PropertyOfZack Review : : Every Atlas

Twenty years ago, if somebody told the record label heads of music that the industry would look like it does today, they would not believe it. We live in a world of music where having a good voice is not needed anymore, auto-tune can fix that. We live in a world of music where the younger generations surround themselves with bands that put no meaning behind their words that so many people could one day hear. But by no means is the world of music we live in hopeless.
Every Atlas, a two-manned band from California is led by two sixteen year old boys who know nothing except to love and to make music. The music you would expect Every Atlas to make due to their age might be extremely raw and talentless, but that’s not the case. Their debut album, The Ghosts Of Everyone, which was released via iTunes on November 3^rd, is truly a masterpiece. The opening track, “In All It’s Glory,” immediately starts with a lively feeling filled with beautiful guitar parts and lyrics that make you stop and thing. Influenced by Right Away, Great Captain, Kevin Devine and more, Alex and Dustin of Every Atlas immediately show that the key to making excellent music is not relevant to age and experience. The album continues with one of my favorite songs. “Like Wind And Waves” begins with chilling vocals that last throughout the whole track. The song metaphors the relationship of a sailboat, a captain, and a sailor, which can do no other but make you think about the relationship the listener draws with his or her family. It’s a common theme throughout the record, a relationship between two people, at such a young age Every Atlas has no issue grasping the larger issues in a common person’s life and putting them into a deep, meaningful song.
I’ve been smoking seven packs a day/just to shake these fears away/just to keep my bones in place/I’ve been drinking fire from our bed/just to stop this all again/just to end this all instead. “All Hands On Deck!” is perhaps the most chilling track on the album, only behind the album’s closing track. Throughout “On Deck!” you can hear the emotion pouring out of the vocals, I replayed my leaving several times/to find solace in goodbye/I am long gone…
The last three songs on The Ghosts Of Everyone are perhaps the best. In “Figurehead,” Dustin shows of the strength of his writing ability by once again drawing a comparison to a captain, a sailor, and a family. The most peculiar part of the track is the addition of a sound bite in the closing seconds. There’s a minimum crew requirement. What’s the minimum crew? One I suppose. The meaning behind what was placed on the album itself is enough to stand on it’s own. Throughout the album there’s a trinity of three songs, “It Gives, It Takes Parts 1, 2, & 3”. The final of them, though only two-minute’s long is a perfect transition in to the albums closer. Don’t know what to believe or feel/is any of this real. If that is not soul wrenching enough, Every Atlas made sure their last song, “Ghost Story,” which happens to be a near nine minute epic, leaves your head spinning with thought. Spilled your heart upon the deck/so were your expectations met?/the hole is rotting to it’s core/the anchor rests but knows no more/do you compare it to yourself?/a compass lost among the swells/Annabelle no. Every Atlas made “Ghost Story” into a conclusion. Drawing not only the theme of a sailor and a family to an end, but bringing the tale of Annabelle, a name commonly referred to throughout the album, as perhaps the reason behind the pain and suffering, to an end.
Mixed and mastered by Wait! Rewind That Productions, The Ghosts Of Everyone sounds more polished and complete than certain bands do throughout their whole career. Alex and Dustin, the geniuses behind Every Atlas, poured their heart into their work, and it deserves to be heard. There is no auto-tune, there is just soul.

****.5/*****

PropertyOfZack Interview : : Wait! Rewind That

1.    What essentially is Wait! Rewind That, and who are the people behind it?
Chris:Wait! Rewind That is my brain child so to speak, I started it a few years ago when I decided I wanted to start studyingaudio engineering and music production. As of right now it’s just a name, it represents so much more of what I hope it becomes. When it comes to recording or running a studio especially with alot of todays music I just feel like it’s being done because it pays the bills…but I want to be able to not only make a living but keep the quality of the music I work on good. Music that makes you say Wait! Rewind That, I need to hear that again.

As of right now WRT consists of just myself and my close friend and fellow Audio Engineer student Johnny Ragin.  Johnny Ragin is an audio engineer and producer and student at the Art Institute of Atlanta. He began his musical career playing piano at the age of eight and discovered guitar a few years later. Since then, he’s played guitar in several bands in Atlanta. He came to the Art Institute because he saw the potential to have a career shaping the face of new music.  

2.     When you two got started what were your plans for the future? Are they still the same now?
Honestly, the plan for the future is to just record and work on as many projects as possible no matter what it takes or where it takes us.

Chris: Right now, Johnny’s house is being turned into a make shift studio complete with drum room, vocal booth and a control room. It’s a lot of work and i’ve only seen the pictures but this weekend i’ll see it in person. But the end goal is to provide us a place to record without the use of the school’s facilities because no matter how much better the school’s equipment is eventually we graduate.
Johnny: I got in on the project after Chris had been working on it for a while, but I think our goal has always been to make great music with great artists and to do what we can to influence the music scene for the better and to really work with artists to make their songs great. I feel like there’s a lot of times that bands who are just starting out don’t really feel comfortable with the recording and production process and there’s very little that most engineers and producers do to help with that uncertainty; we’re all about getting to know the artists and getting them in on the production of their records from the recording process itself to mixing and mastering and distribution, we want to give ever artist a solid foundation to create something really amazing and to feel like the final product is really “theirs” and not like just another piece of mass produced, corporate garbage!   

