www.facebook.com/Tuesdayatlas
Sounds like: Post Rock
From: Indiana
1. How did you get started with music and how did you develop your sound? Who thought of the name "Tuesday Atlas" and is there any meaning behind it?
All of us began playing music in our early teens, each of us gravitating towards our respective instruments during middle school. Sisco, Dakota and I (Skyler), have known each other since we were 15, and Sisco and Dakota have known each other even before that, so the relationship was always there, just waiting to be nurtured into a collaborative project like this. I joined the band in 2018, and Easton followed by joining in 2019, and we really hit it hard that year. Tuesday Atlas was a female character that Dakota had thought up on his own prior to any of us joining, and she was I think a kind of metaphor for the suffering he had experienced growing up - self-doubt, self-destruction, confusion, the whole gamut. This is reflected in both the music we released in 2018 and 2019, as well as the artwork from "Visitors" and "Hell Has a Sound," which shows this woman being drowned, and subsequently, melting in a pool of lava. People have definitely mistaken us for a metal band based on the artwork from "Hell Has a Sound!" Imagine their surprise when they actually listen and hear these melancholic, acoustic style tracks haha.
2. What do you want people to take away from your music?
Our goal has always been for people to find something to connect with in our music on an emotional level. I think Dakota writes phenomenal lyrics, and it's my hope that the stories he tells have some extent of relatability to our listeners. At the very least, we try to also tell that story with our instrumental melodies and rhythms. Some of our tracks won't be for everybody, and that's totally fine, but I believe our style has enough range that people can find at least one thing that speaks to them, and that's been my only hope for any of this.
3. How would you describe your sound to the average listener?
If a random person asked me what we sounded like, I would have a difficult time describing it haha. I guess I would say that we have a lot of melancholic, emotional and also aggressive feelings injected into our music, and that it's a delicate mix of folk, rock, grunge and hints of metal hear and there. I'm terrible at nailing down our sound, and in a way I think that's a good thing.
4. Who are three bands you’d like to tour with?
I know for a fact, Dakota would say he'd love to tour with Manchester Orchestra. I think we would also find a receptive audience touring with a band like Movements or Basement, and if they were still together, I would do anything to tour with Balance and Composure. We'd also be interested in touring with Pinback or Turnstile, as well! It's hard to choose!
5. How has Covid affected what you do?
Covid dealt us a serious blow to momentum. We had a big year in 2019 after releasing "Hell Has a Sound," and gained a lot of traction during that time through playing shows and promotion. In 2020, shows we're pretty much out of the question, and on top of that, some of us had kids, bought houses and got married, so we were inactive for a very long time. Now that we're making our return on 2022, it certainly feels like we're starting over, and while that's not ideal, I'm confident that we learned enough about who we are and what we're doing over the last three years that were prepared for what's to come.
6. What’s your take on the current state of Post Rock?
Music as a whole is at an incredible point right now. There are so many DAWs and tools at everyone's fingertips that thousands of unique and incredible tracks are released every day. In a way, that makes it harder to stand out amongst the torrent of new music, but it's hard to deny that more amazing music is being pushed out today than ever before.
7. What’s the current music scene like locally there in Indiana?
Our scene here in Fort Wayne has always been cooperative and supportive! We have made some great friends here in the city, and social media has made it easier than ever to build relationships with bands from out of town or even out of state. We have friends that are based in Indianapolis, South Bend and Lafayette, and have made great friends with bands from Dayton, Ohio and Michigan. In many ways, we're trying to build a "Midwest" scene, and have a bunch of bands supporting each other. It's honestly incredible and heartwarming to be involved with it.
8. What’s your take on the royalties that streaming services pay out to artists?
I've always thought that royalties paid by streaming services are FAR too low. These days, it seems like the artist is the least compensated party in this thing called music, which is wild to me because there would be no product to sell or market if it weren't for the artist's brain. Thankfully, sites like Bandcamp help by actually paying the artist what they're worth for the work they did to release the music in the first place.
9. What's next for Tuesday Atlas?
2022 will be a big year for us, complete with a string of new releases leading up to our first full length album release on July 9th. We will also be releasing our first ever lyric videos and live videos, as well as coming out with new merch and promotional strategies. Like I said, we're basically starting over, and we're going to hit it as hard as we can.
10. Any shoutouts?
We really want to draw attention to and give an ABUNDANCE of thanks to our friend Caleb Lewis, with Champion O.I. Recording. Not only is Caleb a phenomenal musician, he is the only reason we've released any music and enjoyed any level of success since 2019. Caleb recorded "Hell Has a Sound" and "The Stone Tape," and not only mixed and mastered the former and mixed the latter, he composed new parts and added layers of incredible percussion and synthetic instruments during crucial moments. He has an unmatched ear for music, and an attention to detail that is unlike anything I have ever seen. He respects the work we all put into it, and it shines in his own work. Caleb, if you're reading this, we love you, man.
I'd also like to shout out Nick Meade, who mastered the tracks for "The Stone Tape." We've gotten to know Nick really well over the last year, and there are few people who love music and music technology as much as him. He's given us endless valuable insights and ideas for things we can do going forward, and we appreciate him so much. Nick, we love you too, dude!
