Atari. Issue #57

Last weekend my old friend Dylan Atari flew up from San Fransisco to stay with me and visit for a week. Dylan was the bass player for my longtime band LAYMANS TERMS (who some of you may or may not know), and we basically grew up together by starting LT when we were 13.
We continued to kill our inner ear cells in practice rooms all over Seattle until we disbanded in 2004.

After LT broke up, there was the the "post breakup weirdness" that occurs anytime a long-term relationship ends (anyone who tells you a band isn't a marriage is lying), and Dylan moved to SF to attend the ART INSTITUTE where he now studies Video Game Animation and Design. Dylan and I talk regularly about music, art, the quarter life crisis, and how things have changed so much in the music industry in just the 4-years since LT split. There was no iTunes, Myspace, Facebook, or any of the other music blogs that now help bands (like myself and COLLIDER) reach their audiences in ways that we never could. We sometimes wonder how those tools could have helped LT had the band continued for a few years longer, and though we'll never know, it's interesting to speculate how things would have helped if at all.



In the short time following LT's break-up, any reminiscing of LT felt heavy and loaded with years of baggage that looking back needed to settle with time before the good could rise to the top. This past week though we had a blast watching a few old live songs on VHS, skipping through demos, and talking about the crazy musical adventures together that defined our late teens and early 20's. I was also fortunate to have the opportunity to play with Dylan again at a COLLIDER practice as Mark (Bass) was out of town and invited to him to fill the slot for the night. My uncle has played with a few of the same guys his entire musical life (35 years), and has often told me that when you play with some people for so long there is a innate musical connection that forms. It was obvious to me that we still have that after playing for so long, and years later I'm thankful that continues to exist with he and Matt Edington being two of my closest friends.




The night ended not too unlike how we started playing together; with us getting as far into covers of SMASHING PUMPKINS, PEARL JAM, and LIVE as we could and my voice going out from my horrible Billy Corgan impression. That's what's it's all about...





I'm really excited to announce that next week I'll have a brand new 2008 Summer-Single available for download via my site. The song is called "Vouch For Me" and I think you'll like it...see you in a week!

-KS