Atomic Brother
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Atomic Brother

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"Atomic Brother hits the airwaves: with a 1973 Alice Cooper remake"

Wednesday, December 08, 2004

By MARY ANNE CHRISTIANO
of The Montclair Times

Detroit (WRIF), Rochester (WKGB) and Cincinnati (WEBN) are just some of the 13 radio stations across the United States playing the new single, “Elected,” from the Montclair-based band, Atomic Brother.

“Elected” is a remake of the 1973 Alice Cooper classic and debuted on Oct. 11 of this year, before the 2004 presidential election. Atomic Brother, which consists of James Melillo (guitar and vocals), Montclair resident S.A. Sebastian Gnolfo (bass and vocals) and Toby Broadie (drums), reworked the song, giving it a more modern edge, including an ad lib focusing on current events.

“We tried to make it not Republican, not Democrat, just generic,” said Gnolfo.

The inspiration to record the song came when Gnolfo was on vacation in Orlando, Fla., just a few months before the election. He heard Alice Cooper’s original in a bar and thought, “I hadn’t heard this song in forever. What a great song to do for Election Day. As we were transcribing the lyrics, we thought the lyrics were really pertinent to what was going on in the news at the time.”

Atomic Brother is a heavy rock band based in Montclair and Brooklyn, N.Y. “Elected” was recorded by Gnolfo in Atomic Brothers’ studio in Montclair and mixed by Tim Hatfield (Cowboy Technical Services in Brooklyn) and mastered by Joe Lambert (Classical Sound in New York City). They are now working on a full-length CD, which will feature different styles of music besides rock.

Gnolfo and Melillo met in 1989 at Berklee College of Music on their first day of school. After hanging out together, they decided to write music together. Besides Atomic Brother, they also play together in another band, which is female fronted, called Moto Star.

According to Gnolfo, he’s been playing music since he was 5 years old. “I was playing trumpet and my dad’s old guitar at 9. That led to playing tuba, electric bass and guitar again. I don’t think there was ever a time I thought I wasn’t going to be a musician.” Some of his influences were Cream, Van Halen, The Cure, and Love and Rockets. He said, “Jack Bruce was probably my biggest influence of all as a bass player. And Bach as a songwriter.”

Like Gnolfo, Melillo also started playing music at a young age. He said, “I was playing trumpet in fourth or fifth grade in school. A friend showed me how to play ‘Stairway to Heaven’ in 20 minutes. My mom was a big Elvis Presley fan. My dad was into country stuff. I got into music through that. I started playing in bands, trying to copy who I liked. I knew I was always going to play music, that it was part of my life. I just didn’t know how much.”

Gnolfo and Melillo still keep their day jobs, though. Gnolfo said, “If you read all the books and practice on all the theory on how to become super rock stars, there’s only an infinite amount of bands that will make it every year.”

Melillo added,” We’re not 18. We like money. We like making money and having a certain amount of luxury in our lives. We’ve both lived off girlfriends and it’s not very glamorous anymore. I don’t think that’s a very glorious existence. People become these dark, depressed individuals. We want Atomic Brother to be about having a good time.”

Atomic Brother’s upcoming CD will feature a variety of music including country, flamenco, reggae and straight-up rock songs. Gnolfo said, “The challenge is how to take those different styles and make it sound consistent. We are recording now. We figure it will be a few months of production time. Probably have it pressed by spring, released in the summer.”

They plan to build a following starting with radio. Gnolfo said, “We’ll do the radio first and find the places we have the following and go there. We can play for more than the bartender and staff.”

Melillo added, “Bands used to release singles in the 1950s. Two songs. We think that might be the way to go. See where we get airplay and go there, instead of being one of the 7,000 bands that plays a show in New York on a Friday night.”

Gnolfo wants to target the colleges and then do another release called “Re-Elected,” which will be an industrial remix and a dance remix to get a different audience.

When the band isn’t working on music, Melillo likes to surf and Gnolfo likes graphic design and Web sites.

