Lost Atlanta are currently getting ready to release their new single Into The Grey. We caught up with the band to have a chat about it.
Can you introduce yourself and tell me a little about the band?
We are Lost Atlanta (James on vocals, Elliot and Sam L on guitars, Rob on Bass and Sam R on Drums). We are a post-hardcore 5 piece from Manchester that formed mid 2013. We into big melodies and crushing breakdowns, we love playing music more than anything and we think we’re an amalgamation of all our influences, as a result we’re not really sure where we fit in.
How did you get started?
Sam L and Elliot played together in an previous band. We started writing material for a new project which was the foundation for our first EP and began the search for a complete lineup. We found Sam R online and after auditioning and a few singers we finally found James and we were ready to get going. Rob ,who was a good friend of the band, is our most recent member who replaced our original bassist a few months ago.
You’re currently getting ready to release your new single Into The Grey next month – can you tell me about the writing and recording process?
We approached it in the same way as the rest of our tracks. Elliot and Sam are responsible for the initial ideas and structure, we jam stuff out and usually our drummer makes a bunch of structural changes and tweaks the beats to his style, James writes all his own lyrics and melodies but we really do bounce ideas off each other and collaborate pretty well.
We booked into the studio for a couple of days to record one track with Mike Bennett from Empires Fade. We wanted to go all out and focus on this one track and make it the best it could be. It was a pretty smooth and speedy process; we do a lot of preproduction beforehand so we knew how it was going to go down for the most part. Mike helped us dial in a sweet tone on his AxeFX, Sam R does his own midi so we had that ready to go but we also wanted to have live drums on the record so it’s a mix of live and sampled drums on the track. This is probably the most amount of time we’ve spent writing a track, we’re really proud and can’t wait for people to hear it. Huge thanks to Mike for bringing it all together and making it sound huge.
What’s the story behind the song?
The song is about your home town and the people who hold you back by being stuck in the same boring routines day to day, people who are slaves to the same vicious cycles. But positive message in the song in the hope of escaping that way of thinking.
You worked with Polyphia guitarist Tim Henson on this track – how did that come about?
We made a contribution to Polyphia before they recorded their self titled album. In exchange they offered to play a solo on our track for us. It’s something that we are over the moon about because we love Polyphia and it’s a huge honour to have him feature on our track.
Are you working on any more new material? If so, would you say Into The Grey is a good representative of what to expect with it?
We feel like we’ve definitely gone a bit heavier with this track, and so far our newer songs definitely have a similar intensity but we never really know what we’re going to come out with when we start a track so it’s hard to say.
What has been your best experience in the business?
Playing a packed out tiny vegan cafe in Glasgow to a load of new people who seemed to dig what we were doing.
And what’s the hardest thing about being in the business?
Time management, a bunch of us work shift work at all different times. Nights, weekends and a couple of 9-5’s so it can be a nightmare sometimes when you get offered shows last minute and have to juggle everything around just to make the date work.
What inspires you?
Other musicians… that and knowing that someone on the other side of the world is jamming your track and has done some fan art or something.
Who are your role models and idols?
James – Bert McCracken
Elliot – Steve Coogan
Sam L – SuperTed
Rob – Itch
Sam R – Tommy Pistol
And what is Lost Atlanta’s plans for 2015?
We’ll be releasing a new EP and hopefully getting a few proper tours under our belt.
