STRANGE NEWS

See the actual article here – http://www.bandchitickets.com/catalog/article_info.php?articles_id=22

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Atom Strange, a Brand All Its Own Tuesday 20 April, 2010 New York, New York, United States PAGE 1 of 2 BRIEF: Atom Strange is a Progressive Rock Band from NYC producing more than just great Rock Music. They have created a solid studio performance on ‘Cosmic Disturbance’ that could easily serve as a benchmark for Indie Artist Production. Their music is akin to a Hard Rock Pink Floyd stirred into a pot with some sci-fi graphic novels. Atom Strange is a great band working hard to turn their music into a unique brand of its own. ARTICLE: Atom Strange, a Brand All Its Own BandChi! interviews are always a good time and that has never been more true than sitting down with Atom Strange; this was a rowdy bunch of guys. That’s a positive note, because it was easy to see they have a chemistry and camaraderie that only punctuates their musical success. Ask most anyone who’s ever worked in a formidable band and they will tell you that one of the single most important elements is to have a solid foundation of friendship and mutual respect. Atom Strange is a Progressive Rock band that truly has a lot of great features in their corner. Founded in 2006 by guitarist Alex Rude, the band has gained solid ground in their four short years. On close inspection it’s easy to see they are tight, polished and proficient in their music and their marketing efforts. Alex is a sci-fi graphic novel freak who has done a fantastic job of weaving those elements into both the music and their presentation. We have to say they have some of the coolest damn posters and marketing pieces we’ve seen; all of which carry through with a bit of a ’strange’ appeal. While most artists are busy trying to figure out how to become the next ‘buried, death, morbid, blood, decapitation’ band, Atom Strange has been busy working towards a more graphical approach that seems to straddle the Hard Rock and Progressive Rock genres. Their cover version of the Beatles’ ‘Come Together’ proves they know the solid foundations of their trade while feeling strong enough to make the song their own. PAGE 2 of 2 Alex tells us he struggled, as most bands initially do, with the lineup to find the right set of guys. From what we can tell he’s done a fantastic job of it. Bassist John Reed and drummer Tony Baptist provide an impressively strong foundation for Alex’s one guitar format; something that seems to have all but faded into the past with bands like Van Halen, Pantera and ZZ Top. But don’t think for a second that these guys are a knock off of any of those acts. With the dynamic and powerful vocals of Rick Dunn, Atom Strange has forged a sound all their own. New York city is their romping ground, where Alex himself works for several high profile recording studios; Jazz at Lincoln Center with Wynton Marsalis, Avatar Studios, The Magic Shop Studios, Threshold and Electric Lady to mention only a few. He often lends his expertise in recording other Indie artists as well as working closely with some big names; including credits on cool records like Norah Jones, The Gaslight Anthem and even Coldplay. Vocalist Rick Dunn has some vocal credits of his own doing studio tracks for other artists. Meanwhile bassist John Reed owns a small and growing custom electric guitar company that he hopes will benefit the band as well. Just another small part of building the Atom Strange empire. They have a fantastic fan base that extends well beyond the boundaries of NYC. With provocative tunes like ‘Breathe’, ‘Terminal’ and ‘Agenda 21′ they continue to express their talent and insightful song writing that is imposingly powerful from the front of the live stage. Their most recent release, title tracked ‘Cosmic Disturbance’ appears to be reminiscent of the glory days of album rock where it was more than just music but a whole package. This release includes eleven well produced, solidly performed and ass kicking tracks that define the mastery of their craft. But the CD itself could one day be coveted for it’s originality. Atom Strange is working on a summer tour schedule that extends across the Mid-Atlantic. Their music is worth more than just a listen, it’s worth every penny of the download price and no doubt they punctuate that with a solid live performance that may very well earn them opening slots for national acts. Give them a listen at www.myspace.com/atomstrangeband, or visit their web site at www.AtomStrange.com and decide for yourself. We have no doubt your next reaction will be to find a way to see them live. Atom Strange has created not only a great sound and solid performance but a brand all their own. <Photo 1>