“We talk a lot about life and stuff that everyone talks about,” Melillo said. “The reason Atomic Brother is happening now is we’re in that mindset where we’re just trying have fun and trying to get away from people who don’t think like that. The one guy in the office that you see his face and it brings you down. We’re just trying to have a good time.” - The Montclair Times


"Atomic Brother Review at Indie In Tune"

Indie In Tune (http://indieintune.com/)
By: José Carlos Santos April 3, 2008

Several DJs from different fields of music have been picking up on Atomic Brother, a four-piece from New York, and once you listen to a few of their songs it’s easy to understand why. Few bands touch upon so many different styles as these guys, as their songs mix the aggressiveness of metal, the vitality of rock, the urgency of punk as well as the catchy melodies of pop into one whole that is more than the sum of its parts. Such a broad spectrum of influences could be a recipe for total disaster in the wrong hands, resulting in a messy jumble of styles, but that’s where the biggest merit of Atomic Brother resides – here’s a band that knows how to keep things cohesive and balanced throughout their songs.

Of course, creativity has never been the easy path, at least commercially speaking, for any band, and Atomic Brother might lose some of their potential audience for that variety in their music, a sitting between several musical stools as it were. But they probably realize that it’s worth it, when belting out great riffs in a song like “Not My Fault” and then launching into a chorus that is so catchy that it’s basically infectious. Able to rock out and to reach out for a softer, more emotional song like “Home In The Sky”, for example, you can be sure that you will never be bored at one of their live shows. Such shows, incidentally, are highly recommended – the band has acquired a strong reputation of transcending themselves on stage, which is a good sign of the quality of the musicians that we’re dealing with here.

James Melillo (guitar and vocals) and his gang already have a bit of experience behind them, with a single called “Elected” having gotten interesting airplay back in 2004 and their long-awaited debut album being released in late 2007. “See Me Comin’” is like a summarization of all the things that make Atomic Brother essential on stage, and it has the potential to grab you regardless of your genre of choice, because, well, whatever it might be, it’s probably a genre they’ve either used or will use on a song soon. And it’ll rock. - Indie In Tune


"Album Review from Trespass Magazine"

Hinter dem knalligen Namen Atomic Brother stecken die New Yorker James Melillo und S.A. Sebastian Gnolfo. "See me comin'" kommt entgegen seinem eigenen Namen visuell sehr bescheiden daher und versteckt auch sonst so einiges. Es ist kein einfaches Album und verlangt mehrmaliges Anhören, bis man die Bandbreite der Atomic Brothers ganz abschätzen kann. Die zieht sich vor allem authentisch durch die Hardrockgeschichte. Der namensgebende Opener mit gesprochenen Strophen zeigt die Amerikaner, die nur zu genau wissen, was sie ihrem Publikum schulden. Der darum gewobene an- und abschwellende Song erreicht in Spitzenpassagen schon fast die Intensität von Disturbed. Umso erstaunlicher, dass man im dritten Track "Take me away" einen Punkrockklassiker erster Güte vorfindet, so frisch wie einst Dog Eat Dog's "Rocky". Mit "Employee of the Month" schieben Atomic Brother dann gleich noch einen Skapunk nach, der sich gewaschen hat, bevor "Home in the Sky" einen mit heller Gitarre und Stimme in die späten 70er zurück versetzt. Die noch im vorherigen Song nonchalante "Oy"-Stimmung schwenkt - auf Platte - in Sekunden in ein träumerisches Schwärmen um. Das ist als Hörer, zudem noch als Rockliebhaber, nur schwer hinzunehmen und führt beim ersten Mal ganz einfach zu Vorbehalten. Im Wissen um den Stilbruch gewöhnt man sich dann widerwillig daran - und beginnt zu geniessen. Ob und vor allem wie Atomic Brother diese Songs live auch in dieser Kombination spielen, bleibt vorerst spekulativ. Und das wars dann eben noch lange nicht. "Never Home" - natürlich der nächste Track - ist ein Latino-Rock, bei dem man glaubt, Badguy und Sänger Melillo's Zwiespalt zwischen der häuslichen Schönheit seiner Senorita und dem geilen Leben auf der Strasse richtiggehend fühlen zu können. Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, Santana - sie schweben alle mit im Sound von Atomic Brother. Haben ich einen vergessen? Hendrix konnte ich bisher nicht raushören... Dafür treten Atomic Brother mit lautstarker Stimme das Erbe der Ramones an - wir sind mittlerweile bei Track 6 angekommen. Besonderes Highlight von "Up in you" ist das abschliessende Gitarrenriff! In "Everything and Less" präsentieren Melillo/Gnolfo, die "See me comin'" übrigens mit einem Drummer names Patrick Aeby - einem Schweizer? - eingespielt haben, ihre Version von Postrock. Das Biest in Melillo musste wohl kurz Gassi gehen... Gegen Ende der Scherbe merkt man immer mehr, dass sich die nuklearen Brüder wohl doch im Punk am heimischsten fühlen - so sehr dass sie ganz zum Schluss mit "Allah told me to" gar noch politisch werden. Wegen fehlendem Songtext lässt sich aber leider nicht bestimmen, ob sie dabei tatsächlich eine regimetreue Linie einnehmen. - Selbst das würde aber irgendwie passen zur: Band der unbegrenzten Möglichkeiten!

