The other day my boyfriend suggested we runaway to Europe. He’d get a job and I could write all day. I’d be lying if I said that didn’t sound like a grand idea – but at the same time…How could I head overseas when I’ve yet to travel further than Sin City? First up will be Virginia later this year and then hopefully checking out A Is for Atom when I make my way to New York the year after – or whenever that is.
When I think about it, I really should’ve dug deeper for more insider info on the Big Apple from this artist. Instead I let him have some time to shine as me and A Is for Atom dished about real jobs, music and recording two EPs at the same time that have different personalities.
Kendra: You’ve been doing music quite awhile now. Do you have what non-creative people would call a “real job” outside of that?
A Is for Atom: Oh yeah, I love my “real job”! I’m the office manager at a very large grant-making foundation. My office is in Soho/Tribeca so there is a lot of great happy hours after work that I enjoy before the commute back to Brooklyn. When I was doing music full-time it got to be a grind, and in hindsight, much harder than any day-job I’ve ever had, and to top it off I was usually broke. I’m glad I did the touring though, we did around 200 shows a year, it was fun but I found that I wasn’t enjoying music anymore and wanted to get back to liking it again. I have a better work/life balance now!
Kendra: What made you want to leave a traditional band back in the day and do your own thing?
A Is for Atom: I played around NYC for a while in a few bands. I was in an Alt/Country group for a while and a couple of Indie bands that never did much. I got to try out for Gavin Degraw’s band when he started out, which was a turning point for me on that decision. He was doing his own thing and I thought that was great, and I was tired of the side guy thing. But, I felt that I needed more education to do what I wanted to do so I enrolled at NYU for my Master’s in music.
Kendra: Have you had any regrets since leaving Zuba?
A Is for Atom: Yeah, I wanted to keep going with it, but the band broke up, so it wasn’t really in my control. I regret that I wasn’t in any position to have more of a decision. Seems like we were close to doing something big, but that’s show business. As Bon Scott said, “It’s a long way you the top if you wanna rock & roll!”
Kendra: Onto who you are now as a solo artist, A Is for Atom. Why did you decide to drop two EPs instead of one record?
A Is for Atom: I initially recorded it as one album but decided to release it as 2-5 song EPs, It’s really just a market decision, and if no one is really buying full albums then an EP seems less risky to me, especially when I’m releasing this myself. Actually, the A is for Atom EP was released in 2012 and the Song for You, EP in 2014 (not simultaneously). It took more time between the two than I expected. I’ll be releasing another EP this year as well.
Kendra: How they’re described, A Is for Atom being about searching for love and Song For You being about seclusion – it seems they had some overlapping themes, would you agree?
A Is for Atom: Sure, I’d say you’re correct in that assessment. Well since it was recorded at the same time, and I happened to be going through a divorce when we did the album – the themes and perception of themes may be blurred a little. Yes, I agree that for love and seclusion go hand-in-hand. In hindsight it may be challenging to divide the 2-EPs this way. Maybe more like the A is for Atom, EP is about spirituality and loneliness and Song for You is about loneliness and conflict. For instance, the song “Creation” uses the theme of several creation myths to describe a character becoming self-aware and realizing that it’s lonely and needs to create companionship. “Bird in a Cage” is about desire for release from a prison of physical limitations, and a journey for truth. Whereas, in the Song for You EP “The White Dress” is about the loss of a strong and passionate relationship through the eyes of Emily Dickinson’s supposed lover. “Song for You” is what was said to me by my ex, “You never wrote a song for me”.
Kendra: Speaking of, these are some heavy topics. Was creating these songs therapeutic for you?
A Is for Atom: Yeah – it was therapeutic for sure. I was in a few songwriting classes at NYU and got a lot of feedback from the other writers. The only thing that they seemed moved by were the extremely personal topics, so I felt some freedom to get those feelings out of my system.
Kendra: On a lighter note, you’re a craft beer man. If you had to compare each EP to a beer, what ones would they be like and why?
A Is for Atom: For me, the A is for Atom is like an Easy Street Wheat from Odell’s Brewery in Fort Collins, CO. Goes down fairly easy, not too many lemon or citrus notes—but just enough. It also doesn’t give you much of a hangover.
I’d say Song for You is more like a Flower Power IPA from the Ithaca Brewing Company. More complex floral notes with a piney aftertaste. Be careful drinking too much because it’ll give you a nasty hangover!
Kendra: Will you be doing any touring this year?
A Is for Atom: Heading to Ireland and England in March!
Kendra: If you had to make a mixtape for a beer festival, what five songs would have to be on it?
A Is for Atom:
“Echoes” – Pink Floyd
“Thick as a Brick: Part 1” – Jethro Tull
“Maggot Brain” – Funkadelic
“Close to the Edge” – Yes
“Terrapin Station” – Grateful Dead
Leave a Reply