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Interview: with Atlanta Band Satyr – Official music video and new track from their upcoming Album “Locus” – Free Download
by Adam Keen…
All I can say is Yes! ‘Picayune’ from Satyr’s upcoming full length album “Locus” brings the energy. Its a sharp sounding production and really showcases a band, talented as individuals and as a group, constantly creating upward and exceeding. The video (directed and filmed by Zak Waddle) is equally hard-hitting. The kaleidoscope feature hits just right and the shakiness of the camera during the screaming adds a sinister and unnerving aspect. I reached out to the group to discuss the upcoming release. Below we touch on how the band was created, their live music versus their studio productions and great places to play and hear live music in Atlanta. See their music video for “Andromeda” below as well. “Locus” is out 2/21/20.
Download the first single from “Locus” for free here…as always, be sure to pay something if you can. Support Local Music.
THE INTERVIEW:
B: Who is in the band and what do you play? How do you know each other?
Michael: Satyr consists of Michael Campbell on guitar and screams, Janald Long on guitar and clean vocals, Calvin Cox on bass, and Brody Smith on drums.
Michael: Brody and I went to high school together and were mutual friends in the same circles but didn’t really get to know each other until Brody joined Satyr in late 2017, and also moved into my apartment. Our original drummer Jack put up fliers advertising the need for a “progressive rock bassist” around GA State campus in downtown ATL where we went to school. Calvin was the first person to respond to the flier. He came over to our place and auditioned and we all talked about bands and traded music for a while. He was a great player off the bat and pretty much joined right there.
Later on in 2017, Calvin brought some friends to one of our shows and they brought JD (Janald), who none of us in the band had met at the time. I started talking to him and mentioned that our former clean vocalist had quit a few weeks before and JD mentioned he used to be in a band that played music similar to us. I asked if he wanted to try out as our vocalist and he agreed. He came over to our apartment a few days later and jammed with us where he revealed he was also a sick guitarist. It was a no-brainer to have him join right there.
B: Your debut full length album “Locus” is due out Feb 21st – tell us a bit about the album…how do you think it differs, or is similar, to your past music?
Michael: “Locus” is definitely a huge step forward from “Neutrino” in basically every way. We spent more time crafting the songs and especially spent more time recording everything and gave ourselves time to try things out in the studio. There are a lot more layers of everything, especially vocals, throughout “Locus”. The songwriting is better and more sophisticated and our playing on “Locus” improved a ton from “Neutrino”. We went with the same engineer as “Neutrino”, Corey Bautista, who himself had improved a ton in the two years between the two projects. Overall everyone was better at their roles and we were all closer friends while recording “Locus” as opposed to “Neutrino”, simply because we had spent so much time together over the previous two years. The styles are similar but “Locus” is really an improvement on everything we tried to do in “Neutrino”.
JD: Definitely heavier and more technical than “Neutrino”. More experimentation in regards to effects than the previous release. Lyrics and subject matter is more related to existentialism and the human condition.
B: What is your favorite track from the album? Why?
Michael: My favorite song is ‘Picayune’ actually. I just think it’s the best structured song and flows from part to part the best. Everything we do throughout the album can be summed up into that one song.
JD: My favorite track is ‘Perigee’. I just get a genuine feeling of excitement throughout the whole song. It’s one of few songs that make me want to dance without giving a FUCK.
B: What do you hope a potential fan is thinking after listening to “Locus” all the way through?
Michael: Hopefully they think something simple along the lines of “tight” or “fuck.”
JD: Lyrically, I would hope they take their own message from it. I don’t really think we had an intention of changing people’s mindset. It’s more of a confessional approach when it comes to writing lyrics in my opinion. Instrumentally, I hope we amaze people at how unique and intricate it is compared to Neutrino.
B: Do you find that your music translates easily from studio to live? Or do you have to make tweaks – can you share a bit about that process? How you prepare your music to be heard live?
Michael: Some tweaks have to be made from studio to live for sure. Mainly based on what JD or I do on the album. Since we both do vocals and guitar at the same time, it can be difficult to nail both parts exactly how they are on the album, where we could break everything down into tiny sections one at a time. There are some vocal parts that we will change a little bit to make it smoother to perform while playing guitar. And there are some points on the album that have three guitar parts so obviously we have to leave out one on those sections. Nothing crazy though, we try to not change the songs as much as we can. They’re also extremely hard so lots of practice goes into preparing for shows.
B: What would you say sets you apart from other bands in your genre?
Michael: I think what sets us apart is that we fuse a lot of things together. We all listen to very different kinds of music and I like trying to bring in aspects of all the styles we listen to into one big melting pot of a sound. I think a lot of bands get stuff on “we have to have X style or Y sound” and sometimes don’t think that mixing stuff together can be a better outcome.
JD: I don’t think we try too hard to act like typical metal bands in terms of acting and dressing really dark and serious. We’re just ourselves naturally and focus on strengthening our skills as musicians.
B: Describe your music in 3 words.
Michael: Big. Tight. Sick.
JD: Mathy. Exciting. Distinct (like you know it’s us when you hear the songs).
B: What do you think about the Atlanta ‘music scene’? Do you think Atlanta has a fostering atmosphere for new bands and artists?
Michael: I love the Atlanta scene. There are a ton of bands of all kinds of styles getting big right this second. It’s great being in a big city because there will always be enough people interested in each individual sub-sub-subgenre that anyone can make anything work. There are plenty of venues and community spaces for people to hang out, meet, and trade ideas. I see new bands popping up all the time which is amazing. There’s just too many people around for great art to not happen.
JD: Atlanta has a very friendly music scene. It has been relatively easy gaining connections and we have acquired many friends along the way.
B: Where is your favorite place to play live in Atlanta?
Michael: The Masquerade for sure. It’s the most classic rock venue in the southeast and the entire ATL scene has adopted it as a home base I feel like. Not even counting playing shows, if I’m just going there to see a show, not even planning to meet anyone or bring anyone with me, I know I’ll see a bunch of friends there.
JD: The Masquerade, just based on the sound we get live when we play there.
B: Where is your favorite place to eat in Atlanta?
Michael: Rosas Pizza on GSU campus probably.
JD: Honestly don’t have one
B: Do you have any band rituals during practices, studio sessions or before playing live?
Michael: No, we don’t really have any rituals or anything. We crack jokes a lot but we don’t group chant or anything like that, haha.
JD: Not really. We usually just practice on our songs or instruments in general as a ritual
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