- Monthy - Traspass.ch


"See Me Comin Album Review at Aiding & Abetting"

Cycling through a bevy of loud rock sounds from the last 15 years, Atomic Brother does a great job of ramblin' and anthemizin.' Songs that sound like All, Rollins Band, Red Hot Chili Peppers and Alice in Chains (sometimes all at once). Still, these boys do rock. - Aiding & Abetting


"See Me Comin Album Review at SwissRecords.ch"

The American trio Atomic Brother describes themselves as a hard rock band with heavy metal, pop and punk influences (you could add hardcore a la Henry Rollins, if you like) but that doesn’t hit the nail on the head. It’s more like a hard rock band that also plays heavy metal, pop and punk. But this detail, I admit, is very important. It makes See Me Comin’ a little undetermined. Does Atomic Brother want to be a hard rock, metal or pop or punk band? Other than that, Atomic Brother can certainly write powerful songs. Like, for example, the Henry Rollins-like title track the cool rocking “Take You Away,” or the up tempo “Employee of the Month.” The fine “Home in the Sky” proves that Atomic Brother can play mellow songs as well. (Translated from Swis German)

Die Einschätzung des amerikanischen Trios Atomic Brother, dass sie eine Hardrock-Band mit Einflüssen aus Heavy Metal, Pop und Punk (Wenn man will, kann man Hardcore à la Henry Rollins hinzufügen) seien, trifft den Nagel nicht ganz auf den Kopf. Es ist teilweise mehr so, dass sie eine Hardrockband sind, die auch Heavy Metal, Pop und Punk spielt. Gerade dieses Detail, zugegebenermassen, ist aber wichtig. Es bewirkt nämlich, dass «See me comin’» etwas unentschlossen wirkt. Wollen Atomic Brother jetzt eine Hardrock,- Metal,- Pop oder Punkband sein? Davon abgesehen darf der Band aber attestiert werden, dass sie durchaus fähig ist, griffig kraftvolle Songs zu schreiben. Wie zum Beispiel der an Henry Rollins mahnende Titeltrack, das cool rockende «Take you away» oder das Tempo reiche «Employee of the month». Das feine «Home in the sky» belegt zu dem, dass Atomic Brother auch leisere Töne liegen. - SwissRecords.ch


Discography

Fall 2010 - Untitiled (5-song Ep)
2010 - Pretty Little Lunatic (5-song Ep)
2009 - Silence Collide (5-song Ep)
2007 - See Me Comin' (full length)
2007 - Take You Away (music video)
2004 - Elected (single)

Photos

Bio

Based in NYC and Austin, TX, Atomic Brother is an alternative hard rock band whose musical influences range from rock to metal and pop to punk, often drawing comparisons to Disturbed, Alice In Chains, Led Zeppelin and Jimi Hendrix -- sometimes all at once. Atomic Brother’s musical influences are apparent in their ability to master a number of different styles–from rock to metal to punk, from blues to country to pop, Spanish influenced songs and even toward slower songs and ballads–producing cohesive and balanced songs that are uniquely Atomic Brother.

