Every Atlas - Sound In The Signals Interview
Your new album comes out March 08, 2015. What was the recording process like for the album and how long did you guys work on it?
Well, this album was kickstarted by some changes in the band and my personal life. In late 2012/early 2013 we went from 4 members down to just 2 members (myself and our drummer Manuel) fairly quickly. We had another album completely written and partially recorded already that we were forced to scrap. We started recording towards the end of 2013 and it took a little over a year to finish everything. It was a very expensive process, especially for just two people. So it was a lot of spaced out sessions over the course of a year.
You sent over an advance for me to check out and I really like the song "Dirty". The guitar riffs and drums in the intro of the song have this really interesting mood and vibe to them. Can you tell me about the song writing of the song in particular?
That was one of the first new songs written for this album. I had the chorus riff and vocals for a long time, but never had anything to pair it with that sounded good. Manuel and I were messing around- just jamming at practice one day- and that intro riff came out. I think it’s the heaviest song on the album. That song, starting with the line “I woke up…”- to me it almost felt like being born again. The lyrics themselves tackle a lot of different stuff, but I would say mainly doing bad and letting go.
The vocal work on this album is really well done. I'm a big fan of the vocals on "Bad Wolf". How long did you work on the vocal portion of the album and also what comes first on your songs the vocals or the music?
Thank you! The vocals are very important to me and this is the first album where my voice is the only voice. It’s hard to say how long vocals took since everything was so spaced out. It was a lot of recording a bunch, taking those songs home and combing through them, figuring out what could be done better. I consider myself a songwriter more than a guitar player and though I think my strength is lyricism, I’ve become more confident with my voice over the years. Almost always a melody will come first, usually parked with a lyric I like. I think a good melody and strong lyrics are the most important parts of a song.
You are currently streaming "Setting Sun" and "Fragile Bones" on your bandcamp. I know "Fragile Bones" was released as a single in 2013 and you guys re-recorded it for the album. Why did you decide on using it for the album?
It was actually going to be part of the album all along. We wanted to release a single after we started recording and we decided on “Fragile Bones”, so we made sure to finish that first. The new recording you’re hearing is actually just an updated version- it’s got a few extra guitar and vocal tracks on there. Just having that song for so long gave birth to some new ideas we felt made the song better, so when we went in to finish the album we added some extra flair to it.
You told me on twitter that Christopher Reiger did the artwork for the album. It's a pretty interesting concept. Who came up with the concept for the art and why did you decide to use it as your album artwork?
That was an image of his I found online a while ago and was very drawn to it. I like the simplicity of it. The number three is also pretty significant- it’s our third album being the main reason. But most of the album was also inspired by the end of a three year relationship. I almost feel like that third bird (or first bird, depending on how you look at it) throwing up all those other birds symbolizes an expulsion of negativity. And I think the birds themselves represent a sense of freedom, at least to me.
What's in store for you guys in 2015. Will you be out playing shows to support the new album?
We’ll be playing a lot of shows in March and April to support the album. We’d love to get outside of California and do some touring, but it’s hard for a small band from nowhere. We’re also hoping to have some surprises this year for people who care or are paying attention. Let’s just say I don’t think it’s gonna take another 5 years until you hear a new Every Atlas album. And honestly at this point, putting out albums and recording and creating is more interesting to me than playing some shitty bar to people who couldn’t care less about your songs and just want to watch the game or whatever.
I guess that about wraps it up. Thanks for taking the time to answer the questions. Do you have anything else you would like to add?
Thank you for taking the time and interest to interview me! We really appreciate the support. For all those reading this, you can hear more from us at everyatlasband.com and pre-order the new CD there (sorry, no vinyl yet). We also started a fake label to put out our stuff and other cool stuff called Safe & Clean Records, so check that out as well!
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