I think the last time we blogged here was after our gig at Crash Mansion for Gotham Rocks. That particular show was so well attended by our fans that we were offered to play at the Gramercy Theater just a couple of weeks later. We did turn that gig down only because we felt that the gigs were too close together, but we negotiated a deal that had us do a special cd release party at the Gramercy on March 23rd! That turned out to be the biggest show we have ever done thanx to all of you who came to support!
It was to celebrate the release of our second cd “Cosmic Disturbance” that was officially out on the same day Tuesday March 23rd! The turn out was huge to say the least and the stage was just as huge! ATOM STRANGE hit the stage at 7:45 pm on the nose and we KILLED IT!! 45 minutes of all new material from the new cd! Actually we also played “Hollow” from the debut as an encore and that killed too!
We wanted to thank everyone that came out and showed so much love that night! We couldn’t believe how well it was attended and how many cds everyone was buying too! We even had the first official ATOM STRANGE t-shirts for sale and they went like crazy too!
We also need to thank all the other bands on the bill including Diablo Royale, Bullet Proof Messenger, 13th Floor and Resolution 15. Everyone was amazing that night!
A special thanx goes out to Mike Sankari for putting it all together and treating everyone like kings!
We are all so proud of the show and our new cd and hope that everyone takes a moment to listen to tracks here on MySpave.
The new cd is available for download in 3 high quality formats (mp3, AIFF, AppleLossless) directly from us on our website www.ATOMSTRANGE.com. If you really want to get the physical cd, that is also available on our site too along with the new T-Shirts! You can also download the cd at iTunes and Amazon but when you get it directly from us, all the money goes to the band and not some huge corporation!
So there you have it! ATOM STRANGE blow the roof off of the Gramercy Theater and release their new cd “Cosmic Disturbance” all in one night!
Lets hope that we see you this spring and summer as we tour in support of the new record! Go to www.ATOMSTRANGE.com to buy the cd now!
Thanx
Alex Rude

So this past weekend ATOM STRANGE attended the MMC 2010 because we were invited to play. It was supposed to be this really huge event with like 100 bands and hundreds of people from all over hawking their wares that could help out bands and artists struggling to become successful. Along with that, there were a bunch of showcases and seminars scheduled for bands like us to play and attend to attract all these people vying for our attention and business.
While we made some new friends like the band New Day Dawn, and some pretty useful contacts including the local chapter of the Roller Derby team (who by the way were really cool!) and a table sponsored by Harley Davidson (that was kinda cool especially when we got an autographed poster from the Harley model!).
The really funny part of all this was the showcase that we were scheduled to play. It was at a place called the Field House in Etters Pa. As we drove from the hotel to the “venue” we were thinking it would be some sort of local dive bar or something along those lines. When we finally pulled up, it looked like a cool place just off the beaten path. As we entered to find out where we were going to load in and put our gear, we find out the place is basically a family restaurant with a bar! I am looking around and find that there are tons of families having their dinners with all these little kids eating chicken tenders and I’m thinking “We are going to end up either deafening these children with the first chord or even worse, killing them!” Not really what we expected.
We then found out that the people that were supposed to provide the backline (drums, PA and bass rigs) were putting together a PA that could have probably been more appropriate at CBGBS considering all the power amps and outboard gear they had. The place was pretty small and the PA was way too powerful for the space. Then the bomb dropped. After 2 direct calls to the sound guy the day before (Voyager Music in Pennsylvania) to confirm what we needed to bring, they tell me they have no drum kit! Fantastic! So now we are thinking to ourselves should we just up and leave and consider suing the MMC people or what? We decide to stick around because the owner of the restaurant (a sweet lady named Joyce) tells me that she is going to try and get a drum kit for all 5 bands to use. Thankfully she manages to get a good kit but not til after the first band plays using a floor tom on it’s side as a bass drum and just a snare and hi-hat ala Slim Jim Pahntom of the Stray Cats! While that might work for them (and they did a great job actually) it would not really work for ATOM STRANGE!
Just as the first band finishes, the drum kit arrives. Yay! All the while this is happening the sound engineer is looking like he is about to have an aneurysm because he says he’s 4 hours behind schedule and none of this is his fault but everyone is looking to him for answers! He’s screaming all kinds of obscenities and stuff and I am thinking “This is a family place! This guy is gonna kill some one soon if someone doesn’t tell him to watch his mouth or maybe if someone does tell him to watch his mouth!”.
So things seem to be getting up to speed now and we are looking forward to playing. We had a couple of friends that drove in 2 hours from Philly and we didn’t want to disappoint them. After listening to some cat play Jeff Beck Jr. with his dad on bass, we were up. We set up as quickly as possible and are rushed into our first song before I can finish tuning my guitar! Ok. I can deal with that. I’ve been there before and made it work. As we continue through our set, the sound levels were all over the place and the mics are working intermittently and the sound guy is nowhere to be found! Thankfully one of our friends from Philly is an ex-roadie and helped us out a little but it was still a fiasco. Of course we were too loud for the space we played but we are used to that. The people that book these things never actually listen to the bands and will put a show together that makes no sense to anyone. Finally as we go into our last tune, the sound guy magically appears and says “That sounds great!” and we are like “Where the fuck were you dude? We needed your help through the whole set and you disappeared!” He answers that he was busy taking care of the other system he installed in the basement! Thanks a lot!
So after our set New Day Dawn played a great set of their own and then we all left to head back to the hotel.
So after that experience (which I have to say is probably about par for the course when you are on tour as an unknown band) we drove home the next day with smiles on our faces even though things could have been way better, they could have also been a lot worse. We had fun anyway!

