AtomStrange
AtomStrange
New York, NY
Rock / Hard Rock / Progressive Rock
| Status | CMJ showcase on October 23rd at the Bowery Electric in New York City! Check our websites at FB. MySpace and at www.atomstrange.com for up to the minute updates! |
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Bio
ATOM STRANGE
The name conjures up all kinds of weirdness and rightfully so. ATOM STRANGE is a band based out of New York City but their hearts are firmly set in the 0 gravity environment of space. With songs covering everything from personal relationships to space and time travel, they are not what you would call average by any means!
About
- Website:
- http://www.AtomStrange.com
- Current Location: New York City
- Press Contact: info@atomstrange.com
- Influences:
- Atom Strange's sound is a result of the effects of cosmic radiation, the bending of space and time and every other force in the mysterious universe. ATOM STRANGE is also very fond of Phillip K. Dick, Albert Einstein, Carl Sagan, Stephen Hawkins, Nicola Tesla, Richard Matheson, Harlan Ellison, Edgar Allan Poe, Ray Bradbury, Robert Heinlein, Beethoven, Stan Lee, Norrin Radd, The Eternals, Bruce Campbell, the Celestials, Gort, Klatu, Mozart, Salvador Dali, Jack "KIng" Kirby, Arthur C. Clarke, Stanley Kubrick, Eternity, Adam Warlock, the Inhumans, Galactus, Rod Serling, J.S. Bach, Tim Burton, NASA, David Lynch, Ennio Morricone, Elmer Bernstein, Frank Frazetta, Terry Gilliam, Alan Moore, Neil Gaiman, Alex Grey, Alex Ross...
- Band Interests:
- RANGERS HOCKEY!
- Biography:
- ATOM STRANGE was formed after guitarist Alex Rude's previous band "LICK" split up. After 4 successful years with LICK, playing all around the north east and based in New York City, he was looking for people to play and write with that shared the same vision of excellence in musicianship and songwriting and refused to follow any sort of band wagon. He also wanted to make sure that nothing was off limits! What he means is that there should be no boundaries to the sounds and inspiration for his new band but rather they should not fall into the throes of following the flavor of the month type of thinking that so many do. With that thinking at the forefront, Alex began auditioning many potential members for his new project tentatively called MONOLITH. Science fiction and fact, astronomy, space travel and fantasy were always a strong inspiration for Rude and he wanted that to be one of the focal points for the band subject matter and image.
The winter of 2006 saw Rude working part time for a friend at a high end comic book shop in Manhattan where he came across a copy of DC Comics Showcase #117. It was the debut of the title character of Adam Strange. That along with his tattoo of an atom on his forearm set off the idea that would become the name of the band for good.
After many different line-up changes over 2 years, the first cohesive unit of ATOM STRANGE debuted in a small NYC rock club on the lower east side called the Delancey on January 27th, 2007. This was the first of many gigs with the original lineup of Rick Dunn on vocals, Steve Logan on bass and Ilya Hamovish on drums.
During the first half of 2007 work continued on the ATOM STRANGE debut cd. The self-titled cd was finally released to critical acclaim on July 7th, 2007. The 6 track cd features such notable songs as "She Said" the pseudo-ballad "More Or Less" and the epic "Burn/Spacewalk/Re-Entry".
Soon after though things would change again as Logan and Hamovish both departed. The search for a new rhythm section began in earnest. During this time, many new songs were written with Dunn and Rude collaborating together with other close musical friends. In late January 2008, Alex Rude and Rick Dunn, feeling like they needed to do something to keep their creative juices flowing, traveled out to Electric Randyland Studios on Long Island to record 3 songs with the incredible Bobby Rondinelli (Black Sabbath, Richie Blackmore's Rainbow, Blue Oyster Cult, Scorpions, The Lizards) on drums and Fernando Rosario on bass. The results will eventually be released on the next ATOM STRANGE cd. Funny thing though, the day before Rude and Dunn headed out to record those tunes, they settled on a drummer at an audition held in NYC. The winner of the long auditions was none other than Tony Baptist who came out to watch the masterful work of Bobby Rondinelli in person. Tony wowed both Rude and Dunn with his amazingly accurate renditions of the entire debut cd! His fresh attitude and fantastic skills bring a more modern flavor and enthusiasm that was lacking before.
A few months later Alex Rude crossed paths with John Reed on Craigslist. They had actually spoken about a year earlier when Reed's previous band IO was searching for a guitar player and singer. John came down to a rehearsal space in midtown Manhattan and they all hit it off. After a few more jams, Reed was asked to join ATOM STRANGE and they started looking for a permanent rehearsal space, polishing up the old songs as well as writing new material for the next release. John Reed brings to ATOM STRANGE a radically different sound with his bass playing. His fluid and bright style and prog-rock leanings add a new dimension to ATOM STRANGE with new found versatility.
