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One thing I can say for a certainty after this
year’s Atlantis Music Conference: Atlanta rocks. I’ve said before that we
have a strong music scene here, but every show I went to on Friday was
packed wall-to-wall with people, and the performances were incredible.
After only catching Uncrowned on the first night
of Atlantis, I ran the gauntlet on Friday. My evening started out in
Purgatory at the Masquerade where local hardcore metal phenomenon Hognutt
kicked things off. At first glance, this seemed like a fairly lame slot for
them, but by the time the show started the audience was packed like
sardines. Chicks were starting pits and dudes were getting the worst of it,
but by mid-set there wasn’t room to move.
The band simply threw down. Twice during the set Hognutt tripped breakers
and lost power. Vocalist Geoff Adams kind of grinned at the audience as if
this were to be expected. The audience got its rowdiest when drummer Glenn
Cwikla switched spots with Adams to sing his verse on “The One I Use.”
Things settled down a bit as the band got into newer, more melodic material
from its recent release “2nd Nature.”
The band, which includes guitarist James Bogart and bassist Wyatt Smith, has
never sounded better when I’ve been in the room, and I’ve been following
them for a minute. Hognutt and Adams’ previous band Unmarked gave my little
brother’s band Estranged its first gig. And in a truly old-school moment,
AtlantaShows.com editor Craig Avramovich showed up wearing an Unmarked
T-Shirt. While in Purgatory I snapped a picture of the loveley Brianna, who
was tending bar, but it didn’t come out as good as I thought. I’ll have to
go back for a reshoot.
Craig dropped me off at 10 High where I caught a couple songs from JaD and
continued the oxygen depravation theme. This is a band that regularly draws
100s, and 10 High is what you would call an intimate venue. I actually ran
into JaD singer John Stringer earlier in the day at the touring panel and
briefly interviewed him.
“This was good panel for me because we're at that verge of wanting to tour,”
Stringer told me. “You get a chance to ask the question, 'How does an
unsigned band get noticed by these guys? What criteria do we need to meet to
be handled by a better agent?'"
Stringer said he learned two key things at the panel:
“I learned a couple of things. One, that it comes down obviously to the
music. From the manager to the lawyer to these guys [the booking agents on
the panel], they want to believe in the music. Once you get that down, I
think the next thing you need to have in your pocket is having a buzz in
your hometown. We're trying to do that.”
Trying and succeeding. I also spoke earlier in the day with Nashville
singer/songwriter Amanda Williams-Irby who I ran into at the SESAC
performing rights panel. Williams-Irby is a member of ASCAP and attended the
panel to hear thoughts from some of the other performance rights
organizations. Her advice was to work with other writers who are associated
with different organizations.
“If you’re an ASCAP writer, co-write with people that are on BMI or SESAC,”
said Williams-Irby. “That way you at least have some basis to compare it. We
got some royalty statements from a BMI writer who made about seven or eight
thousand more than we did on a song. ASCAP wrote a matching check, which
they’re required to do now that they’ve made that policy. But if we had all
been on ASCAP, we wouldn’t have known that they were paying less.”
She went on to say that Atlantis as a whole had been a good experience for
her.
“I think it’s great. They’ve got a lot of good people on the panels, really
intelligent people who know what they’re talking about. Every aspect of the
music industry is represented. The merchandising people are here, the
mangers are here, the lawyers are here [and] the artists of course are here.
It’s pretty cool.”
Fast forward back to the showcases, and after catching JaD I headed over to
the 9 Lives to see Ill Mic. Unfortunately I couldn’t get close enough to the
stage to get any good shots. My bad Ill Mic crew, I’ll have to give it
another shot at a future show. Had to hit the house and dump the pictures
off my cf card so I could make it to Luna Halo at the Cotton Club.
Even though it was the one show of the night that wasn’t wall-to-wall
people, there were still around 300 people there (my estimate). I made it
just in time to hear “Over the Edge” off the band’s 4-song EP. Luna Halo is
currently laboring under a development deal with Dreamworks/Interscope and
does extensive touring in Europe.
As for the band’s performance, in keeping with our theme of pictures that
say it all, I’lll refer to you to the picture of Chris Coleman’s Pork Pie
Percussion kit at the end of the set. The band shot I got of them at the end
of the night was also apt. They look pretty exhaused; I know I was. And of
course the picture of Cary Barlowe is perfect. You need know nothing more
about the type of guitar player that he is.
As for why I have no coverage to report about Saturday night, I had some
business to attend to. Having learned a few things myself after covering
Atlantis the last two years, I hooked up with some friends who agreed to
finance studio time for a punk band I’m working with and plan to release an
EP from. Next year I hope to make my first band submission to Atlantis. See
you there.
Chris Coleman of Luna Halo's drum set at the end of the night.
Cary Barlowe (right) of Luna Halo is a blur of motion on the guitar.
Hognutt frontman Geoff Adams, a.k.a. the Clark Kent of metal.
John Stringer of JaD gets the party started at
the 10 High.
Jenkins, Coleman and brothers Nathan and Cary Barlowe of Luna Halo.
Nathan Barlowe (right) and Aaron Jenkins of Luna Halo at the Cotton Club.
Amanda Williams-Irby had some advice for fellow songwriters.
John Stringer talks with Eva Alexiou of the Fata Booking Agency after the
touring panel.
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