3.     Johnny, tell us a little about the process in finding bands to record and/or produce.
Johnny: Our process for finding bands is really simple: we want to work with anybody with a passion for music and a dedication to their art. We’ve worked with every genre of music and no matter what, there’s always one trait that everyone who’s great shares and that’s a real love of music and wanting to do whatever it takes to make their music great and that’s where we come in and help them accomplish that goal.

5.     When school finishes up for you guys will this project be over, or do you have plans for the future?
Chris: [laughs] That’s something that I know neither of us have actually talked about yet. We should be graduating around the same time so there is a high possibility that we continue it in some form where ever we go but again we’ll have to see where the next year takes us. If I had my way, i’d chose to open up shop with Johnny and have a studio anywhere we can get clients to come.
Johnny:  I think it’ll keep going. It’s really nice to have access to some of the resources at school, but really, we’re not tied down to the school’s facilities or anything like that. We’ve recorded everywhere from million dollar studios to my basement and the results are great no matter what what. Plus I’m actually in the process of building a commercial studio right now, so when that’s finished it’ll be our ‘home base’ for recording and production.  

6.     What new projects can we keep our eyes on the look out for?
Chris: I know we are both working on things for Wait! Rewind That,  yet doing them some what individually. I am mixing the Every Atlas album, which for what it’s worth is a crazy experiment that relys only on the internet and file transfers. It’s a complete bitch because it’d be so much more simple not to mention fun if we could have the artist with us. It would be better for the music too, however that’s just not a possibility this time and we are working hard to stretch the boundaries of what we can do with what we are provided.

We have about 5/8ths of a song with Ninety Four (http://www.myspace.com/ninetyfourband) recorded and we are all trying to sort out when we can finish based on our schedules but basically we had set up sessions and in the middle of all that there was a car accident that required the band to step away from the music and tend to real life. It’s a total bummer, right now it’s just on a hard drive collecting dust but as soon as we can we are planning on tracking the rest of it and getting it ready for the public.

We have a list of bands that we are emailing or waiting to hear back from for future recordings but nothing set in stone just yet.
Johnny: Yeah there are a lot of them! We’ve just started production on a new track for “Ninety Four” and it’s sounding amazing so definitely keep on the lookout for that! Plus we’re talking with some other well known Atlanta bands about doing production on their new material.  

7.     What are some new bands you can’t get enough of lately? And what are some others that you would recommend?
Chris: I cant stress it enough, everybody should go get the new record from NEEDTOBREATHE (http://www.myspace.com/needtobreathe) They are friends of mine and put on one of the most amazing live shows period. I’m also really digging the new Paramore, Serena Ryder (http://www.myspace.com/serenaryder) and Relient K. Plus my girlfriend has me hooked on Taylor Swift and Miley Cyrus [laughs] 

Johnny: Definitely NEEDTOBREATHE! Chris introduced me to them and we went to see them when they were in atlanta and they absolutely blew me away! They’re definitely a band to look out for. Also I just picked up the new Andrew Bird record ’Noble Beast’ and it’s just amazing, and also they’re not exactly new, but if you havent heard of the band “Pedestrian” you really need to check them out!

8.     Chris, what’s your perspective on the music industry right now, are you just as bleak about it as everyone else?
Chris: The music industry is so crazy, I interned at Star 94 FM for about 6 months and it opened my eyes to so many things.  I pretty much learned you can be 1 of 3 types of people. You either help make the music (Producer, Engineer) 2. Help sell the music (Record Representative) or you play the music for the public (DJ/Live Sound Crew).  
Are sales down? definitely but that is their own fault.  Especially when it comes to downloading, the got in the game way to late…sure they shut down Napster and sued people but they took to long to provide an alternative. Not to mention leaks, Album leaks tend to come from either the packaging plant or the inside…but rarely do fans provide the actual leaks.

9.     Johnny, can you give any aspiring producers any advice about school or how to get started?
Johnny: Listen to as much music as you can get your hands on!! Pick out what you like about each song or part or whatever and then see how you can get that sound in to your music. It’s really easy to fall in to a routine and to keep making music that sounds the same, but if you just listen to a lot of music you’ll build up a repertoire of reference material so you can be like “you know, that really beefy, deep snare sound from the new Chevelle record would go perfect in this song!” and then you can sort of model your sound after that. On the other hand I’ve also found myself in situations where realize “wow….that snare sounds just like the one on the new Chevelle record….but this band isn’t going for that sound at all!” and then I can change whatever I need to to correct it. Really it’s all about knowing what sort of sound to look for while you’re recording and (for better or worse) knowing what people “expect” to hear from a certain genre or style. Then if you know what people expect, you can give them the unexpected, but in a way they like. And that’s what makes the hits!

