Q: Can you tell us a bit about yourself and how your childhood impacted your musical direction?
Andy:
My Mum has always played accordion in our home and that was my first instrument. When I was 10, my Dad bought me an acoustic guitar and I started to play, but I didn’t really get involved enough and a few years later I got my first electric guitar. At the age of 16 I started my first metal band, it was a pretty heavy band. That was the beginning. I have never been impressed by the dirty ‘rock n roll’ vibes and my goal was always to get better and better as a guitar player and to be able to play all those songs my heroes wrote .
Claudia:
I grew up in Bolivia, there wasn’t really much access to anything if I’m honest, specially records. When I grew up, the internet was starting to come around, so I would bootleg music, or go to street markets to find full discographies and stuff like that. I craved it, I guess I say this because it wasn’t easy, you had to really look for it, and the same with my development, but I always knew what I wanted luckily, so I just went in that direction.
Q: How are you planning on growing your fan base and sharing your music with the world? What message do you have for anyone who is about to discover “ATAN”?
Andy:
I think what makes us different from many other bands is the fact that during the composition process I was naturally focused in creating our own sound, which is important to me. Passion for different music styles has provided interesting songs so the listener can find all sorts of vibes from soul to rock, progressive metal, and some djenty riffs on 8 string guitars – all blended together with very melodic Claudia’s singing and unexpected vocal harmonies. Our rhythm section sounds massive and is mainly focused on the groove. I think ATAN’s music can be found interesting to different audiences, listeners can focus on the lyrics , the technical side as well as details on the compositions.
Q: Who is the most inspiring artist for you right now? And where do you find inspiration for making music?
Andy:
I don’t have “the most inspiring artist” and the thing which inspires me is when I grab my guitar and just go where the fingers take me, so it is that easy really. I don’t know what song I will compose and what direction I will go , it’s like painting abstraction-you can start with a dot and see how it will grow. I prefer not to be categorised in any music genres as I love all types of music..from soul, rap to black metal.
Q: Can you tell us about the story or message behind the song, “Amends.”?
Claudia:
To make Amends, is “to fix ” something, I wrote the lyrics when I felt abandonment of and the sense of separation in humanity. Humanity keeps abandoning itself by blaming the outside for everything that is “wrong”, and hence giving away inner power. Amends is about making peace with that part of ourselves, and amending our power to create.
Q: How would you describe your sound in one word for potential listeners?
Andy: Unexpected
Q: Did you face any challenges while writing or recording “Amends”?
Claudia:
Luckily no, writing was weirdly fluent for this one, I had this “thing” that needed to come out, it felt like a distressed moth in the gut, so I grabbed my notebook and the first thing that came out was this “prose-like” verse and then I knew what I needed to say, what needs to come out in a song, so I started recording pre-prod at home and a sort of rap came out, totally new way to me…it was perfect! Once the “sung and barked” parts were done I focused on the bridge and felt like a scream would go well…it was very liberating to me at the moment, singing Amends still it’s my favorite song we have published so far.
Q: What is the message of your music? And what are your goals as an artist?
Andy:
We don’t have a particular message and for me the music has to move people, unleash the emotions and make people happy or sad, depending on the mood.
The goal is to compose, record and relist more music and play more gigs. I hope people will get our vibes and our fan base will grow up.
Q: Who is your dream artist to collaborate with? (dead or alive)
Andy:
That’s a good question, we are already working with Derek Sherinian as he will be on our new album as a special guest and he was a guest on our first album too.
The dream artist to collaborate with..hmm..I would say Ryan Martinie (Mudvayne), Abe Cunningham (Deftones), Kevin Moore. (ex – Dream Theater), Frederick Thordendal (Meshuggah), but I am focused on what I can achieve by composing my own music and trying to be as creative as my imaginations allow me.
Claudia:
So many! From the top of my head I think Rene from Residente, absolutely brilliant, fearless and ruthless. I like people who write like that, or Devin Townsend, I feel we have a lot in common, even our love for Musical Theatre, it would be good fun!
Q: What is your advice for people interested in pursuing music as a career or for those trying to enter the industry?
Andy :
I am not actually that person who likes to give advice to anyone because everyone has to find their way to promote themselves. From my experience, what I can maybe suggest is to be even shameless and don’t let anyone tell you that your dream can’t be achieved.
Q: If you could go back in time and give a younger you some words of wisdom, what would they be?
Claudia :
Don’t make yourself smaller to prevent others from feeling uncomfortable with who you are, how others feel about you is not your responsibility. That advice would have ridden me of so much suffering.
Andy:
Don’t take the World too seriously and focus on personal development, stay away from problematic persons. We are only for a little while on planet Earth so make sure the way you live is full of happiness and satisfaction.
