Atlas Abell is the lead singer of Flight to Dubai, a band of rising-stars from Sydney, Australia, whose song Hail Damage was featured on our #35 podcast. They are just back from an Australian tour in support of their recently-released EP ‘Frontal Lobes’.

My favorite thing to wear onstage:

Boots, jeans, a good leather belt and a shirt that breathes. Our set has an unforgiving, fast paced, and brutal capacity – we need to tread the line between sturdy workwear and cool, comfortable clothing.

The last musical instrument or musical-performance-related item that I bought and loved was:

I bought a Shure 55SH Dynamic microphone in 2012, first mic I ever bought. It gave me years of hard hitting performances, taking everything I could throw at it – it’s cactus now but it had a bloody hell of a run.

it’s so Roy Orbison

The musical instrument or musical-performance-related item that I really really really want is:

A Waterphone. It’s been used in so many famous horror film scores and just fascinates me

According to Etsy, which seems to be the place to buy one, you will either sound like a horror film OR like dolphins and whales

The artist who has influenced me most is:

Roy Orbison. Outside of having the best pipes in the world, (tone, capacity, resonance – The Big O has it all) I think our relationships with the stage/audience have a lot in common with each other.

Something I wish I’d known before joining/starting a band:

To affect others is to affect yourself. Take the good with the bad and aim for balance.

I live in Sydney, Australia.

It is where my house is.

The general vibe of Sydney is:

Policed, controlled and Orwellian: Lock-out laws, social limitations and a quiet, dying streets.

The Sydney lockout laws were introduced by the government of New South Wales in February 2014 with the objective to reduce alcohol-fuelled violence. The legislation requires 1.30am lockouts and 3am last drinks at bars, pubs and clubs in Sydney.

the best place to play music here is:

Botany View Hotel. Good atmosphere, central to other venues and cold beer

the best place to SEE music here is

Marrickville Bowling Club. Big space with great sound and even better line ups, cheap beer and a bowling green

If you don’t know what lawn-bowling is, as I do not, this provides just one more excellent reason to go to Australia. – Ed.

My favorite local band (aside from my own):

Satanic Togas. With a Devo-esque rock n roll vibe, their live show is great, their music is spectacular and all the members are stand up blokes

I collect:

Nothing in particular and everything at once. I just have a whole bunch of weird or nifty knick knacks that I like, one man’s trash is another man’s treasure. Usually with heavy nostalgic connections, a lot of records, old games and VHS, books and trinkets fill my room

My favorite thing to watch on tv is:

Serial Killer Documentaries. Sounds heaps twisted but I find it fascinating that someone could be wired that way; to take a life in the first place is such a wild and foreign concept but to continue doing it out of compulsion or will is absolutely alien to me and, in turn, enthralling to learn about.

The Zodiac Killer. So. Much. Fun.

In my fridge you’ll always find:

Cold Water. I get hot so easily and find myself not just wanting but requiring it – someone indulging in my cool beverages has almost ruined relationships.

A winter indulgence that I would never forgo is;

A good, strong cup of tea. Hot tea can warm even the coldest of hearts

If you’re going to buy me a gift, say in the under-$50 range, I would like:

I wear a lot of rings and love old clothes but a good book or record never goes astray – play it safe and get me a Stephen King novel(la)

The last music I downloaded was:

Tyrannamen – Self Titled. One of my good mates showed me a while ago and one of their songs was in a dream of mine recently so I haven’t been able to get off this album.

In my heart I wish I was:

Secure.

because

Don’t we all want an eternally rational worldview?

A beauty staple that I’m never without is:

At the moment, a comb. I got a shit haircut recently, so I bought this sick metal comb and it’s been in my back pocket for weeks. Outside of that I’m already too beautiful for need of anything else.

My personal analysis of the current state of the music industry is :

There’s a resistance that’s fighting against the lacklustre, mainstream pop rock bullshit that’s plaguing this country/the world. Diversity is finding its way to the surface and issues are being dealt with, slowly, but surely. I don’t think music ever gets better or worse era to era but at least there’s music worth taking in at the moment.

The best place to eat breakfast in Sydney is:

Bar Italia in Leichhardt. Their big breakfast is second to none, not to mention great coffee and a solid menu

My favorite website is:

fallingfalling.com. It’s an accurate representation of the inside of my head.

Editor’s note: Wow, yes, definitely visit that site

when people come to visit me, particularly if those people are cooler than I am, I take them to:

My mum’s house. Mum’s place always has cold beer, spare beds, great food and terrible home movies – the perfect way to see if someone’s really cool is to see how they treat your mum.

favorite seasonal beverage:

Tooheys New/Negroni. It’s pretty much summer 9 months of the year here so cold beer is a must and a Tooheys New goes a long way. Negronis are for the long cold nights when the whiskey’s run out.

the last meal that truly impressed me was:

Ribs in Plum Sauce from PHO236 in Newtown. Talk about a flavour palette; that was a perfectly balanced meal.

