Robex Lundgren virkblogg.

Have you had other previous members? No, this has been our lineup from the start.

Did you make music even when you were young? Yes, all of us have been playing music for most of our lives.

Where are you from? We’re all from Pori, Finland.

What year did the band form? The band was formed at the summer of 2017 when our guitarist Ville-Veikko left his previous band Oceanwake, and he had some material already written. Things picked up rather quickly, the lineup was found and we recorded the EP by ourselves, and it was released fall 2017 via Pest Records.

What's your style of genre? We like to call our music modern post-metal. Defining to a specific genre, say, post-metal, feels a bit restrictive, and we are quite open minded to different musical influences so we like to keep that a bit more open.

What inspires you? It can be music, a movie, a book, a phrase or a word you hear... I can of course speak only for myself, but to me, inspiration can strike from anywhere, anytime.

How often and where do you reherse? We have a studio and a rehearsal place in our hometown, so we work in both of them, as often as we can.

How have you developed since you started with the music? Some of us have played together before, some of us have not. From the start, us playing together felt quite natural, and for the brief time we’ve been playing together, it has become even more easier and fluent. At times we also write songs as a band, and we have already established a certain way of working on that which feels good.

Do you have other interests of work outside the band? I do lots of types of music in my home studio, and I also mix and master music for others. When I have the time, I do some video and photography work also, music videos, cover art and such. Jamppa (main vocals) and Nico (guitars) also have their own solo material they occasionally work on, and Jamppa also does visual art and photography. Ville-Veikko (guitars) mainly focuses on writing music, for Atlases, and other side projects too. Then of course there’s family and daytime jobs.

Are you looking for a booking agency, and what are your thoughts around that? We have been quite satisfied with our live endeavors, and Ville-Veikko has done an outstanding job booking shows for us independently. It would be great to have a booking agency though, so we could put more energy and resources on playing and writing the music, instead of the endless emailing and contacting venues etc.

Are you looking for a label, and what are your thoughts around that? Yes we are. After Penumbra EP we decided to release ’Atone’ single independently before the pre-production of our LP, and now we have hit that pre-prod stage of the process. We would love to get our upcoming debut LP released as a vinyl, and that, among other things, is something we’re aiming for.

What made you decide to make this music?Ville-Veikko had the songs and style ready before we even had a band, and he had recorded demo versions of all of the songs. He was preparing to record and release them as an instrumental solo project, but then stuff happened, people got together, and thus, Atlases was born, and Penumbra EP started to take shape.

Who does the composing and writes the lyrics? Ville-Veikko has written all of the lyrics, and I think it will stay that way at least for now. He has this certain way of writing, it’s very original, so it stays in line when all of the texts are written by him. I think his writing is one of the things that make a song an Atlases song: this sometimes a bit abstract, yet very descriptive way of words that paint a certain type of picture and mood. On ’Penumbra’ Ville-Veikko wrote all the songs, but now we are all pitching in on the writing process: there are still songs written by V-V, but also songs written by me, and songs that we have written and arranged together as a band.

Do you start with the music or the lyrics? We usually write the music and when it feels ready, Ville-Veikko throws in his lyrics that he has written beforehand, lyrics that fit the feel of the song.

Do you compose in a certain inviroment? Sometimes we compose at our rehearsal place as a band, sometimes we do stuff alone at our homes and send it to each other. Whenever the feeling strikes.

Do you always play the same songs live, or do you vary? We vary a bit, depending on the venue and the length of our playing slot. It’s nice to mix things up once in a while so you dont get bored with the songs.

What was your first gig like? It was at the end of last year, and It was good and went on without any major setbacks. Since then we have played around 20 shows and I think our show has improved very, very much.

What was your latest gig? Our latest gig was in Lappeenranta, Finland, with Finnish bands Besra and Skein.

Have you had to cancel a gig? No, we haven’t cancelled any gigs, but we had to play one instrumental set that wasn’t planned, because Jamppa (main vocals) got so sick just before the show that he couldn’t perform. Other than that the gig went great, and we are fortunate that our music works pretty well instrumentally too.

Where have you played live this year? We’ve played all around Finland, and we toured the Baltic countries, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania on february.

Where do you plan to gig the coming year? We only have a couple of gigs booked here in Finland at the moment, and for the summer/autumn were focusing on producing our album.

When did you start to sell merchandise, and what do you have for sale? When we started playing live. We have a t-shirt with the ’Atone’ design, Penumbra EP CD and a strictly limited edition of Atlases/Besra split 8” that is exclusively sold on live venues.

Where can people buy your merchandise? We aim to set up a website and webstore during this year, but for the time being our t-shirt and EP can be bought on shows or ordered from us directly, via Facebook or email.

What do you think about people downloading music instead of buying records now a days? That’s just the way it goes I guess. It’s better to buy music digitally than not to listen to it at all. However one of the downsides is illegal downloading, and that I cannot accept on any level. I personally use streaming services and also purcahse CD:s and vinyl.

What do you think of my work? It’s always great to see people who are passionate about music and finding new bands. Keep it up!

How do you think and know that this interview will help you in the music business? All kind of coverage is always good.

What have been your biggest obstacles? We have so much we’d like to do, and tons of ideas, both musically and visually, but finding the time to do it all is a bit difficult at times. But we proceed with our vision as fast as we can.

Do you have any new material? Yes we do, quite a lot. We are now rehearsing and demoing new songs and putting the LP together. It’s very exciting.

What are your web sites? We currently only have Facebook and Instagram. Our website is coming later this year.

How can people reach you? Via Facebook or email ([email protected])

What are your plans for the future? Now we will mainly focus on creating the best album we can. After that, when it’s finished and certain things clear up a bit, we will continue to tour that material.

Do you have something to add? Thank you for your interest in our music.