“Well as many of you have noticed, the last 2 shows ATOM STRANGE have played were without our second guitarist Tom Denman. On the night of December 5th for the Crash Mansion show in NYC, Tom’s wife was in a car accident on the way to the show and was hurt pretty badly. Thankfully it seems that she will make a full recovery, so that is good news, but it will probably take months. With the band really getting into high gear with the release of the new record in the coming weeks, there will be lots of shows out of town and lots of work that we need to do. Tom’s responsibilities at home and at work along with his wife’s condition, have forced him to turn in his resignation from ATOM STRANGE. We are all very sad about his decision but understand completely. Tom’s playing with us has been a great experience for all involved and we truly hope that he can find a new creative outlet as soon as possible because we know how much it means to him. Tom will be missed. We remain friends and wish him and his wife the greatest future.”
Alex Rude and the rest of ATOM STRANGE

We came, we saw, we kicked some ass… (Hey Ghost Busters are making a comeback, so why not?).

This show… was another step towards great things. Before I go into show details I want to thank World Tree Artist Management (John P), Webster Theater, and our sponsors – Orange Amplifiers, Soultone Cymbals, and Spectraflex Cables.

We got back to NYC and unloaded the gear by 3:30AM. Up at 7:15AM, so nothing personal if the sentences below don’t make sense or are barely strung together. I’m struggling over the computer with a cup of coffee as I type this out.

We arrived mad early to the venue, got the best parking in the house and delivered our gear… The waiting is the worst part. Arriving at 4:30 and not playing until 9:30… sigh. When you’re waiting to go on stage it feels like an eternity. It’s all good, we had a great time catching up with friends, fans, and the staff at Webster (thanks for joining our mailing list by the way). The CT weather was beautiful, sunny, slight breeze… perfect. Then the rain came down in sheets just before we went on, and stopped as if in concert with Atom Strange.
4 bands played prior to us, and to put it bluntly the feedback from the people in the crowd was (nothing personal to the other bands) we’re in another league. Great complement for certain!