What’s next for you, music-wise:

We’re working hard and playing hard. Flight To Dubai has taken off in every sense of the word. We’ve been writing like crazy and are really proud of our progress, our trajectory is looking good so now we’re just putting in the hard yards to try to reap what we’re sowing. Outside of the band a couple of side projects I’m in (DogDown and COBWEB) are both pottering along at their own pace and will have results to be judged soon enough.

Lil’ Tone is a French British multi-instrumentalist who fuses elements of psychedelia, hauntology, lo-fi rock & sonic fiction. His song `Black Rose’ by Lil Tone and the Unknowns was featured on podcast #37. It nearly made Johnny P weep with joy on his birthday.

My favorite thing to wear onstage:

My Monte Paradiso T-shirt. Last summer I was living in Pula, Croatia and went to the 26th Monte Paradiso Punk & Hardcore Festival that takes place in the Rojc cultural center, formerly a military casern back in the days of Yugoslavia. The t-shirt’s became a kinda good luck charm, that reminds me of those awesome vibes. When I’m down, I think a lot about that special energy I felt and created over there.

the shirt 

the festival

The last musical instrument or musical-performance-related item that I bought and loved was:

Korg Electribe 2. It’s key to my solo shows & it fits in my backpack. Ideal for gigs abroad !

Described by one user as ‘Almost the perfect groovebox !’

The musical instrument or musical-performance-related item that I really really really want is:

A nice fucking studio. I’ve got a lot of instruments at home as it is, but I’d love to build/improvise someday a studio with a nice acoustics.

Something I wish I’d known before joining/starting a band:

Don’t think twice, just do it. Live fast, but don’t die young.

I live in Brussels, Belgium. I moved here 20 years ago with my family. It’s taking time for me to think so, but it’s a place I can really call home.

A city with street art is a good city.

The general vibe of Brussels is: a messy hell (and that’s how I like it)

The best place to play music here is:

Le Moerasque. It’s a park on the outskirts of Brussels that’s fairly close to my house and that few people in Brussels have ever heard of. I have my loner moments and nothing beats playing a guitar out in the open like that.

The best place to SEE music here is:

Barlok. Underground music only. It’s on its last legs and will apparently shut down soon, but I like that it’s been a home for so many people these last few years. Hopefully they’ll find a new venue !

Barlok. Groovy!

My favorite local band (aside from my own)

Bear Bones Lay Low. We’ve been friends since our teens. He makes great music and as a person he’s a friendly reminder to give no fucks, to enjoy yourself, and to never stop making music.

I collect cassettes.

It’s my way of supporting (local) bands and a way to briefly avoid computers.

In my fridge you’ll always find:

Beer

why

Belgium !

The last music I downloaded was:

Keel Her. She sent me a pre-release of her new album (and it’s awesome), shhhhhh !

In my heart I wish I was:

The stealthiest assassin there ever was. World leaders have been fucking up this world

My personal analysis of the current state of the music industry is:

I feed my passion, but my passion can’t feed me.

The best place to eat breakfast in my city is:

Turkish omelet at Emirdag Koftecisi.  It’s close by, cheap, reminds me of Istanbul where my brother lives

My favorite websites or apps are:

Currently I’m switching between NTS, 6Music, Radio Panik, Radio Maestral, TapeOp, The Guardian, Reddit Jokes

[editor’s note: definitely click on those first five links. They will make you wish there were a million hours in the day.]

When people come to visit me, particularly if those people are cooler than I am, I take them to:

No plans, but we will return victorious

why

Euuuuh people who come to visit me will be treated equally. Fuck being cool, just stay true to who you are (that’s why I like you!). [editor’s note: hey!]

Favorite seasonal beverage:

My new favorite drink (for any season) is a corretto, istrian style. It’s coffee with mistletoe rakija. A close second for the summer is a Ginlet, gin with cucumber

The Italian word corretto corresponds to the English word ‘correct’ in the sense of ‘corrected’.

The last meal that truly impressed me was:

Wild boar in Chimay bleue brown beer sauce, marinated over a whole afternoon. One of the best meals I’ve ever had, a fantastic night out in the Belgian countryside with good friends, we cooked the poor three legged bastard !

