AtomicBrother.com

ATOMIC BROTHER SET TO RELEASE ‘PRETTY LITTLE LUNATIC’ DIGITAL EP ON MAY 25

admin — Thu, 13 May 2010 20:06:03 +0000

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

MAY 13, 2010

ATOMIC BROTHER SET TO RELEASE ‘PRETTY LITTLE LUNATIC’ DIGITAL EP ON MAY 25

Austin, TX, May 13, 2010 – The alternative hard rock band Atomic Brother, is back with their 4^th release, the EP, Pretty Little Lunatic (Atomic Brother Music), set for release on May 25, 2010 through AmazonMP3 and their Bandcamp powered online portal, http://music.atomicbrother.com (release on iTunes and other digital outlets will follow in subsequent weeks). Produced by Atomic Brother’s S.A. Sebastian Gnolfo and James Melillo, Pretty Little Lunatic is a cool amalgam of punk rock stylings, modern alternative metal and anthemic 70s classic rock.

Recorded in 5 cities in 3 countries, Pretty Little Lunatic features 5 new songs, 3 studio tracks and 2 live acoustic tracks and is the second in a series of EPs to be released by the band. “Right after we released See Me Comin’, we began writing and recording demos of new songs and found we had a lot of really good material and were anxious to get new music out as quick as possible,” says Sebastian. “We thought recording songs in groups of 3 with a couple live acoustic songs thrown in, and releasing them as EPs was the best way to do that”

After locking themselves away in the Swiss Alps for a month to record their first album, recording Pretty Little Lunatic was no easy task. With their 2 studio drummers Pat Aeby and Robert C. Kelly in Switzerland and South Korea respectively, James in Atlantic Beach, NY and Sebastian moving from Montclair, NJ to Austin, TX, the band had to be creative and make the best of the time they had together. “Since S.A. and I have been living in different places, we have kind of become the Steely Dan of heavy rock!” says James. “Concentrating on writing great songs and recording and playing live when it makes sense. Working this way forced us into really honing in on songwriting!” Demos recorded in Montclair, NJ were sent to the 2 drummers to record their final parts. Sebastian recorded the final bass parts at his home studios in Montclair and Austin, then joined James in Atlantic Beach to record the final guitar and vocal parts in a makeshift studio built out in his apartment.

Pretty Little Lunatic opens with the punk-infused, rapid-fire vocals of “Sin Is In,” moves into “As Far As I Can Go,” Atomic Brother’s modern, metal take on classic rockabilly then, in classic Atomic Brother style, the recording takes a turn with the quirky anthem “Bullet From My Brain,” which blends the sounds of 70’s era Who and Led Zeppelin with modern day alternative metal. Atomic Brother closes out Pretty Little Lunatic with “Better Day” and “The Blindness,” 2 songs recorded live and raw – stripped down to just vocals, guitar and bass.

The alternative hard-rock band Atomic Brother, was formed in 2003 by James Melillo (lead vocals/guitar) and S.A. Sebastian Gnolfo (bass/vocals) and splits their time between Atlantic Beach, NY and Austin, TX. While categorized mainly as hard rock, the diversity of the band’s musical influences is apparent in their ability to master a number of different styles—from rock to metal to punk, and even slower songs and ballads. The band line-up is completed by various live and studio drummers including Pat Aeby (formerly of the Swiss rock band Krokus) in Switzerland, and Robert C. Kelly in Seoul, South Korea and the U.S.

Atomic Brother released the Ep, Silence Collide in October 2009, and the full-length album, See Me Comin’ in May 2007.

A download link is available for all qualified media to review. For more information, link to EP or to set up an interview please contact:

atomicbrother@atomicbrother.com

http://atomicbrother.com

http://reverbnation.com/atomicbrother

@atomicbrother on twiiter

Recording In Austin – April 6, 2010

admin — Fri, 09 Apr 2010 05:28:54 +0000

Day 6, no recording today. Dropping James off at the airport at 5:30 AM for his 7 AM flight back to New York. But there’s still some work left on these songs- comping, editing, mixing and mastering. So, these songs will all be on the Winter EP. In the meantime, we’ve got 6 other studio tracks cued up for release, with the next one near the end of April.

- Sebastian

Recording In Austin: April 5, 2010

admin — Fri, 09 Apr 2010 05:27:17 +0000

This was the last day of recording. We got to it right away, reviewing the guitar solo for “When It’s Over.” After review, we really liked the solo from the previous day, so James learned that solo, and plugged in to the Fender, and nailed it. Then he hit the solo on the outro, finishing up all the songs. With all the tracking done it was time for some fun-the live acoustic tracks. Each of the Eps we will be releasing will have 3 studio tracks, plus 2 live, acoustic tracks. The live tracks for this session were recorded differently than all the others. When we recorded at James’ place, we could only record 2 inputs at a time, so we recorded those with a pair of condensers in stereo x-y pattern. For these recordings we had the stereo condenser mics, but I also recorded the line out of the Takamine acoustic and had James sing through the Carvin mic. Another twist on these tracks was the bass. In the other live tracks I played James’ Fender Squire P-Bass. On these I played my new upright bass with pickup. To finish out the recordings we ran through live versions of “Better Day,” “Uninvited,” “Home In The Sky” and “The Blindness.”

