameters. Has the business been different than you thought it was going to be? Has it been heartbreaking? Has it been a love fest? How do you sum up what it's like to be involved in what you've dreamed to be involved in?

[8:36] Apollo Liberace: Yeah, it's totally different. You have this idea in your head since you're a kid, and you finally get to it, and you realize what that side of the business really entails. And you're in these, just a lot of meetings and a lot of red tape. And it kind of sucks the whole creativity out of the whole, quote unquote, dream. So yeah, it's really eye-opening. But it's also great because I do love the business side of music. That's what I've always been interested in. So it's a love-hate relationship. And I feel like with anything in life, there's pros and cons, and nothing is ever perfect. But it was definitely a learning curve. And yeah, shout out Capitol Records. They were great. I was signed to a group.

They treated us great, no bad blood. We had a great business relationship, and we were able to part ways, and they were great about it. They didn't try to hold us hostage or anything. So I have no hate towards Capitol. And I'm also no hate towards signing to a major label with some pros and cons about it. You get their whole Rolodex and everything that comes with it, advances, et cetera. But it limits the freedom. So depending on who you are and the relationship you have with the artist, well, I signed to Capitol in 2018, so the business was a little different then anyway. Now I feel like the labels are starting to realize you have to move a little quicker. But back then, it was sort of like you have an idea, you have this music, you give them the music, you turn in the project, and then you have these meetings.

You pick a single and then the artwork, and then it's all of these things. So by the time you pick the single and the single is out, it could be four to six months. And as an artist, you've already recorded 30 more songs, so you've already moved on from then. So it takes away from the creativity and the direct-to-consumer appeal also. I think labels realize you have to get things out quicker now, so a lot of learning. If you write a song today, how fast can you get it out?

[10:54] Apollo Liberace: Right now? Yeah.

[10:57] Robert Bannon: Two, three days. Yeah, exactly. Crazy. It's crazy. So that is it. Kelly Price was here the other day, and Kelly Price was talking about budgets and how there used to be music video budgets and costume budgets and all of these things. I grew up in the 90s and 2000s, and that's a new world out here for musicians. It's a new fight.

[11:18] Apollo Liberace: Oh, for sure.

[11:22] Robert Bannon: So for you, the album, the full album, do we have a date? Do we know the date it's coming out yet?

[11:28] Apollo Liberace: Not really, but probably early next year.

[11:30] Robert Bannon: Okay. How do you describe the vibe? Is it more R&B? Is it hip-hop and R&B? What are we going to hear on it?

[11:40] Apollo Liberace: It's definitely way more R&B. I call it futuristic R&B because it's a futuristic funk element to it, kind of how you get in Smash. It's pretty much what the whole album sounds like. But yeah, there's rapping, storytelling. It's a mix of me, but I feel it's R&B influence, for sure. I wanted to have an album where it was funk and R&B combined with futuristic sounds.

[12:10] Robert Bannon: What is Absolute Cinema? Where did the name come from?

[12:15] Apollo Liberace: It's actually a meme. So when something is great, say on Twitter, people will put a meme with Martin Scorsese, and it says Absolute Cinema, and I love that. And I feel like it made sense. The whole thing is a movie, and this character, Apollo Liberace, you get to really see who he is, and I feel like this album is who he is. Yeah, everything's cinema. 10 out of 10.

[12:35] Robert Bannon: 10 out of 10. 10 out of 10. Absolute Cinema. 10 out of 10. I love that. That's hysterically funny. I love it. It's a joke within the joke, but the art speaks for itself. So he's giving you absolute 10 out of 10. Wait for the album. So what about on the road? Do you love live? I mean, you've performed in front of 30,000 people, 20,000 people. You've performed with incredible artists. What's Apollo Liberace live show like?

[13:03] Apollo Liberace: Oh, man. It's a lot of energy, a lot of different vibes, a lot of love. Hopefully, I connect with the people in the audience, and I always leave with something, so I hope they do as well. So it's an amazing thing. I don't think there's anything like being on stage. You can't really describe it. It's the biggest rush ever, especially when it's a huge crowd of people. It's indescribable.

[13:33] Robert Bannon: Is the plan, are we going on the road with this album? Hopefully, more dates next year?

[13:38] Apollo Liberace: For sure, for sure. We got more dates next year. I think I'm going to do Germany with a friend, my friend Tyler Yahweh at the top of next year, and yeah, a bunch of other shows, hopefully.

[13:51] Robert Bannon: All right. We got to be on the lookout. Let me tell you, this song is going, you know the greats, like the Princes and the Michaels and the, I don't know, the Anita's and—

[14:00] Apollo Liberace: Of course, of course.

[14:00] Robert Bannon: You know those songs, everybody? You know those songs that you play when you go, and everyone from your young kids to your grandma get on the dance floor, and they want to sing along? He wrote a song. This song is that.

[14:13] Apollo Liberace: Wow. That's amazing. Thank you.

[14:14] Robert Bannon: So when you're at your family's next event this fall, we'll put this on. Your grandma's going to give you a little two-step. Get on. Step to it.

[14:21] Apollo Liberace: She's going to be ready. Y'all going to be ready too. What I love about you, before I let you go, is that you're a real artist. When I listen to this, the way that your visuals are so clean and fresh, the way that you put out a vocal, the way that you make your, how you engineer a song and put it together, it's just unique. It's something. If you love music, and you don't think the musicians that musicians love, that's Apollo. That's some real music making right there. Get on it. Follow him on Instagram. Stream the album. Tell your radio stations around the country they should be playing it. Let's go. Let's take this up the charts.

[14:51] Apollo Liberace: Let's do it.

[14:51] Robert Bannon: Let's take this up the charts. When you come—

[14:57] Apollo Liberace: I need y'all. I need y'all more than ever. Please, tell a friend about it. Tell a family member. Play this song. Put it on repeat.

[15:05] Apollo Liberace: Put it. You know what I like? If you've got somebody, make a playlist. Share it with the person. Make them think, when you hear a new song, add it to the playlist. They put it on random, and then they think, oh, he thought of me. The first song you should put in there, send it right now. Go to where you stream. Send that song right now to somebody you care about and love. Let's go. Let's spread some love and music. When you come to Detroit, I'm going to be there. I can't clap and beat, but I'm going to be there.

[15:32] Apollo Liberace: Come on, man. Motor City, you got to.

[15:35] Robert Bannon: We're ready. I'm ready. Such a pleasure to meet you. Congratulations. We're fans. We'll be here.

[15:41] Apollo Liberace: For sure. It's the first of many conversations. Thank you very much for your time again.

[15:45] Apollo Liberace: Let's go. Much love. Thank you.