In the Ardenne countryside, Lil Tone stumbled upon this boar statue, which he felt had been placed to honor to the fallen one they had for dinner

Tell us about your past/present/future in music:

In 2016, I started making music as Lil’ Tone, recording and performing either as a solo synth act, with a folk rock band or in spontaneous acts. In the early months of 2018, I started digging through tape sessions from when I started writing songs, roughly ten years ago. And what I found was a whole trunk of dizzy memories, and a lot of fooling around with my family and friends. It’s not always great music, but it’s not bad either. To me, it feels larger than that. Hearing something from long ago that’s raw, wild, unpolished, feels really rejuvenating and I’m happy to now have these old rags by my side again.

2019 will be no different. I’ve got a lotta music ready to release but the big one this year will be a synthpunk album, that features songs I regularly plat in sets and that explores themes such as pulp horror, lost futures, the collective unconscious & other blurred oddities. I’m hoping to play as many gigs as possible, touring in as many cities in and outside of Belgium as I can, meeting familiar faces and greeting new ones on the way.

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Greg Guevara is the lead singer, guitarist, and songwriter for Anti-Social Club, whose song Six Feet Under was featured in the Holy Crap Records Podcast How to Get the Fans to Sing. The Anti-Social Club formed around 2001, and after completing their first album (Otherwise Bleak eXistence) in 2008,  took an extended hiatus during which they pursued day jobs, family life, and other musical projects. But realizing that A-SC had a lot left in the tank, in summer 2017 they reunited to write and record their second album, Dark Before the Light, released in November 2018. More info at facebook.com/antisocialclubdc.)

My favorite thing to wear onstage:
Visually interesting and dark-colored long-sleeve t-shirts. I like for the shirt to blend in artistically with the music, and what I play usually has dark (and hopefully interesting!) elements to it. T-shirts are comfortable and the long sleeves are versatile — you can roll ’em up or keep em down depending on what works best for the environment you’re in.

Dark! Interesting! Long-sleeved!

The last musical instrument or musical-performance-related item that I bought and loved was:
Boss VE-5 Vocal Performer. It gives me powers on stage that I never had before! Being able to readily program and control specific voice effects from my mic stand is a wonderful thing, allowing me to deliver a performance that’s more closely in line with what I’d like to do artistically for each song. That said, I’ve made it a point to not use the pitch correct feature (I want to remain authentic in my crooning!), and to limit the effects to only what I think is needed and avoid overuse.

Boss VE-5 Vocal Performer: a mobile personal effects processor and phrase looper for vocalists, rappers, DJs, and the rest of us

The musical instrument or musical-performance-related item that I really really really want is
My own self-sufficient studio and rehearsal/jam space. Okay, that’s technically more than one item, but really I see the whole collection of instruments, recording/mixing equipment, and amplifiers as a single interdependent ecosystem, and I really really really want such an ecosystem in my house! I own several elements already (e.g. a few guitars, bass guitars, amps, effects processors, etc.), but I’m trying to build a space that would allow me to play and record any “major” rock instrument (i.e. guitar, bass, drums, keys, and mic’d vox) — or have band mates and fellow musicians over to rehearse or just jam — at any time and on a quality setup. And why? Because a) it would enable me to write, play, and record music much more readily, and b) having all that firepower on hand would just f***ing rock!

Anti-Social Club in their current rehearsal space

Something I wish I’d known before joining/starting a band:
It’s really hard to find the right people to play music with, and to keep everyone working collaboratively and productively toward the same goal over the long term. If/when you do, magic happens. If/when you don’t, things eventually fall apart. I wish I had realized earlier that being in a band is about so much more than the music. It’s like being in a family, with all the joy, drama, success, stress, teamwork, dysfunction, pride, frustration, and achievement that comes with it. To succeed in the long run (and “success” may be as simple as continuing to play nicely together), you need to pay attention to and nurture the relationships at least as much as the music itself.

I live in Washington, DC. I was born and raised here. I actually live in the Northern Virginia suburbs in a town called Springfield, but we area locals all pretty much call it DC for simplicity (or the DMV if you’re slightly more hip). I moved away for a time when I was younger (two years at West Virginia University and five years in the Army, first stationed in Alabama and then Germany), but after my tour was up I came back to DC because a) I had a lot of family and friends in the area, b) the job market here was good, and c) it was still “home” to me. I may or may not stick around here forever, but overall I still like it. Oh, and the music scene is actually quite good!

The general vibe of Washington DC is:
Uptight/stressed, filled with “Type A” personalities, and overly political. Some examples of that vibe include The Beltway, The Marine Corps Marathon (which yes, I have completed!), and Donald Trump

The capital beltway. Has a lot of traffic.