- Sebastian

Recording In Austin: April 4, 2010

admin — Fri, 09 Apr 2010 05:13:08 +0000

Day 4, Easter Sunday, started out with James making us huge-ass, shrimp omelets for late breakfast. Then an early start with more work on “The Blindness.” The vocals on “The Blindness” moved along really quickly, and then we moved on to recording bass. I typically play “The Blindness” on a 5-string bass, but my Jaguar bass had the perfect tone for this song. So, I ended up tuning down to D, and spending some time learning how to play the song in the new tuning. After that all the main tracks for all the songs were wrapped and it was time for guitar solos and other filler parts. James rocked guitar solos on “Better Day” & “When It’s Over.” When we record guitar solos we loop the solo section, and let James rip until he finds the solo he likes best, before we hit record. First we started with “The Blindness.” James had a melody part to finish up and the solo. We ended up going with the Fender for all those instead of the Marshall, for a less harsh sound. “When It’s Over” was the last song of the day. James didn’t like solo from the demo, so he started fresh, and we looped this one for a good hour, did a couple takes and decided to revisit on Day 5. After quitting time it was dinner at Texas Land & Cattle followed a trip down South Austin one of James’ new favorite guitar players, Red Volkeart, at The Continental Club with his band Heybale. The band featured 5 top country touring side men, and was outstanding!

- Sebastian

Recording In Austin: April 3, 2010

admin — Fri, 09 Apr 2010 04:45:44 +0000

Day 3 started out with migas for a late breakfast at Maudies North Lamar and back in studio. We still had work to do on “When It’s Over,” We did all the electric guitars on Friday, today was all about acoustic guitars and vocals on that song. We recorded James perferoming acoustic guitar parts with 2 different acoustics. The main part is played on my 1970s Kay acoustic, and the rhythm is the Takamine we used on “Better Day.” We also did a little editing on the song form, trimming out some verse lead-ins, bringing the song to about 5:30 minutes from just over 6 minutes. This one features both me and James on vocals. James takes the lead, singing in the chorus, and lots of screaming in the choruses. My part is a harmony to the verse vocals. After wrapping up “When It’s Over” we tracked all the rhythm guitars for “The Blindness” and then headed out to Trudy’s for a late dinner and Margaritas.

- Sebastian

Recording In Austin: April 2, 2010

admin — Fri, 09 Apr 2010 04:29:58 +0000

Second Day in the studio is wrapped. We started out the day showing James around downtown Austin and Lake Austin. Went for some crepes for lunch, and back in studio by 12:30. We started with James singing the vocals for “Better Day.” Although we had already figured what we wanted on this track, we spent a little more time tweaking melodies. After “Better Day” vocals, we moved on to recording the bass. We spent a little more time on bass than I’d like, but, I’ve never been happy with my part. So, we looped the different parts until I got the part I was really happy with. With “Better Day” in the can, we moved on to guitars for “When It’s Over.” For this one we broke out my Fender Deluxe 90 amp to record James performing 2 clean guitar parts in the verses. The Fender was close mic’d with a single SM57. We were back to the Marshall for the distorted guitars on the choruses. We wrapped the session after 7 hours, I grilled up some dinner and then we headed downtown for some live music.

- Sebastian

Recording In Austin: April 1, 2010

admin — Fri, 02 Apr 2010 20:32:33 +0000

We’re out at AGCruxansata Studio (aka my project studio) in Austin, Texas recording 3 tracks for Fall/Winter Eps. James came in from NY around 11 am, then we went out to rent a guitar amp – a JCM 900 head with a JCM 800 cab- from David Marshall at Fast Horse Studios. We started with the song “Better Day”, recording rhythm guitars with James playing his 1986 Les Paul Custom Black Beauty and my 2008 Les Paul Standard. THe cabinet was mic’d in the our usual way, 2 SM57’s one on the outside of one speaker, and one on the inside of another, making for a full-range sound mixed together. Then we tracked James playing an acoustic rhythm track and a second acoustic capoed at 10th fret for mandolin-ish kind of melody, with my Takamine. The acoustic was recorded mic’d & direct through, both through a Focusrite Platinum TwinTrack. We went a little extra and also recorded bass. For this song I used my 2009 Fender Jaguar with 2 lines- 1 through a Radial Pro DI and the other through the Focusrite.

-Sebastian

Mixing Update, March 11, 2010

admin — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 01:42:03 +0000

Been mixing six new songs at 5th Street Studios in Austin, TX with Craig Sadler behind the desk. Mixes are sounding great! We’ve got 3 songs for our second Ep to be released in Spring, and 3 songs for a third Ep to be released this summer. Today is revision day. We’ve spent the last few days sitting with the mixes nitpicking, and today is the day we finalize everything.

Stay tuned for release dates!

- Sebastian

February Studio Update

admin — Sat, 27 Feb 2010 03:31:33 +0000

At the end of December James spent some time in the studio with drummer Robert C. Kelly recording tracks for the fourth Atomic Brother Ep. The 3 studio tracks on that Ep are called “Better Day,” “When It’s Over,” and “The Blindness.” These are a little departure from the first three Eps. So, what’s up with all the Eps; there’s only one out now! mixing the second Ep starts March 2, and I’ll be back at 5th Street Studios in Austin, TX overseeing the mix with Craig Sadler behind the board mixing. We’ll be releasing this, still untitled EP, in April. And like the Silence Collide Ep, this will be digital-only, and will have 2 live acoustic tracks. We’re also putting together some bonus material that you can only get here at our site. I’ll be providing updates from the studio here and on our twitter feed. So stay tuned.

-Sebastian

Back in the Studio

admin — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 17:36:28 +0000

Silence Collide has been out for a little while now, and we’ve been hard at work on the next set of releases. A couple weeks ago Pat Aeby recorded drums for “Uninvited,” “All Scarred And Alone” and “One Of Those Days” in Lausanne, Switzerland. Then I recorded bass for those songs last week in Austin, TX. Now James and I are out on Long Island, NY at James’ place recording vocals and guitar top finish up these recordings. Post-production on the second Ep stalled while we started working on these songs, so we figure that these will be released as our third Ep sometime this summer.

- Sebastian