By Jacob Engels
Last month at the Florida Music Festival, I bumped into Nick Roe who plays drums for the local band “The Grizzly Atoms.” Nick was kind enough to give me their CD, Brave New World, so I have spent the past few weeks listening to it…..and it’s pretty damn good. Track number five, entitled ‘Sin’ is my favorite. So, I reached out to Nick and the rest of the band for a 5 question Q&A.
I asked them the following questions –
How would you describe your music in terms of style and genre? Since the bands founding, how have things changed? What do you want people to get from your music? What does the music mean to you? What is on the horizon?
Starting with Nick, their answers are below —
Nick Roe – Drums
1. Our music has sounds of rockabilly, punk, psychedelic, indie, and garage blues rock. Its fun..and at times FAST.
2.Since the bands founding, we have grown from a two piece garage rock band into a full fledged trio with a unique blend of familiar sounds. We have grown together as a band and have learned to ride each others energy to produce great music and energetic live shows.
3. and 4.We want people to feel alive when they listen to our music. Its a force of sound that I believe anyone will enjoy. The music has defined our lives and anyone who has seen us will tell you above the stage presence and energy that goes into every one of our live shows.
5.We have some music videos on the horizon as well as future merchandise and some tour dates this summer! The future looks amazing!
Nik Sidella – Vocals/guitar
1. I guess I’d call it a mix of psychedelic and punk; fast, fun, trippy, rock and roll
2. When we first started, it was just me and nick as a two-piece jam/punk band, so when we added Terran on bass it opened up more avenues to explore with what we could do…we’d also like to think we’ve gotten better at playing with each other.
3. Well I know personally, for me, listening to music can be a very cathartic experience…something that takes what your feeling and kind of throws it back to you in a relatable way that frees your spirit from whatever bonds that seem to be holding it down…if our music could ever make anyone feel that way, then I’d feel like we really did something right.
4. Music is and always should be the sound of freedom!
5. The horizon…we’d eventually really like to move out to California or anywhere on the West Coast…more immediately we’re going to be working on a music video for our song, “Mermaid”, with our buddy Devin Keebler…and then later in the summer we plan on doing a little tour around florida…right now we’re looking at july.
Terran Fernandez- Bass/ Vocals
1. I would say it is a mix between rock, funk, psychedelic, indie, punk and grunge. Each song has its own voice and style, so it is hard to settle on one genre.
2. Well, I joined the band after it’s founding. Since then, I feel we have all solidified our respective rolls and talents. We all have a different voice and roll to play which allows us to create interesting layers in the music as well as an eclectic sound. We have definitely grown tighter as musicians and can react in a second to changes.
3. Mainly we want people to have fun and relate to the music. We travel through so many different feeling and emotions in the songs and I feel it really captures the essence of being human. No one day is ever the same and requires a different feeling or mood to show that.
4. The music is an expression of ourselves. Some days we like to go crazy and play fast. Some days are slower so we relax. It is a great medium to express how we feel at the time.
5. As far as the future goes, we are talking with recording artists and booking agents to play more venues out of town, and find new ways to record. We are planning a Florida tour and figuring out new ways to get our music to new environments. I’m really excited at the progress we have made in the last 2 years and I can’t wait to see where we go in the coming years. Maybe California
To learn more about the band, check out their facebook or bandcamp.
Jacob Engels, is the Founder of East Orlando Post. Along with the Post, he owns several other businesses and is currently enrolled at Valencia College. Jacob has lived in Avalon Park since it’s founding and enjoys playing with his black Labradoodle Jasper, listening to indie rock, and seeking out new business ventures. He can be reached at info@eastorlandopost.com
