|
Atom is a funny guy, which of course, is a
bit part of what his music is about. Although he'll argue that his new CD,
Redefining Music (just released on Hopeless Records), isn't as
funny as some of his older ones, just how serious can you take songs with
titles like "Anarchy Means I Litter," "Mission 1: Avoid Job
Working with Assholes" and "If You Own the Washington Redskins,
You're a Cock"?
Atom is Pennsylvania native Adam Goren (according to the press clips,
that is. There isn't any evidence of this in his promotional materials or
his new CD's liner notes). His "package," on the other hand, is
most definitely his trusty sequencer -- his entire traveling back-up band.
Atom writes, performs and records all of the music himself, using only his
guitar and his trusty package.
Here's the interview.
|
Atom Uncensored!
|
The full interview transcript... |
|
|
Where are
you right now as we're talking? |
Atom: I'm in Tampa,
Florida, and leaving to drive to Tallahassee. Thank god were leaving
Florida. Florida is pretty ugly. We just got gas and are about to get on the
interstate. Sean (of Har Mar Superstar) is driving… He's gonna have road rage. |
|
|
(Just then,
much yelling and screaming in the background and I ask what's going on). |
Sean is now
road raging. |
|
|
I'm
impressed at how well you keep up that tour diary (located at www.atomandhispackage.com
-- great reading!) |
Some days like when you don't do anything
and play the show, it may get really boring. At least for me, when the
tour is done I'll have a tour diary. |
|
|
How's the tour? . |
The tour is going well. It's been really fun
since the beginning. This one is two months' long, but I was away for a
month before this one. I really enjoy doing it. Sometimes when I get sick
it can suck because you've got to play anyway.
Oh my god! The person in front of us has hydraulics and is hopping up
and down. I've never seen that before. He's alone, too. He's flossing his
teeth.
|
|
|
Where are
you? You're not on the Interstate, are you? |
We're lost in America's crapland of strip
malls, Wendy's, gas stations and fuck-me pants. And I want our car to
bounce up and down, too. |
|
|
What are
you driving? |
My mom's Ford
Explorer. We're very comfortable. It has about 80,000 miles on it. They've
always had an extra car for me and brother and sister when we were
younger. Our parents are very protective of us. Whenever we borrowed any
car, it was always the one that was the safest. |
|
|
What do
they think of your music? |
They're very supportive of
me doing something I like to do. They're proud that it's been moderately
successful, but they're not fans of the music. I mean how could they be?
They tell me that they love it. My dad is a gigantic opera fan and tried
to force it on the kids. I grew up with Beatles and Duran Duran and speed
metal and punk stuff.
My mom was worried when I was in high school and started listening to
different music. I thought the vocalists sounded like the Cookie Monster.
She thought that they sounded like demons. My dad loves music, but I don't
think he's a Napalm Death fan.
They say they like my stuff but I don't think it's humanly possible for
them to like it. They know it's funny now, but when I first played it and
asked them if they thought it was funny, they sort of gave me a look, and
then said 'Oh yeah, it's funny.' They really really mean well.
|
|
|
I
particularly like the team mascot song on your new CD, but I could see
where someone might be offended. Has anyone been offended by any of your
music? |
That record comes out on
Tuesday, so there hasn't been too much response to it. I will take on
anyone in that debate. There was a song in support of Rob Halford ("Hat's Off to
Halford,"
his ode to Judas Priest's Rob Halford). A lot of people misunderstood that song and I got ridiculously
dumb e-mails. The song is in support of this guy.
Metal is a homophobic subculture. It's awesome and brave for this dude to
come out in an area that's traditionally homophobic. The e-mails say
'You're a faggot, you're a dummy.' Fine, whatever. And then there's the
kind that say 'Hey, asshole, I like metal. Why call everyone in metal
gay?' Idiot. Just read it. People's reading comprehension is pretty
awful. |
|
|
It makes
you lose faith in the intelligence of your listeners… |
It's not like everyone's
like that. Plenty of people pay attention very well. Plenty of
people say 'right on.' I've met a lot of 'right on' people. The
overwhelming majority understands it. .
|
|
|
Since
you've been on the road playing mostly punk clubs, give me your
perspective on the current state of punk rock in America. |
It's impossible to
generalize anything. There's many people who are productive and smart and
are impressive, and then there are some people that are dopey and stupid
and obnoxious. Still, there's a lot of amazing people You'll get an
amazing feeling that there's a connection to people you don't know but
have similar feelings about things. When grunge happened, I don't feel
like it had an overwhelming effect. When Green Day got big, you had an
influx of of people who weren't involved in most stuff before that. I
think there will always be this underground.
|
|
|
I read a
ton of your interviews online. Do you ever feel like you're under pressure
to be spot-on funny. Do people expect you to be funny all the time? |
I don't feel that from
interviews. After a show and I'm staying at someone's house, they expect
me to be a hellluva lot more entertaining than I am. In Europe after a
show I wanted to drink some tea and go to bed. The guy who had the house
said, "Do some crazy things, you're so funny!" and I said I'm
tired and I just want to go to sleep.
This new record isn't overtly funny as the other ones. The songs are
better and music kind of stands on its own.
|
|
|
Are you
really a sports fan? What's your prediction for the Final Four? (The
interview took place the day before the NCAA Men's basketball
semi-finals.) |
I'm not much of a basketball
fan. I can watch last five minutes of a playoff game. I'm a big hockey and
baseball fan, and NFL. |
|
|
So no
XFL for you, eh? |
I watched the first XFL
game. It was really boring. I thought it would be offensive. It was kind
of funny, but a whole bunch of friends came over and watched it. By
halftime we weren't even paying attention to it. After the first game, I
would be surprised that they would even finish the season. Sean's brother
films games for the Chicago XTreme. |
|
|
I
figured you might be a 'Sixers fan... |
Actually, I do follow them.
I support the Mutumbo trade. I think think they can get to the finals this
year. |
|
|
Some punk
people find the mix of punk and sports to be incompatible... |
Might be because their
experience in dealing with sports people has been negative, and my dealing
with sports people has been pretty negative, too. Some cool people are
interested in it, but the average sports fan -- actually the average
person -- is an asshole.
|
|
|
So what's
Sean like to tour with? |
With Sean, it's a nonstop,
totally extreme party. We've known each other for a while. Sean is from
Minneapolis, I live in Philly, but we met a really long time ago when he
was on tour with Sean Na Na, then the following year he played two weeks
worth of shows with me.
|
|
|
Ever
thought about forming a band? |
No. There's drawbacks to
doing it all myself. I miss going on a tour with a bunch of people, but if
I want to go on tour, I go. I don't have to ask anyone or schedule or
practice, I just do it when I want. |
|
webboard
interviews