CREDIT: EMERSON PALMER
APK Live closed its doors on October 17.

I write about random things a lot. I write a lot about random things. I usually try not to speak from too personal a point of view, I'm not sure if you've noticed. It began in a place of objectiveness, but as I had a chance to grow with this column I realized that the best (and hardest) part of my role is to tell the stories as plainly as possible.

Music sounds different to every single person on Earth. It's a weird thought to offer opinions on music when the context of your surroundings, your mood and experiences can drastically change the way you perceive what you're hearing. So, instead of offering my opinions on music I try to offer artists and musicians a chance to share their story... something I learned with the help of places like APK Live.

The APK was only in their location at 340 Wellington St. for a relatively short time but managed to have a big impact on the local music scene. Their renaissance could hardly have been bettertimed; so many great venues had been lost in the couple of years leading up to its opening, and the APK Live team — and Half A Dino, more recently — always displayed such a passion and energy for the music they offered that it was a place one could feel good about recommending to artists looking for a new audience here in the city.

A lot of bands played their first gig there. A lot of people saw their first concert there too; in two years that corner at Wellington and York came to be an important pillar in the community, one that welcomed students from Fanshawe and Western as readily and happily as the bands that came to entertain them.

On October 17 the APK closed its doors for an indeterminate amount of time; financial costs involved with maintaining the building came to be too much of a burden, and sadly the management and property owners weren't able to come to terms. While the APK team has been looking into other alternatives, it isn't possible to say quite when this member of the London music family will return.

There's comfort to be found in the Alex P. Keaton legacy, of course. That the torch was already once passed and carried is a relieving thought, one that suggests a possible return for the club at a new location in the future. And if the past has been any indication of what is to come, the new incarnation of the APK will be loud and strong and better than ever.

It's funny how a venue can grow into something so much bigger than itself that its absence can't remove the effect it had on the community. So long, APK — from everyone here at Interrobang, thank you for your support of the music community in London and for all the wonderful art you brought into the city. Come back soon. I'm out of words.