PopFest Preview: The Apples in Stereo

Within minutes of beginning a conversation, a fast-talking Robert Schneider manages to touch on subjects as wide-ranging as number theory, the dangers of talking on a cell phone while standing on the roof during a lightning storm, and the etymology of the word “piano.”

The exuberant frontman of The Apples in Stereo doesn’t hesitate to describe himself as a geek and says the term also applies to the other members of this long-lived pop group.

“Our band is pretty dorky in many ways,” Schneider says.

The Apples in Stereo let its dork flag fly especially high with the subject matter of its seventh studio album, “Travellers in Space and Time,” a title borrowed from a 1983 book by astronomer Patrick Moore.

“We were trying really hard to be sci-fi,” Schneider explains. “We have an interest thematically in space.”

The goal of the record, released in April, is to send “a pop music message through time” as a way to “reach out to the kids of the future,” he says.

In The Apples in Stereo’s vision of the future, people still are embroiled in love and loss.

“There are songs that sound like they’re sung by robots and songs about robots, but there are also songs without robots,” Schneider says.

The Kentucky-based singer feels confident the kids of the 2092 still will embrace fun-loving pop.

“I think it’s the only kind of music that morphs into the future,” he says.

Future humans might not be the only ones listening. Schneider is pretty sure life exists outside Earth. “It seems probable,” he says.

Apples in Stereo fans get a chance to join in the galactic fun by visiting the band’s website, where they can send an e-mail into space. This technology, which normally costs $4.95 per message, relies on antennas and rad

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