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 photo by Michael Lythcott |
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Redefining Music: Atom and His Package
an interview by Jacob Parcell |
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Adam "Atom" Goren is a little more than a man with his package, a Yamaha qy700 music sequencer. Atom and his Package is one of the most interesting acts in the U.S. It's not just Atom's high end screechy vocals and occasional guitar-saturated tunes that mock or goof everything, mainly himself, it's Atom's pure energy and enjoyment of what he does that leave many of his spectators in awe. Any man whose songs focus on everything from changing the U.S. to the metric system to obese goalies, has to be having fun. When WOOVE caught Atom during one of his constant tours via e-mail, he was preparing for his newest album release, Redefining Music. WOOVE: How's the fight for the metric system going? Atom: There are two ways to look at it. For most of the planet, it's going well. But in our country, unfortunately people are being stubborn and dumb. It's not looking promising, but eventually this generation will be dead and maybe the next one(s) will be smarter. WOOVE: Tell us a little bit about your upcoming full-length album. How will it differ from previous Atom records? Atom: It's called Redefining Music because that's obviously what's going on there (sarcasm detector, please go off... now). I really like how it came out. I recorded it at my apartment, but it sounds much better than the other records, and there's a lot more guitar-y stuff on there. I'm really happy with the progression of the songs. I think the newer songs are better, and I think that the songs are less overtly goofy this time around and stand on their own as songs. WOOVE: In the next few months you will be touring Europe and Israel. How many times have you been there before, and will these shows differ from shows in the U.S.? Atom: I have played some shows in the UK, Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, Austria, Japan, Canada, and all over the U.S. I have never been to Israel before. The European shows last time around were really good, and the language barrier wasn't too much of a problem as most people speak English fluently. In Japan, everyone was really polite. I don't think many people were too into the stuff I was playing because a fair amount of "getting it" depends on understanding the lyrics, which people couldn't, as I was able to translate all my lyrics into Japanese, but they didn't rhyme, so I scrapped that idea. WOOVE: What do you think of our fair town of Blacksburg? Atom: I've only been to Blacksburg, VA once, when I played a house show a number of years ago. It was a nice quiet college town, though I could do without all the birdshit. WOOVE: You either sing with the package backing you or play guitar (backing the package) and sing. Which do you prefer? Has there ever been a time you've wished there were other people performing with you? Atom: I like playing guitar along with the songs because I have a B.C. Rich guitar, which is really fun to hold and incredibly hard to put down. It's nice to play guitar, but it's also nice not to, and jump around and annoy people. Sometimes my friend Mike plays guitar with me, and that's nice because it means I don't look as stupid just standing up by myself. WOOVE: Your certified to teach high school science. If you weren't playing music would there be any other career options for you and do you make your living from playing? Atom: I do make my living from playing music. I don't live too extravagantly, but I've been able to pay for rent, food, and for records off doing this for a few years now. I play all the time. I am certified to teach high school chemistry and biology, and still would like to do it at some point though. There's no doubt that there's probably only a small window of time where I can do music stuff full time, and it's lots of fun, so I choose to do this right now. WOOVE: How much time a week do you spend composing? What's your songwriting method? Atom: It really varies. When I'm traveling a lot, I don't spend much time at all writing songs, but when I'm home, I tend to mess around with stuff more. I write most of the songs on guitar, or directly on the sequencer. I definitely spend a whole lot more time on the music, and the lyrics come afterwards. Sometimes songs come right out and sometimes they take forever reworking them etc. WOOVE: Most of the time, you travel alone to your shows listening to records along the way. How many miles do you put on your (or your mom's) car per year? What record or album have you put the most miles on traveling to these shows? Atom: In 1999, I drove 27,000 miles, and last year, since I toured a bit less, since I was writing and recording a new record, I put 19,000 miles on the car. (I know... not metrics... stupid car). I basically bring tons and tons of music to listen to on tour, so it really varies, though lately, I've been listening to a lot of Public Image Limited and Pinback. WOOVE: You seemingly have no respect for artists in Slayer like Kerry King who posed with a guitar that displayed a swastika and there are many bad letters posted on your webpage from metalheads. But their seems to be some praise of black metal in the linear notes to "Me and My Black Metal Friends" and of course the song "Hats of to Halford" is praise for Rob Halford. Basically, do you like or dislike metalheads? Atom: It's not a black or white issue. I like a good deal of metal, but I hate the homophobia and overall stupidity that often comes along with it. This is not to say that there aren't right-on metal people. There are plenty of them. So it's not really anti-metal sentiment. There are plenty of idiots who don't listen to metal that I don't like either. For more on this stuff, check out my stance on the Slayer-swastika thing by going to http//www.atomandhispackage.com/mail.html and scrolling down to the bottom of the page. WOOVE: In your music, what's the relationship between art and politics? Atom: I don't know. I have very strong opinions about lots of stuff, so that comes through in the songs, since the songs are things that I'm thinking about, since I'm the one writing them. I think that music and humor can be an effective way to make a political point. It's often not as alienating or standoffish as shoving a point down someone's throat, though there are definitely times when that tactic is necessary. WOOVE: How do you describe your fans? Is there one apparent or clear trait that you would see in all of them? Atom: For the most part, the people I meet are sweet and clever, but as with any group totaling over 10,000,000,000 people (the size of the Atom and His Package Fan Club), there are a fair amount of obnoxious idiots too. WOOVE: You started with the package when you were a senior in college. What advice do you give to seniors in college; do you think they should start to play sequencers? Atom: Absolutely. WOOVE: Where do you see Atom and His Package five years into the future? Atom: Who knows? Could be in a scrapbook in my closet, or perhaps doing the superbowl halftime show with Aerosmith. To find out more about Atom, visit him on the web at www.atomandhispackage.com. |
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