Tom Denman is the newest member of ATOM STRANGE having joined at the beginning of 2009. His addition to the band helps create the full scale ATOM STRANGE experience that the band puts on record. His writing and arranging talents will help the band move forward into unknown and unexplored territories.
The band has been playing shows all over the US East coast including gigs with KING's X and LA Guns.. They are currently finishing work on their second cd tentaively titled "Cosmic Disturbance" and scheduled for release in the winter of 09/10. Stay tuned!
BIOS:
Alex Rude
Alex Rude was born and raised in NYC. The son of immigrants from Uruguay in South America, he cut his teeth on music he found in his parents record collection as a child including the Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Simon and Garfunkel, Bob Dylan and lots of South American folk music. His grandfather was an orchestra leader and composer in Uruguay and it seems that those beautiful genes were passed along to him. As a young boy he was attracted to the garish makeup and costumes of KISS firstly because they looked like the superheroes he was reading (and still reads) in comic books and secondly because they sounded like something he was sure that his parents would hate! A true trademark for real rock''roll!. Eventually he started to play with friends in a cover band doing everything from KISS to Metallica to Zeppelin and Sabbath. But he needed to express himself more with writing and covers weren't doing that for him. So next up was playing with a band with original material. He joined "2000 A.D". Basically a Motorhead style of metal where he cut his teeth playing a Les Paul through a Randall amp writing their most brutal riffs and hooks. His style was maturing though and he needed to find a band with a broader palette. He joined art rock progenitors "Jesse Taylor Is Dead". With JTID he learned about song writing and recording with some of the best in the business. They recorded 1 cd at the famous Pie Studios owned by Jimmy Page's guitar tech, Perry Margoulef. That band eventually fizzled but left a mark on Rude. The bar was set high and he wouldn't settle anymore for just OK. A year later he joined a new band being formed with an amazing singer named Roxy Cox. Her voice, stage presence and songwriting ability showed him what was possible in a more, for lack of a better word, "pop" sense. That band would eventually be named "LICK". It was a departure from the art rock thing that JTID were doing but not foreign at all to Rude. It was LOUD ROCK 'N' ROLL and he made sure to add his style into the writing. That made for a great combination of straight out rock with some vibrant dynamics and it was always sexy. They recorded 2 cds and played extensively to full houses all over the north east for about 4 years. It was a good run but had found an end before major success could find them. With the demise of LICK and a few false starts Rude started searching for the people that would eventually become ATOM STRANGE.
John Reed
John begain feeding his creative side at an early age, attending private Waldorf schools from kindergarten through junior high. Being a Gemini, if you take stock in that sort of thing, birthed a need to experiment with all kinds of creative outlets. Through the formatable years, John spent much of time, painting, drawing, building computers, designing graphic art and websites and most important, lessons in Violin and Trumpet. High School gave birth to his athletic side were he spent all four years playing baseball. After two years of college studying graphic design and kineseoligy, he dropped out to start his own custom electric guitar company with his family. During the three years of studying wood working, John began taking lessons in classical guitar. A year later, after a switch to playing bass, john decided it was time to pursue music full time and packed up everything and moved to NYC. The guitar business was on hold for while but now is up and running under the name Ronin Guitars. Two and 1/2 years of studying music and playing bass has brought him into Atom Strange where his vision for creative, inspiring music can be fully expressed.
Rick Dunn
Rick Dunn was born outside of NYC and started his musical career playing the drums. He studied with Howie Mann, Dave Hirsch and jazz legend, the late Al Miller. He would eventually drop the drums in favor of singing and focused heavily on music. He later moved to Arizona where he finished high school and joined his first rock band “The Cringe”. That didn’t last too long as he realized what it takes to be a professional in the music industry. He went on to sing in a number of local bands and even did some impersonations because the pay was good and he got to travel/tour a bit. He later moved to Florida where he met up with one of the many keyboard players from K.C. and the Sunshine Band and recorded his first demo of cover tunes. That demo opened some doors and he soon landed a record deal singing with the startup band “World SuperCell”. As fate would have it, the deal fell through due to some rather criminal activity from the “label”. He quickly regrouped and moved north back to his home state of New York and joined a band called “Immune” out of Long Island. The band had all the potential but none of the focus and he soon quit to find a better situation. Answering and ad from NYC rockers “MONOLITH” looking for a lead vocalist, he auditioned and got the gig. Within a few weeks he was in the studio singing on what would become the first ATOM STRANGE release. The band had recorded 6 songs, changed their name and were off to the races. Several line up changes later he is one of the founding members of ATOM STRANGE and commands the audience with his incredible voice and witty lyrics.
Tony Baptist
~BIO COMING SOON~
Tom Denman
~BIO COMING SOON~
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