10. How has your school helped you with studio space and time? Do you have them to thank for a lot of everything that’s going on?
Chris: Our school, The Art Institute of Atlanta has helped us a lot. They have really nice studios and although booking time can be a bit of a pain, if you have a pretty open availability you can do some damage on the books. We’ve had a lot of good times recording at the school and i’d still be in a public college studying paintings if it wasn’t for this place.
Johnny: The Art Institute is really great about giving us a lot of hands on experience. That’s been the biggest tool for me. Just getting to sit down in front of an amazing SSL mixing console every day and learning the whole board inside and out has been huge for me. It’s something that would have been very hard to do otherwise!

11. Thank you guys so much for your time, is there anything either one of you would like to add?
check us out on Myspace


Official Email | Chris’s Twitter | Johnny’s Twitter

Personal Review: Mayday Parade - ‘Anywhere But Here’

In 2007 Mayday Parade released their debut album, it was a rather large success in the scene. A Lesson In Romantics brought a new sound and feeling to the pop-punk scene with duel vocals and meaningful lyrics. After the release of the record their lead guitarist, co-vocalist, and lyricist, Jason Lancaster, left the band. After touring the album for over a year the band decided to go back into the studio. Without the main key to their first release, no one knew how their sophomore attempt would turn out.
Anywhere But Here, which will be released on October 6th, has a much different feel from the band’s previous works. But don’t worry, it is still Mayday Parade. The first two tracks, “Kids In Love” and “Anywhere But Here” give the album a strong start with catchy lyrics and great lead guitar parts. There is a noticeable difference without Jason throughout the album, mostly in the lyrics department, but MP does pull through. The third track, “The Silence” is more than skippable, there’s nothing wrong with it, it just doesn’t stand up to their prior work or the first two tracks. Songs similar to “The Silence” would be “Save Your Heart,” “Center Of Attention,” and “The End.” As I made my way through the album, I initially didn’t like it but after a few more listens in grew on me. Stand out tracks besides the two already mentioned are “Bruised And Scarred,” “Get Up,” and “I Swear This Time I Mean It”. ”I Swear This Time I Mean It” brings back memories of ALIR, with it’s slow feel but powerful meaning, it will surely be a fan favorite.
This is no sophomore slump, it’s just a band trying to find a way without the reason they were originally loved. Compared to their first album, Anywhere But Here falls short, but it is by no means a bad album. ***/*****

PropertyOfZack Review : : Paramore

Do you remember 2008? It was a sad a year in music. Album sales continued to drop, illegal downloads continued to rise, perhaps the only positive thing in the business side of the world was that vinyl sales began to rise. Did there seem to be less of those songs on the radio that seemed to stick around just a little too long? That’s the one thing I notice, the ability for a song to sustain it’s popularity lacked last year. Not every band had this issue, Paramore did not have this issue. For listeners who did not know of their first release, All We Know Is Falling, Paramore burst onto the scene in mid 2007 and early 2008. Usually when you hear female vocals on the radio it’s going to be Miley Cyrus or Taylor Swift, but this was different. Paramore had female vocals on top of pop-punk music, it threw many people off. From “Misery Business” to “crushcrushcrush,” Paramore started conquering fan after fan. Soon going on world tours with a new sound and a new found popularity, Paramore received Teen Choice awards, MTV nominations, and most surprisingly, a Grammy nomination. Finally, after touring for the Riot! was, Paramore entered the studio for record their third, highly anticipated release.
A question should be asked; do you want to hear an updated version of Riot!, a mix between All We Know Is Falling and Riot!, or something completely different. If your answer is an updated version of Riot!, I hope you have open ears. On September 29th Paramore will release the next chapter, brand new eyes. It starts with “Careful,” which right off the back, will show you Hayley Williams’ upgraded vocals and Zac Farro’s drum skills. Hayley, who has stated this will be a much darker album belts out the lyrics “the truth never set me free, so I’ll do it myself.” A casual fan will notice that this is no repeat album. The new emotion that is felt throughout brand new eyes is a huge leap from any previous effort. Skipping the single, “Playing God” is perhaps the best track on the album. With a classic pop-punk feel and edgy lyrics from Williams on her points of view regarding God and individuals with a God-complex personality. “Next time you point a finger I might have to bend it back and break it off. Next time you point a finger I’ll point you to the mirror.” Ladies and gentlemen, that is what you should expect from this album. As the album plays on, Paramore takes their shot with at a ballad with “The Only Exception,” which is sure to be a fan favorite with Williams’ chilling vocals, that are similar on another slower song, “Misguided Ghosts.” One is sure to be a single, the new found talent of the band can be strongly seen in the two songs. “Looking Up” is a song solely dedicated to the turmoil Paramore endured in early 2008 after nearly breaking up because of the break up between Hayley Williams and Josh Farro. But they pieced it back together, they would never give up so soon. The album ends with a familiar song, “Decode,” which has been heard by the masses because of it’s appearance on the Twilight soundtrack.
Dare I mumble the word perfect if I am to talk about this record out loud? I think I might. The overall improvement from Paramore in this effort is mind blowing. The weakest song on the whole record is perhaps the one they chose to be their first single. If you liked that, it can only get better. To be frank, this album will beat the crap out of you.