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 The Apex Theroy’s Sam Watson.
He’s not here because he wanted to be there.
It’s 2000, and I am taking the Ferry over to Seattle’s Crocodile Café to meet up with a Chicago band that I was working with at the time, Stabbing Westward. Being pretty excited to meet up with a band that played with the Sex Pistols and who many credit with the rise of industrial as much as Nine Inch Nails should be enough to get stoked about, but what filled my thoughts more on the ride over had a much more “local” connection. The Apex Theory was the band opening the show, and the drummer was Chimacum high school grad Sammy Watson.
I was excited that a local rock musician was playing with a national band, signed to Dreamworks, and was looking forward to meeting him. Fast forward to soundcheck and I stumble into the venue to see The Apex Theory onstage. I look on stage to find that Sammy’s drum kit is set up “sideways” so you can see what happens behind the drum set. A sure sign that the drummer is killer or that the headliner doesn’t want to remove his kit for the opener. In this case it was both. After the check, I meet Sam briefly, but what told me a lot about him had already happened. Just as I walked in, the band was having a LOUD discussion about something trivial with the now replaced lead singer being the center of the “bad vibes”. While the 3 other band members basically went at it, coming just short of fisticuffs, there sat Sam, composed, focused, and ready to play. Word all along that tour was that Apex Theory rocked, but that the drummer was amazing,. Sometimes before a musician even plays, you get a VIBE that tells you they are great. Sam gave me that feeling. The show happens, and my instincts are correct. Sam is indeed an amazing drummer. The band is now a 3 piece, Sam is an instructor at the Musicians Institute of Technology in LA when not in the studio or on the road, and the band is gearing up for another tour of North America
 So how does one go from local high school grad to touring the world for 2 years on the “mans” dime? Sammy J. Watson, who is not of Armenian background, while the other band members are, grew up in Chimacum, and hooked up with Khachaturian, Karamian, and Hakopyan after the Apex Theory failed to find a committed, determined drummer for the band. After one audition, Watson made the Apex Theory official in 1999, allowing the band to build a name around their infectious live shows in and around West Hollywood. They self-released the Extendemo EP in 2000 while major-label representatives chomped at the bit to sign the band. The Apex Theory wasn't exactly concerned with making it with a major label; they just wanted to play live. DreamWorks won them over, however, and the Apex Theory landed a deal in early 2001 and producer Don Gilmore (Linkin Park, Pearl Jam, Sugar Ray) signed on for their first proper EP, a self-titled effort issued later that year. A main-stage gig with Vans' Warped Tour established the Apex Theory's name among the ever-changing alt-metal/post-grunge reign, for their "heavy Mediterranean groove," a phrase coined by the band describing their music, was catching on. Debut single "Shhh...(Hope Diggy)" pushed them to co-headline the 2002 MTV2 tour with Andrew W.K., Pressure 4-5, and Lost prophets. In April of that year, the Apex Theory's first studio full-length album Topsy Turvy was released. They headed out on the road with 2002's Ozzfest tour in support of the record.
Shortly after that, the band parted ways with the singer and has since recorded an EP as a 3 piece, and is in the process of playing some LA shows and preparing for a potential tour. As for advice Sam has for the local crop of musicians wanting a bigger stage? “I think that while you can get good at what you do, and make your own opportunities in a place like Port Townsend, you really have to move to a place that has a lot of stuff going on and challenges you”. With a career that involves education, rock, and touring the world, Sam has proven that you can build a bigger stage for yourself, no matter where you come from.
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