Q&A: Miami rockers Atom Smash

Wednesday, 01 September 2010 11:17

You can toss them out of a flaming car and take away their sleep, but the guys of Atom Smash will still give audiences pure rock ‘n’ roll.

By Nicole La Hoz

Love is in the Missile, the Miami band’s debut album, practically sweats ardor. The jagged, distorted hooks and slower melodies lead you into the guys’ lives—as a band. While on set for their new single “Do Her Wrong,” singer Sergio Sanchez revealed just how dedicated the guys are to music—even in the face of fiery calamity—and what to order them if they’re ever in town.

Photo by Ryan Ray

So the upcoming tour, it’s your first one since signing with Jive?

Yeah, it is.

How do you prepare for something like that—it being your first official tour?

Actually, we’re doing a lot of things before we leave. We’re shooting a video for “Do Her Wrong” as we speak. We’re at the video location now. It’s been crazy. We’re cramming a lot of things before we’re gone. We’ll be gone for a while.

So when you think back to all the past years of really gritty touring, how does it feel now?

It’s like riding a bike. It’s always gonna be gritty. Pretty much, like, it’s always a grind for us—touring for most bands, I guess. The difference this time is that we get to stay in hotels instead of sleeping in a van in a Wal-Mart parking lot. Well, hopefully get some sleep. But we probably won’t get any. It’s all pretty much the same. What makes it so different is, with this tour, there’s some expectations there—crowds and stuff. We’re playing with solid bands, so there’s just sort of some expectations that weren’t there before. It’s unpredictable.

And I saw that your tour van went up in flames last year. What happened there?

In St. Louis, one of our wheels broke off at like 2am. I was driving, and everyone was kind of passed out, and the car collapsed from the rear. I was driving and we were going maybe 80 miles per hour. We barely flipped the car. We all jumped out and the car lit on fire—the break fluids. It was pretty insane.

How do you bounce back from something like that?

It’s weird. We had to end up taking a U-Haul for about 20 hours back home and sleep in the back in a box truck. It was sweltering heat; it was crazy. We got back to Miami and we were so drained, and I remember thinking on the way back home, “We worked through all this stuff.” Then we got a call from our [manager] saying, “Wanna come back out for three to four weeks?” and we said “Yeah, sure!” We bought a completely crappy van and went back out. It’s sort of, this is something we’re really just good at and really excited to do.

Yeah, you guys seem to have a really tight group. How long have you been playing together?

For about two straight years, but before that, the project was a couple years in the making. Anytime you play 200 shows in a year, it’s awesome. Anytime you do that, you’re gonna obviously fit like a glove. We’re on the set now, the album worked. We’re really proud of ourselves.

Photo by Brantley Gutierrez

How did it all start?

It started with our producer, Paul Trust. I just started working with him little by little. And there was Z from Austria; we just met him online and said, “Get over here. You’re an amazing guitarist.” It was kind of like the Match.com of rock ‘n’ roll. We started doing some more writing. Arnold and Taco jumped in and then that was it. Luke didn’t jump into the band until a couple months ago. We thought we needed some new energy, a second guitarist. He’s been just an amazing addition. Great guitar, great showman.

Being with each other all this time, what do you do to not get sick of each other?

We really don’t. We’re pretty much get along all the time. I think what makes this band really work is that we get along. We give each other a hard time, but haven’t had any crazy brawls or any typical band stuff. It’s very different for a band. Bands are usually in fights and have issues. In this one, we get along. We’re like brothers. It’s like an orgy of brothers.

What can everybody expect on the [new] album?

I think it’s a really diverse album and you can really go from brutally heavy songs to really sentimental ballad kind of things. I feel like all the things that we did sounds like the 90s sort of rolled into a grunge record. It’s a balance: We can get romantic and get brutal. It’s very rock.

I read how you guys were practicing in Taco’s dad’s garage in [Pembroke] Pines, that’s where I’m from, actually. But you also lived in Gainesville? That’s pretty rare.

Yeah, I went to Santa Fe for, like, two months. I dated a girl from UF, and that’s about it for my college experience. But Gainesville was definitely a huge influence. I really don’t think I would’ve been exposed to rock. The way things are down here, it’s rough. Gainesville’s been a huge inspiration for me and it’s the reason why I’m doing this. I don’t think I’d be playing in a rock band without have been playing in such a cool music scene. Hopefully, it still is.

Yeah, don’t worry, it’s still really active. So how did the rest of the writing process go?

It’s pretty much very organic. I come up with the phrasing and melodies. I come up with the general melody and lyrics, and everything just comes to me. I don’t get on a guitar and jam anything gout. We don’t really jam things out. We sort of spark up this general idea and they make it sound good and bring visions to life. It all sort of happens in my brain, and the band makes it a crazy reality.

When you guys aren’t busy taking over the roads, what do you guys usually do in your downtime?

I know Taco, he plays kickball. Arnold is a world-renowned chef, meaning in Atom Smash, he’s the best cook. Z is a recording engineer; he’s a producer. I know he likes to do yoga. I like to go to the gym and goof around, but I’m definitely one of those people that is sort of glued to music all day. That’s all I can think about or talk about is what I’m doing. I really don’t have a lot of hobbies. I get to do my favorite hobby for work, so I don’t do much else.

Last question: What’s something that you wish people would ask you?

Oh, good question. I wish they would ask me stuff like that. Favorite drinks? I like that. What we like to drink when we get to the venue. Some friends of ours can come out and they know what to get us. That’s good to ask any band.

Ok, so in case you decide to come to Gainesville, what’s your favorite drink?

I love any Scotch—any kind of Scotch. If it’s Blue Label, it’s amazing, but I’ll take Black Label. Johnnie Walkers.

Anything else you want to add?

Just [that] the album comes out Aug. 31 and that our single has been added to WRUF. Just for people to support the Gainesville homeboy and support the band and, you know, come out to shows if we play in town.

Heads up! INsite will be giving away one copy of Atom Smash’s debut album, Love is in the Missile, out Aug. 31st.