Atlas

Atlas is a new hardcore band, based in South California, featuring members of Cold Stare & Take Offense. They started in the summer of 2015 and they are pretty active since then. Jared (guitar) & Noah (vocals) were kind enough to answer to my questions.

www.facebook.com/atlaslgcv atlaslgcv.bandcamp.com

Hey Jared and Noah! Nice to have you in the fanzine. Give us some info about Atlas! Some of you have played in other bands like Take Offense & Cold Stare, right? How did you decide to form a new band and what’s the main goal of Atlas?

Noah: Our main goal with Atlas was to allow people to actually feel the music. We put a lot of time, heart, and emotion into the music and in my opinion I think it shows. Jared: For me I wanted to be in a band where I had more control of the writing process. In Cold Stare, a band I love playing for, I don’t write any of the music. That being said, I also think that I give everyone the opportunity here to have their say on things. It’s more of a group effort. Also, Joe (drummer) and I shared an interest in starting something a little melodic, and after some practicing with the two of us, the additions of Noah and Fielding fell into place.

I bet you know that Atlas was in Greek mythology the Titan god of endurance and astronomy, condemned to hold up the sky for eternity after the Titanomachy. How did you come up with such a name? Do you follow the Greek mythology or Atlas was more of a parallel for something you had in your mind?

Jared/Noah: We are familiar with the Greek mythology and I think there is the obvious connection how the pressures of the world can get to one at times can seem daunting, but the name was also part of one of our local bands song titles which is what sparked the first that at using it as a name. Names are hard to come up with. We wanted something short and sweet and “Atlas” just fit in right away and everyone was happy with it.

You are about to release a new single with a 7” to follow. Any more details? Is there any label that is going to support it? Will you tour afterwards?

Jared: Well, the goal initially was to put out the single on a 7” as well, but the label we were going to work with fell through, so it will be put up on Spotify and our Bandcamp, and whatever other social media we can deal with and maybe possibly one day put it out on vinyl if there is any demand. I’m very excited about this single because we worked with Jillian Calkins who is an amazing jazz singer who collaborated with us on one of the songs. The second song is a really nice transition into the next EP we’re about to start working on. Also, the single has been mixed and mastered by Paul Miner, and for any audio nerds out there who don’t already know, he is the bass player of Death By Stereo and also owns a studio called Buzzbomb Studio where he engineered records for Terror, Take Offense, DBS, AFI, the list goes on and on. As for the new 7”, it’s a 4 song EP and there is no label supporting it yet. We plan on shopping it around once everything is recorded / mixed / mastered. I would love to tour, and Europe is our big goal, but full time touring, due to work commitments, will most likely not happen. My goal is the hopes of having enough support where we can do a week here and there throughout the year and hopefully make it over to Europe sometime in 2017 / 2018. So show so us some love out there, haha!

Jared did Mind Disease & 1039 Records some years ago, releasing a bunch of quality hardcore records. None of them are still active as far as I know. What happened to both labels? Lack of time, money or interest?

Jared: 1039 was something that my friend started and to my knowledge he does still release on occasion. Mind Disease still “exists” but has been inactive for some years. I have been trying to get back into for a while but just haven’t had the bands to put out, nor the time / money to do so. That won’t be forever though, in fact I really enjoy doing the label stuff and there is a new band starting out called “Instinct” which may be the first release starting back. So stay tuned!

What’s missing in today’s hardcore scene compared to the past? Is Atlas here to fill

in that missing part? What’s in your opinion the most decent hardcore bands in today’s scene?

Jared: I’ll let Noah drive this one, but I will say that my intention was by no means to fill any missing part. There are a lot of good bands out there. If nothing else I just wanted to be a part of it and if nothing else, be recognised for writing quality music. That is and forever will be priority #1. As for decent bands I can only speak about those that I have spent enough time with to know them personally enough so my list would be Take Offense, Fire & Ice, Naysayer, PSO, New Morality, Bane, and Backtrack. All these bands have really great people in them and they sincerely and genuinely care about this scene that a lot of us call home.

Noah: I feel like the hardcore scene today is all about who’s cool and who dresses the part. That shits whack as fuck. Hardcore is from the soul. Just because you have a comb over and some khaki shorts with a “cool” band shirt doesn’t make you hardcore from my perspective. I wouldn’t say we are here to fill the missing part, we are just here to play music that we have put a ton of time into and enjoy the time we have together. Most decent band in the hardcore scene would have to be Instinct from Lemon Grove. These kids are 16-17 playing music with passion and singing about things that we can all

relate to; shifty friends, supporting your scene, and the struggles of everyday life.

You’ve been in Europe with Cold Stare. What differences do you spot between US & European hardcore? In my opinion, a lot of people in Europe imitate the US hardcore scene and standards/clichés, varying from the dressing code to even the violent crews that are active in the States. On the other hand, there are a lot of passionate people especially in Eastern Europe, working the DIY way, still thirsty for shows & hardcore/punk.

Jared: I think there may be some clichés that have rooted themselves overseas, but at the same time I realise that with a sub-culture of any kind comes certain things like dress codes that we will use as a way of establishing how we’re perceived in the world and “who” we are. That’s more sociology than anything. It’s human nature to assimilate. But also having traveled around there, I agree that the East is doing everything it can with arguably less resources and putting out some really cool stuff. I think the DIY mentality will continue on no matter what. It may just be harder to find…

Noah: I haven’t been to Europe yet, so I can’t speak on that, but I will address violent crews while we’re on the topic… when I look in the pit at a hardcore show and I see everyone swing-

ing on each other all I think is “what a bunch of jocks”. What ever happened to the slam dance? The love for the music is just as important as the love for each other. Hardcore is a violent culture and it always has been and I understand that, but just imagine someone’s first time at a show and some big ass meat head comes mobbin’ through the crowd “crowd bashing” and socks that kid in the face, hardcore is most likely ruined for that kid. I guess I’m just tired of people trying to be all “anti-violence” and “PC” but can watch the senseless violence go on right in front of them and be cool with it. I guess the point I’m trying to get at is that there’s better ways of getting out that aggression than swinging your fist into someone else’s jaw. I love hardcore and all that it’s done for me in my life, and I wish to pass that feeling on to people who need it most in their life as much as I do in mine.

How’s the current scene in California? Any standout bands/labels/booking teams?

Jared: California has been strong for a while. LA has been killing it for years. So since a lot of people already know a lot about the LA scene I’m going to focus on bands from our own city that many people probably haven’t heard of and I’ll keep it short. San Diego scene consists of: Take Offense (if haven’t already done so check them out now!!!), Meth Breath (awesome dudes - straight edge band. You can check out there EP on Spotify), Drug Control (another good group of dudes - straight edge band, youth crewish), PSO (skate punk band, all 4 members are brothers, and they all skate and are crazy sick at it. Find their instagrams), Instinct (newest addition, young kids with crazy potential).

As far as I know, you are straight edge. How important is this to you and what’s your definition of straight edge?

Jared: I would consider myself straight edge but I never speak of it. Frankly, it’s a choice I made for reasons no other than my own and I have plenty of friends who are not and I love them all the same. It’s not really that important to me. I’m having a blast in this band because Joe and I have been friends for years and he’s one of my favourite people in the world. Noah I’ve known for a long time and this band has been brought us closer together. I share the newest friendship with Fielding and we’re learning about each other day by day. All of us have different backgrounds and straight-edgeness has never been an area of concern

Thanks a lot! Looking forward to your new release!

Jared: Thanks for asking us to a part of your zine Apo!