Quick Hit Band Interview: Air Traffic Controller

Air Traffic Controller at The Satellite

Q&A time with the band. Hope you enjoy:

How would you describe your sound? Oh boy, I think today I'll call it ... Alternative Pop. There are some opposites in our music that work together to create this ATC sound. With the two of us singing and writing, you now hear this conversational dude -vs- a storyteller poetess; folky instrumentation -vs- electronics/ rock elements; thoughtful lyrics -vs- slamming hooks. We have managed to sound like a lot of things throughout our albums, making 'variety' an expectation of our fans. If we started sounding like just one of these things I think we would get a little bored and so would they.

I found your music to be layered and intricate. How do you go about developing a song's sound? In this band, we hardly have any clue how a song might turn out before going into the recording studio with our producer Bleu, which I find really exciting. As wild and fun as he is to work with, he's also very methodical and organized. He likes receiving our demos beforehand, some are very basic and acoustic, and some are layered with lots of ideas. He'll share his thoughts on the direction - this one could have strings, that one could be a great anthem, etc. Then we spend a little time discussing, sometimes listening to classic artists that came to mind while listening to the demo. For the most part, every song gets its own treatment, there's no formula like - we need to have that same synth we've been using, or we must put mandolin on this one too. Each song just gets it what it needs to be great. The lo-fi demo is sometimes even clearly used in the final recording like you'll hear in "The House" and "Creature...", and "This Is Love"

What’s a question you'd find interesting? I think this would be interesting to ask an up and coming artist - Would you rather be a 1 hit wonder known all around the world -OR- have a steady underground following?

Concert Review: Air Traffic Controller at The Satellite

Air Traffic Controller. Late last year, I got a press invite to see Air Traffic Controller at The Satellite. I'd never heard of them. I took a listen to some of their songs and was sold. Off I went and totally enjoyed myself. Speed forward 6 months and I learned that this Boston based band was heading back to Los Angeles. Even more of an incentive, they were playing a free show at The Satellite.

I checked The Satellite website to see what time they were playing and it listed them playing at 11 p.m. Ha, luckily, I showed up at 9:45 p.m., because the schedule got changed and they were on at 10 p.m. What did the intimate crowd get treated to? A wonderful 1 hour 15 minute set. Their sound is some of the most intricate pop-rock play you'll ever hear. You get a vocal sonic exchange between lead singer Dave and bassist Casey. Then all the instruments provide perfectly blended melodies that just hook you with their catchy vibe.

What did I notice: there were some amusing self-inflicted technical difficulties. First, during one song, the lead singer, Dave, didn't properly plug in his microphone. The plug loosened up and he had to switch to Casey's microphone. His band mate noticed the situation and re-plugged the microphone. Second, again Dave caused some self inflicted technical difficulties. He picked up his guitar and nothing was coming out of it. He'd failed to turn it on.

What did I notice 2: their producer, Bleu, was in the audience and decided to jokingly heckle them. The band, "We've got two songs left." Bleu, "One more song! One more song!" Of course, someone had to follow-up that heckle with another after they finished the first of the two songs. With everyone expecting the second song, someone yelled out, "Encore! Encore!"

Well, hopefully, you can see that not only was it a beautiful hour plus of Air Traffic Controller music, but it was also just a fun, relaxing atmosphere.