The future of Gravity
Now
that our official poll has come to close, and as we
tally the votes, I thought it would nice to talk to the band that won
our
informal readers poll a few weeks ago. It was that poll through the
comment
sections that won the Atomica
Project a spot on the official poll and the hold
on the top banner. Complicated, true, but definitely fun. So, I got in
touch
with Wade Alin of The Atomica Project, and asked him about the bands
2008
release, Grayscale, and their future.
The Deli: Released
just over six months ago, how are you
feeling about the current state of Grayscale?
WA:
We're very happy with the how the record
came out, how it has been received, and more than anything the
experiences we
had making the record. That's proven to be invaluable. Since making the
record,
Lauren and I have grown much closer together as people and both grown
quite a
bit individually as artists.
The Deli: The album
was released on your own label, Flagrant Records, which must give you
more
control over the process, but would you like to be on a bigger label?
WA: Well, that
depends. I'd love to be on a bigger label
outside of the states just for the sake of touring and marketing
ourselves to a
broader audience. Almost everyone that hears the record mentions Europe
and we
fully agree. In the states, it's hard to argue with the how capable an
artist
can be if they take advantage of the self-distribution and promotional
opportunities that are readily out there. The idea of signing away 90%
of our
royalties just doesn't seem to make much sense anymore. As our own
label, we're
able to (sort of) afford touring, advertising, most of the things a
label could
give us. Now, I can understand the perceived advantage of being on a
really
cool label. It might be easier to do some things in the industry, maybe
get us
into better venues, get us a few high profile reviews - but I've kind
of been
there and done that. It's a sacrifice that hardly seems worth it.
Flagrant
simplifies everything for us.
The Deli: I've found
that the hardest part of the creative process is the self-promotion
that must
follow. How do you handle promotion?
WA: I fully agree,
self-promotion is humbling if not
completely humiliating. We've been fortunate enough to work with a
small
management/PR group here in Chicago called 4 ohm. They've done a really
great
job with us in that regard.
The Deli: In the
studio it is basically you and Lauren, but
how does the live set look? What can fans expect for the live
experience?
WA: Live is a
completely different experience with us. We
have a live drummer, Corey McCaferty, who does a great job of
translating the
songs. And we have a live keyboardist/turntablist, Dean Dunakin, that
brings a
lot of life to the songs as well. We put aside a lot of the electronic
elements
in favor of acoustic instruments and concentrate on capturing that same
feeling
as the originals.
The
Deli: What's next for The Atomica Project?
WA:Right now we're working on a 6 song EP called "First in a Series of Dramatic Events."
We've also booked an East Coast tour for the end of February. First in
a Series
is going to be released exclusively on iTunes and on USB flash drives.
We're
working on writing a follow-up EP that we hope to release later this
spring.
The basic idea is to do 3 EP's digitally and ultimately release them as
one
record.
Atomica Project will be performing Subterranean
on
February 26th.
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