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Once you are introduced to this next group you are going to love their overall style. Even better is their music. The Los Angeles, California Psychedelic/Soul group, The ATMA, is making music that is certainly appealing to a large fan base. We recently discovered them on the music resource community, MusicSubmit.com and knew that we wanted to feature them on Junior’s Cave. Here is their spotlight, through the eyes of the band's lead vocalist, "The Oblivious Driver':"
Isaac-Joseph: What aspect of making music excites you the most right now?
The Atma: What excited me most about making music is the opportunity to explore sound and thought in a new way. I love to surprise myself and find that making music is very healing. I am usually inspired when I stumble upon a new piece of music and manage to mold it into something usable.
Isaac-Joseph: What aspect of making music gets you the most discouraged?
The Atma: What discourages me most about making music is that its really hard to get your music heard and to get everyone into what you’re doing. Sometimes it feels like, “What’s the use, no one’s ever gonna hear it.” But we do it anyway because inside I think we have faith that people will eventually catch on.
Isaac-Joseph: You guys have been around since 2002. What keeps you motivated to want to continue to make music and stay together?
The Atma: The fact that our sound and idea about the band is constantly evolving is exciting. It’s great to watch your friends grow and deepen in their musicianship and find new ways of creating together. I think we have a lot of respect for another’s abilities and it feels like a winning combination.
Isaac-Joseph: What are you up to right now, music-wise? (Current or upcoming recordings, tours, extravaganzas, experiments, top-secret projects, etc).
The Atma: We are waiting for the final mixes of our new record, “machetes of gold.” There’s a lot of anticipating, we haven’t been practicing as aggressively since there’s been a lot of work to do regarding the album, but we are planning what to do what the record’s done, how we’re gonna release it, etc… We still jam and song-write because you’ve always got to have that going on or a band gets stale and loses their edge. Also, there is always the next record of songs to start writing as well, so it’s a never ending process.
Isaac-Joseph: What's the most unusual place you've ever played a show or made a recording? How did the qualities of that place affect the show/recording?
The Atma: For us, recording at Blackbird was something very new and different feeling. We had been playing gigs and recording under so many uncompromising and unflattering circumstances, the notion of being in a place with unlimited freedom and equipment and quality was mind bending. I think everyone got kind of electrocuted by the whole experience and our creativity went ballistic in the studio. There are so many more layers and ideas going on this record musically than on our last. We were really inspired by the opportunity and I think we made the most of it definitely.
Isaac-Joseph: In what ways does the place where you live (or places where you have lived), affect the music you create, or your taste in music?
The Atma: Where you live for me doesn’t affect my music. I always look for new places and new ways to song-write, whether it’s on my porch, in my closet, on the sidewalk, so my environment is always a variable. I am usually in my own world while creating so the rest is just peripheral.
Isaac-Joseph: When was the last time you wrote a song? What can you tell us about it?
The Atma: Last time I wrote a song was today. I was inspired in my backyard, had a smoke, and started jamming a random idea which led to this new Piece in six. I was very stoked that it can together very quickly, as the best ideas usually do. I haven’t hammered out lyrics yet, it is still in the gibberish and mumbling phase of completion, but it’s a good skeleton for something pretty hot I think.
Isaac-Joseph: As you create more music, do you find yourself getting more or less interested in seeking out and listening to new music made by other people...and why do you think that is?
The Atma: I listen to just as much music as I always did, I just listen to it differently. I analyze the elements more. In that way, I don’t fall under the spell of songs as easily as I used to before I started deciphering the craft. But I always try to keep my perspective evolving musically. Wade helps me with that as he brings me lots of cool new stuff to listen to.
Isaac-Joseph: Lately, what musical periods or styles do you find yourself most drawn to as a listener? (Old or new music? Music like yours or different from yours?)
The Atma: I think there has been great music in every decade so I make mixed CD’s of all kinds of stuff and just dig it all really. I try to listen to a lot of different stuff for different reasons. Sometimes I listen to music cause I want it compliment my mood or feeling, sometimes I want to listen to lyrics so I’ll throw in Dylan or Leonard Cohen.
Isaac-Joseph: Name a band or musician, past or present, who you flat-out LOVE and think more people should be listening to. What's one of your all-time favorite recordings by this band/musician?
The Atma: A new band I flat out love… the last band that really just knocked my socks off, live and on CD was definitely The Entrance Band. The vibe was so psychedelic and the lyrics were so raw and surprising. There is an energy about that band that is very electric and I think if they stay together and stay alive, they will make some great records in their time.
Old bands I love, there are too many to list… : )
Isaac-Joseph: Currently, what is your favorite track/song to perform on stage and why?
The Atma: With The Atma, my favorite song to play onstage right now depends on the venue and the night and what kind of mood I’m in. If I’m in sort of a kick-ass mood, Kittens and Mittens can shred pretty good live, and so can the Snorkler’s anthem. We’ve been bringing guests on stage lately too in order to perform songs from the record, and I also enjoy having that fourth voice with us on stage.
Isaac-Joseph: When I am making music, I feel (complete this sentence).
The Atma: Different kinds of songs are written in different frames of mind. Sometimes I make music when I am confused and when I am pumped up and when I am really down and out and when I am high and when I am low so I feel the full spectrum of human emotion. Writing a song is like giving birth to a painful truth. I think the great artists are not the one-trick-ponies out there whose songs all sound the same, but the people who can capture many different sides of themselves and the universe of musical possibilities.
Isaac-Joseph: This is what we call our Shout Out time. Elaborate on any and everyone that matters the most to you.
The Atma: Right now a lot of people really matter a great deal to me. I give thanks for my amazing girlfriend Caren, my family, my manager, and all the friends in and out of the band’s circle. I could make a list, but I might forget someone and then I would feel terrible.
Isaac-Joseph: Final thoughts that you would like to leave us:
The Atma: Here’s a poem I wrote recently. Maybe someone might dig it:
What use is trying to get at something anyway
Your thought is a stupid piece of laughter
Bouncing off a play ground wall
You can scratch at it like a wild scatterminded mongoose
Trying to nab the heart of the moment
But it will slip through your wet spaghetti noodle paws
You can wait like moldy Incan statue
But there pausing in anticipation
You will never lift the veil of the moment’s own bride
All of existence is smiling heinously
And my only goal is to surprise myself
For the rest of my life.
______________________________________________
THE ATMA ARE MANAGED BY:
Dan Nash
Just Great Management
950 Second Street - Suite 309
Santa Monica, California 90403
Toll Free: 877.841.3342
Mobile: 310.701.6071
SKYPE: dnash54
dan@justgreatmanagement.com
www.justgreatmanagement.com
www.myspace.com/justgreatmanagement
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