Atomic Brother is James Melillo on guitar and lead vocals and S.A. Sebastian Gnolfo on bass and vocals. Melillo and Gnolfo met on their first day of college. Over the years, they have been in numerous bands together–they travelled to Europe to play in the Montreaux Jazz Festival, they played on Nickelodeon, and the even played live from the back of an 18-wheeler in front of over one million spectators.

On May 25, 2010, Atomic Brother is back with their 4 release, the EP, Pretty Little Lunatic— a cool amalgam of punk rock stylings, modern alternative metal and anthemic 70s classic rock. Recorded in 5 cities in 3 countries, Pretty Little Lunatic features 5 new songs, 3 studio tracks and 2 live acoustic tracks and is the second in a series of EPs to be released by the band. Pretty Little Lunatic opens with the punk-infused, rapid-fire vocals of “Sin Is In,” moves into “As Far As I Can Go,” Atomic Brother’s modern, metal take on classic rockabilly then, in classic Atomic Brother style, the recording takes a turn with the quirky anthem “Bullet From My Brain,” which blends the sounds of 70’s era Who and Led Zeppelin with modern day alternative metal. Atomic Brother closes out Pretty Little Lunatic with “Better Day” and “The Blindness,” 2 songs recorded live and raw – stripped down to just vocals, guitar and bass.

In 2009, Atomic Brother released the Ep Silence Collide, after spending the better part of 2008 and the first half of 2009 writing and demoing songs. Silence Collide features the 3 new songs, “Silence Collide,” “Perfect Day,” and “Hands Up” plus 2 bonus tracks; live, acoustic versions of “Perfect Day” and “Wastin’ All My Time.” From the heavy riffing and desperate lyrics of “Silence Collide” to the arpeggiated guitars and uplifting lyrics of “Perfect Day”, the studio tracks on Silence Collide take the listener on a roller-coaster ride of emotion and sound.

In 2007, Atomic Brother released their debut album, See Me Comin’, which was recorded & produced by the band in Lausanne, Switzerland at Soundlake Studios, owned and operated by the band’s close friend and former music partner Patrick Aeby. Aside from co-producing and mixing, Aeby also played drums on the album. Listeners are often surprised at the wide range of musical styles found on the band’s debut album, See Me Comin’. After the heavy riffs in “Not My Fault” and the title track “See Me Comin’,” it’s refreshing to find that the band is also capable of playing punk rock tunes like “Employee of the Month,” and even slow ballads such as “Home in the Sky” and the Spanish-feeling “Never Home.” The band also filmed a music video for the song “Take You Away," which was directed and edited by sometime Atomic Brother drummer, Michael J. Carrasquillo.

In 2004, Atomic Brother made their first release with a single; a cover of the Alice Cooper classic, "Elected" for the 2004 US Presidential election. Atomic Brother's decision to remake this song came after listening to the lyrics of the song and hearing how relevant they are today as they were when "Elected" was written over 30 years ago.

When writing music, Melillo and Gnolfo pay no attention to the style each song turns out to be. According to Gnolfo, they were “tired of hearing bands both live and on CD that sound the same from start to finish,” so they decided to focus more on writing good music and less on keeping it within a particular genre. “If it sounds good and we both like it,” stated Melillo, “we’ll use it- period. A good song is a good song.”

To find out about upcoming shows and projects, check atomicbrother.com, or follow @atomicbrother on Twitter. Atomic Brother plans to release several more digital-only Ep releases in 2010. Be prepared to hear some diverse, extraordinary music, and make room on your calendar, because this is definitely a band you’ll want to see and hear live.

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"I like them. They are absolutely brilliant...they've mastered all different styles, they go from rock to metal to punk." - GD, Bite Size Bonus

"I really love the music of Atomic Brother, and that's why, ya know, I played it so many times." - Jim Vorwald, Podcaster

"Not only metal, but sort of the whole rock spectrum. Quite an interesting band." - Pav, Rock Out Loud

“I think they got some good stuff and I am gonna share it with everybody.” - Corey Koehler, Bruno Boys Fantasy Football Show

"A band of unlimited possibilities!" - M