We opened the set with the progressive mind bender Agenda 21. People moved from the bar to the stage within the first 20 seconds of the song and stayed with us for the duration. Our set was powerful, heavy, and impassioned, and having the audience participation really helped feed our energy. As we moved from Agenda 21 to cosmic Disturbance and then into Breathe (with a short dedication to David Carradine) the crowd seemed to grow. What a really great time had by all!

Getting off stage was bitter sweet as we definitely wanted to keep playing, but were happy to be welcomed by the fans. Then of course we got to see LA Guns play.
Excellent show, excellent performance, and just a lot of fun.

The entire thing was a success! It’s hard to put into words, but we’re very thankful to say the least.

Another exciting part is we were offered another opportunity to open for one of our favorite national bands which will be appearing at Webster in a couple of months. Everything verbal at this point so I can’t mention names or details, but I can say this is another National Act that is super popular among Rock musicians, and it will be another dream come true to share the stage with them.

If anyone has pictures from the show, please send them to us at info@atomstrange.com and we’ll post them here for all to see.

Side note – if you haven’t been to our website in a while, it’s finally operational. We’re still tweaking it, but all updates and show details will be posted there as well as here. Plus, you never know what new exclusive we may put up there, so please check in from time to time – www.AtomStrange.com .

As always, we look forward to hearing from you! Thanks for everything.

RD – A.S.

A wide selection of musical produce shared the aisles at Arlene’s Grocery on May 22, 2009. During each hour of the evening audiences sampled a different act: God Tiny(NYC, NY), Musiciens Sans Frontieres (NYC,NY), Cancel Winter (Toronto, Ontario), Measure (Brooklyn, NY), Atom Strange (NYC, NY), Fighter/Lover (Toronto, Ontario), and Ever Since (Thornwood, NY). Sound shoppers seemed to take a shine to Atom Strange whose heavier rock sway stood out among the lighter fare.

While extensive sound checks commonly occur at Arlene’s, the benefits of extra time and care were revealed in Atom Strange’s atomically loud but well-balanced sound. Their show highlighted each member’s contributions from Rick Dunn’s (vocals), Alex Rude (guitar/vocals), Tony Baptist (drums), John Reed (bass), and Tom Denman (guitar/vocals). Blasting through a 40-minute set, Dunn’s higher register and virtuoso vocals broke through Rude and Denman’s intertwining solos and strums, and Reed’s intricate and booming bass lines, while Baptist mesmerized onlookers with a string of “stick tricks,” adding flair to his thunderous and speedy precision.

The Memorial Day weekend material drew from an album in the works and included a flowing “The Voice,” which showcased Dunn’s vibrato, and the quartet’s newest single, “Cosmic Disturbance,” available in hard-copy at shows. A fervent “Breathe” was followed by “The Hero Dies Alone” that highlighted Atom Strange’s psychedelic underpinnings, and “Terminal” that exemplified the band’s heavy metal roots, Dunn’s lung capacity, and his ability to lengthy wails. Undulating melodies and power chords of “On My Mind” segued into guitar-bending “Visor Burn” and spacey “Mine.” Closing with a vehement version of The Beatles’ “Come Together,” Atom Strange did not estrange their fans though their rendition seemed to make some diehard Beatles-followers uneasy at the start. In the end, Atom Strange’s stage presence and relentlessly pounding beats mesmerized these strangers into fandom.

Travel to www.atomstrange.com and myspace.com/atomstrangeband (Include the word “band,” otherwise a rapper who “tried to steal [Atom Strange’s] name” will pop up.) for photos, upcoming tour dates, and track previews. Atom Strange’s self-titled album is available on iTunes, and new material is currently being processed. Meanwhile, pick up a demo when Atom Strange hit New York on July 17, at Le Poisson Rouge or when they land in a venue near you.
Review by Meijin Bruttomesso, posted at http://www.allaccessmagazine.com/vol7/issue07/atom_strange.html

LA Guns & Atom Strange @ Webster Theater, Hartford CT Tuesday June 30th.
Purchase tickets now by clicking the ‘Add to Cart’ button below!