The best place I’ve played music in DC is:
Jammin Java. It is a relatively small venue (capacity ~200) but has a great vibe (plus decent food/drink selection) as well as a nice stage and really good sound setup, which is perfect for a lesser-known “indie” band like mine. The staff and owners are friendly and approachable, and are very supportive of both local and touring/national acts. As a local musician, I always feel like they go out of their way to provide a quality setup and experience for both performers and audience, and as a result it’s also relatively easy to get a decent crowd to come out there and enjoy some good live music.

Jammin Java in Vienna, VA (DC area)

The best place to SEE music in DC is:
To me, 9:30 Club is the holy grail of local venues. It’s a large but not overwhelming size (can fit about 1,200 people) with good sound quality, plus good food and a few bars for easy drink access. But what sets it apart for me is that it often hosts many of my favorite bands within my most favored genre (i.e. generally ’80s- and ’90s-influenced alternative rock). Bands I’ve seen there include The Church, Love & Rockets, Peter Murphy, The Dandy Warhols, Cracker, Camper Van Beethoven, and several others, and the shows have always been memorable. (And I’ve missed way more cool bands there than I’ve been able to see!) The venue also has a certain rock-and-roll attitude and local lore about it that seems to have carried over from its previous, much smaller location (which it moved from in the mid ’90s). There are some newer and apparently more hip venues popping up around DC (for example, the oft-praised Anthem on the sparkly new DC Waterfront), and I appreciate those places too. But for me, nothing quite tops 9:30 in terms of witnessing some of the best live rock music in a straight-up rock-and-roll setting.

In 2018 DC’s 9:30 Club was named one of the 10 best live music venues in America by Rolling Stone Magazine

My favorite local band (aside from my own)
Fugazi is one of the DC punk/alternative rock music scene’s biggest success stories. That may not make them “local” in the intended sense of the word, but they are still local to me! I love the energy and vibe and creativity of their music, which would be enough on its own to make them one of my favorite bands (even though they unfortunately haven’t recorded any new music or played any shows in many years). But probably the most impressive thing about them is that even though they gained widespread notoriety and a fair amount of commercial success, they always managed to maintain the feel of a “local” band, and achieved success very much on their own terms. They never sold out to anyone, even though they had ample opportunity to do so, and were very much about maintaining artistic integrity and remaining accessible to the fans first and foremost. That’s an approach I very much admire and hope to emulate in my own music.

Fugazi, the originators of contempt for the music industry

In my fridge you’ll always find:
Rotting vegetables. The best intentions are often eclipsed by even better temptations.

A winter indulgence that I would never forgo is:
Extra comforters and blankets on the bed. The best antidote to bitter cold is to wrap oneself up like a burrito and wait for spring.

The last music I downloaded was:
Spectrums II. Spectrums (available on Bandcamp!) offers some really nice instrumental music with a cool Church-y vibe to it (as in legendary Australian psychedelic rock band “The Church”, not as in church/religious music). Their guitarist David is a good friend of mine (in fact they opened for us at our recent album release party) and I was happy to support a fellow local musician.

A beauty staple that I’m never without is:
Hair styling gel. Without it, I inevitably look like a young Albert Einstein who just got up on the wrong side of the bed.

The best place to eat breakfast in DC is:
Silver Diner. They’re open 24/7, they have a wide variety of tasty breakfast options (including lunch or dinner if you don’t feel like eggs and bacon), and they have a mini functioning juke box at every table. What’s not to love?

The Silver Diner

My favorite websites or apps are:
Spotify (premium version) because I simply love having the ability to call up almost any song I want to hear at any time and hearing it right then and there in all its glory. Pandora (free version) because when I don’t know what I want to hear or I want to discover good new music, this site is great at presenting me with songs that I really like and otherwise would have never heard in a “radio with very few commercials” type of format. Bandcamp because, as I’m only recently discovering (and thanks in no small part to the Holy Crap podcast!), it’s a broad and deep treasure trove of independent and lesser known artists who put out some great and pure and powerful music — it’s like the ultimate digital underground. And Soundhound because when I hear something I like and don’t know what it is, 9 times out of 10 I can get the hound to sniff it out for me and then add it to my collection. The music listening world has changed, and in many ways much for the better!

(Although one important caveat: As an artist it’s really pitiful that Spotify can’t find a way to pay bands a royalty of more than about $0.003 — yes that’s a third of a penny — per song stream. Perspective: one would have to play an Anti-Social Club song on Spotify about 333 times before we’d get a dollar for it — to split between the band members, of course. At that rate, it’s a real rip-off for the musicians while Spotify execs undoubtedly line their pockets pretty well. None of the streaming services pay all that great, but Spotify is one of the worst offenders. Still, it’s a double-edged sword — stay off the platform and miss out on the capability to reach a much wider audience. Sigh…)

The last meal that truly impressed me was:
Thanksgiving dinner at my in-laws. My family does Thanksgiving right.

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