Apostle of Hustle

Lore & Background

Apostle of Hustle was formed after Andrew Whiteman returned to Toronto from a two-month stay in Cuba, where he learned to play the tres, a Cuban guitar. Wanting to create music inspired by that experience, he recruited Julian Brown and Dean Stone. The band played Brazilian and Cuban folk songs, as well as covers of Tom Waits, PJ Harvey, and Marc Ribot.

Their debut album, Folkloric Feel, was released on Arts & Crafts in late summer 2004, featuring guest appearances by Kevin Drew, Amy Millan, Brendan Canning, Evan Cranley, and Feist. A split 7-inch single with Supergrass, titled Devil in the Woods, followed. In 2007, the band released their second album, National Anthem of Nowhere, with Cranley again performing, joined by Liam O'Neil and Lisa Lobsinger.

In 2009, the band announced a Southern Ontario tour to promote their new album and conducted a talent search for opening acts, but instead went on a North American tour with Gogol Bordello. Their album Eats Darkness was released on May 19, 2009. Apostle of Hustle was featured as the X3 Artist of the month by Aux.tv and CBC Radio 3 for June 2009. In 2011, an Apostle of Hustle poster appeared in the seventh episode of the U.S. television series Skins.

Reader's Guide

Apostle of Hustle occupies a niche in Canadian indie rock as a side project that explicitly incorporated Cuban and Brazilian folk music into its sound, a direct result of Andrew Whiteman's immersion in Cuban music. While the band never achieved mainstream commercial success, its three albums—Folkloric Feel, National Anthem of Nowhere, and Eats Darkness—were released on the influential Arts & Crafts label, home to Broken Social Scene and other key Canadian indie acts. The group's significance lies partly in its cross-pollination of genres and its role as a creative outlet for Whiteman outside of Broken Social Scene. The band's collaborations, including a joint EP with Tanya Tagaq and a tour with Gogol Bordello, highlight its eclectic connections. Though the band appears to have been inactive after 2011, its music remains a footnote in the broader story of Canadian indie rock's diversity and the side projects that enriched the scene.

Did You Know?

• Andrew Whiteman learned to play the Cuban guitar tres during a two-month stay in Cuba before forming Apostle of Hustle.
• The band's debut album Folkloric Feel featured guest appearances by Feist, Kevin Drew, and Amy Millan.
• In 2007, Apostle of Hustle and Tanya Tagaq recorded a 3-track EP on CBC Radio's Fuse.
• An Apostle of Hustle poster appeared in the seventh episode of the U.S. television series Skins in 2011.

Origins & Musical Identity

Apostle of Hustle emerged in 2001 as a creative side project spearheaded by Andrew Whiteman, a Toronto-based musician already embedded in several other acts, including Bourbon Tabernacle Choir, Que Vida, and the indie supergroup Broken Social Scene, where he serves as lead guitarist. The band's sonic identity was shaped by a formative two-month sojourn to Cuba, during which Whiteman taught himself to play the Cuban guitar tres. Upon returning to Toronto, he channeled that Caribbean inspiration into a new musical direction, enlisting Julian Brown and Dean Stone to form the trio. Rather than pursuing a conventional indie rock sound, the group built its repertoire around Brazilian and Cuban folk traditions, while also performing covers of artists as diverse as Tom Waits, PJ Harvey, and Marc Ribot. This blend of Latin folk roots with an eclectic covering sensibility gave Apostle of Hustle a distinctly world-influenced character within the Canadian indie scene, setting it apart from Whiteman's other projects.

Discography & Collaborative Spirit

Apostle of Hustle's recorded output, spanning three studio albums and several EPs, reveals a band that thrived on collaboration. Their debut, Folkloric Feel, arrived in late summer 2004 on the Arts & Crafts label and featured a remarkable roster of guest musicians, including Kevin Drew, Amy Millan, Brendan Canning, Evan Cranley, and Feist. The following year brought the three-track EP Devil in the Woods, a joint effort with Supergrass and Ikara Colt. In 2007, the band delivered National Anthem of Nowhere, again enriched by outside contributors such as Cranley, Liam O'Neil, and Lisa Lobsinger. That same year saw a burst of EP releases: a three-track set offering three distinct versions of the song "My Sword Hand's Anger," a live three-track session recorded with Inuit throat-singer Tanya Tagaq for CBC Radio's Fuse program, and the six-track EP U King in December. The cycle closed with Eats Darkness, released on May 19, 2009, completing a discography that consistently blended the band's core folk-rock identity with an open, collaborative ethos.

Live Performances & Touring

The live dimension of Apostle of Hustle's career was marked by both ambitious plans and unexpected detours. In 2007, the band's touring activity was closely tied to their prolific EP output, and Tanya Tagaq, who had recorded the CBC Fuse session with them, joined the group for a tour that year. By 2009, the band had announced a dedicated Southern Ontario tour to support their upcoming album, Eats Darkness, and even launched a public talent search to identify opening acts for the dates. However, that self-organized run never materialized. Instead, the opportunity arose to join Gogol Bordello on a North American tour, and the band seized it, effectively replacing their planned regional dates with a much larger cross-border circuit. This substitution highlighted the band's willingness to prioritize high-profile collaborative touring over a smaller, locally focused run. The decision also underscored the fluid, project-based nature of Whiteman's musical life, where touring commitments shifted according to opportunity rather than a fixed schedule.

Cultural Footprint & Media Presence

Although Apostle of Hustle operated primarily within the Canadian indie circuit, the group managed to leave traces in broader media spaces. In June 2009, the band was spotlighted as the X3 Artist of the Month by both Aux.tv and CBC Radio 3, a dual-platform feature that amplified their visibility across video and audio channels simultaneously. Their visual output included two music videos: "National Anthem of Nowhere," directed by Jeffrey St. Jules and Adrienne Amato in 2007, and "Cheap Like Sebastien," released in October of that same year. Perhaps most unexpectedly, the band's name crossed into American pop culture when an Apostle of Hustle poster appeared on screen during the seventh episode of the U.S. television series Skins in 2011. These scattered but notable media appearances—spanning Canadian public broadcasting, independent video, and a U.S. teen drama—painted a picture of a group whose cultural footprint, while modest in scale, stretched well beyond the typical indie rock audience, embedding their name in diverse visual and auditory contexts.