Alex Rude’s solo from ‘Hero Dies Alone’ is the soundtrack music for this clip – Special thanks to Steve Spaleta!

Atom Strange on Space.com

Hello Strange World!!!

Captain Dick Strange here with some Atom ‘Strange happenings’!

It’s been a few months since you all last heard from the Strange camp, but just when you thought they may have disappeared into the unknown, the Arecibo Radio Telescope in Puerto Rico received this startling transmission from deep space!

“People of Earth!!!”

In November of 2010, there were rumblings that Hi-Fi Sci-Fi rock band ATOM STRANGE may have played their final show at the sold out Ace Of Clubs for their annual Halloween extravaganza. Forsooth! This was not to be! Actually, Atom Strange was recording new material at Threshold Studios just getting used to the gravity on earth again and recorded the basic tracks for 5 new songs and an acoustic version of an old favorite, with engineer extraordinaire Joe Hogan at the mixing desk. Matt Volpe was the bass player for the sessions and now remains with the band full time! So far these tracks are sounding great and will eventually be released as part of “The Lost Cosmonaut” CD, but not until they write and record a few more tunes to fill out the release.
In February ATOM STRANGE found their new skinsman in Vinnie Larocca! Vinnie hails from a planet called New Jersey just like Matt Volpe and just south of the Saturn Delta! The band has been hard at work tightening up their material and working on new songs too. I am pleased to report that things are going very smoothly and the band will be returning to the stage this coming May in NYC (earth)!
Matt & Vinnie – Welcome to The Strange!

Shows!

ATOM STRANGE

When: Sunday May 22nd

Where: Mercury Lounge

Address: 217 East Houston Street in NYC at

Time: 9pm (on time)

ATOM STRANGE are ready to roar back on the stage supporting the ‘Memorials’ – feat. Thomas Pridgen formerly of the Mars Volta!
Also appearing on the bill ‘West of Here’ and ‘Those Mockingbirds’.

This show WILL sell out so try and get your tickets early and save a few dollars in the process!

Here are links to the show:

ATOM STRANGE Facebook invitation RSVP on FaceBook & let us know you’re coming!

Mercury Lounge – Buy Tickets and Show link

ATOM STRANGE  have also made updates to the official website at www.ATOMSTRANGE.com, so surf on over and check it out, sign up your friends to their email list and “Like” them on Facebook!

Music!

If you’d like to download or stream any ATOM STRANGE music, go to
ATOM STRANGE’s BandCamp site for highest quality mp3s.
You can also look for them on Amazon, iTunes and all the other music download sites! Remember that when you download their music at BandCamp, 100% of the proceeds go straight to the band and the sound quality is superior to ALL the other sites. The mp3s can be played on ALL devices and there are no restrictions whatsoever!

CD News!

During this past winter both ATOM STRANGE CD’s were picked up by another location in New Jersey.

Vintage Vinyl
Rt 1 & Ford Ave. Fords N.J.
On the web www.vvinyl.com
Email – onlinestore@vvinyl.com

That’s all for now! I really hope to see you at the ATOM STRANGE show on May, 22nd! Until then – keep your feet in the clouds and your head on the ground.

Dick Strange

….end of transmission

ATOM STRANGE has lassoed a powerful new rhythm section into their asylum of sound.
Both seasoned players in their own right, drummer Vinnie LaRocca and bassist Matt Volpe now provide a new meteoric thunder that explodes under the bombastic guitars of Alex Rude and powerful vocal stylings of Rick Dunn.

The band has been rehearsing like mad to ready themselves to throw down a blistering set for their show at the Mercury Lounge on May 22 2011 with The Memorials. – Tickets available at http://www.mercuryloungenyc.com/event/6381

Coming off the success of their Cosmic Disturbance CD in 2010, Atom Strange is back at it with a new 6 song EP in the works!

Rumor has it that 2 new songs are almost complete, and more is on the way.  Stay tuned for leaks, updates, and a new lineup???

Yes, we hear that Matt Volpe has joined the band and is featured on bass for the new ‘Strange’ tracks.

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