This interview was conducted by Philip A. Wickstrand with vocalist/guitarist Stavros Giannopolous at the Roseland Theater in Portland, OR on March 31, 2011.

Hailing from Chicago, THE ATLAS MOTH is a fresh face in the Stoner/Sludge genre that should really be getting more press than they have been. With a new studio album due later this year and their recent involvement in this year's Metalliance tour alongside heavyweights like HELMET, SAINT VITUS and CROWBAR, it looks like the tide may be turning in their favor. THE ATLAS MOTH are a band to watch.

Phil: First of all, how's the tour been so far?

Stavros: It's been cool, you know. Getting to tour with VITUS and CROWBAR has been pretty awesome. Growing up and listening to HELMET and CROWBAR and in my later years finding VITUS, so it's been pretty dope going out with them and our contemporaries as well; guys like KYLESA who have been doing it for a long time too and RED FANG and HOWL, you know, made a lot of good friends. Been very fun.

Phil: How've the crowds been since you guys are going on pretty early?

Stavros: It's varied. Obviously, 6:30 is a lot to ask for anybody, especially if they're going to be at a show for twelve hours, you know. I mean, these shows go on forever. But it's hit or miss definitely, especially when they have door times that are after our set. [laughs] So shit like that gets a little hairy, but overall it's been fun, it's been great. There have been some great shows, too. Some of the best we've ever played.

Phil: I see your merch has been selling well since you only have the weird sizes left.

Stavros: Yes, we do only have the weird sizes… [laughs] It's been pretty good, you know. We didn't have a whole lot walking into it, but we've been selling. We've been having a lot of "Oh, I missed your set," you come buy a shirt instead, which is good, you know. Any support is good on the road.

Phil: So kind of like the people who are "I've never heard of this band but they're on the tour, I'll check 'em out" and then "Oh, crap, I missed them."

Stavros: Exactly. Yeah, we got both of those or people just wanting to buy a shirt, you know. It's like the really weird festival vibe, like when you go to a festival and there's a bunch of people that may not have heard of these bands and they walk up to a merch table like "Oh, I want to buy a shirt 'cause I'm here" but they're all crappy or it's like "I like that one particularly" and they just buy it.

Phil: That Tales from the Crypt parody shirt was pretty cool, but shit, that's in small. That's way too tight for me. [laughter]

Stavros: Yeah, yeah, that one's been around for a bit. I think we're just trying to get rid of some of them. We've been printing that one for three years, you know. This is the last tour we're doing for this record, so after this, it's like… hopefully we'll have all new stuff going on in the fall.

Phil: Well, tell us a bit about the new material you've been working on then.

Stavros: We wrote a record pretty much throughout the last year, on and off, kinda like just riffs here and there and started putting it together right after we got off the NACHTMYSTIUM/ZOROASTER tour in the fall of last year and literally the beginning of February, went in there and recorded it in about two and a half weeks. We've tracked pretty much everything. It's about eighty-five percent done right now and then we basically had to stop so we could get ready for this tour. So we finish this tour on the fifth and then we do a couple dates with CROWBAR and VITUS on the way home to Chicago and then we're gonna go home and finish the record, you know, and we'll have a September release for that.

Phil: How different will it be from the previous album? Will there be significant changes or just natural progression?

Stavros: I'd like to think it's natural, you know, but I'm sure like METALLICA thinks Load was a totally natural progression, so who knows? It's kind of hard being in the band. It's definitely a bit different than what we had before. But we did the record before. I mean, there were just a lot of things we wanted to do and I think we accomplished them. I think now… most of that was written three years ago. It was like a totally different head space and all these Doom bands have come out and done these long records that are all tied together with no space and I think we're kinda going out there writing songs this time and trying to go out there with our best foot forward and have a good, solid song as opposed to some big, giant piece of art, you know. Because, I mean, ultimately it's a piece of art regardless. It doesn't have to be so seamless. It's definitely a little bit more melodic but at the same time it's super weird in some parts and super heavy. I think it's just taking what we have done on the last record and just pushed it out to the extreme.

Phil: How heavily do you plan on touring on that album?

Stavros: Quite a bit, actually. We have a lot of things kinda like trying to be worked out right now that we're trying to get a game plan for as far as like when and exactly what we're going to go out. But we hopefully will be doing as much as we possibly can at the end of this year, probably the end of summer to the end of the year and then all next year. And then take 2013 or whatever to start thinking about another record or whatever, you know.

Phil: So like full North American tours rather than regional tours here and there?

Stavros: It was never our choice to just do regional tours, honestly. We've been trying to get out to the west forever now, you know, and it's just like we get offered these awesome things, like COALESCE and HARVEY MILK or like a little run with EYEHATEGOD and it's like, "Well, we're going to do it for sure," you know, but it just happens to never get out here. So we're stoked to be here on the West Coast - we've been dying to get out here forever now, so I'm hoping that we actually hit this one more time before the record's out, maybe in the late summer.

Phil: Recommend a book for our readers and then explain why you recommend that particular work.

Stavros: Wow… how about The Adventures of Mixer Man. This guy wrote a blog, anonymous blog, about a really famous band who he never mentions and just all their antics in the studio and basically, if you've ever recorded a record, you should probably read it. It'll just blow your mind about how ridiculous this huge band is when you're in the studio and then think about what you do in the studio and then you're kinda like, eh. You'll feel a little better about everything. Dealing with hard people in the studio, anyone who is a producer especially, needs to read that.

The Atlas Moth's Stavros Giannopolous

Interviewer: Philip A. Wickstrand

March 23, 2011

*By clicking "Submit" you agree to the following Terms of Use. You agree not to post any material that is obscene, slanderous, or threatening, or that may violate any law of your country of origin or the United States or of international law. Should you wish to restrict viewing of your email address by third parties, you must select "Hide My Email." You agree to indemnify and hold harmless Metal Psalter from any claims, actions, suits, damages, or other costs arising out of any breach of these Terms of Use.

*Comments:

TO THE TOP

(Click on Photo to Enlarge)

Formed: 2007
Chicago, IL  USA
Label: Candlelight Records
Genre: Sludge/Stoner Metal

CURRENT LINE-UP:

Dave:  Guitar & Vocals
Stavros:  Guitar & Vocals
Alex:  Bass
Andrew:  Synths, Guitar & Vocals
Anthony:  Drums

DISCOGRAPHY:

Pray for Tides EP (2008)
A Glorified Piece of Blue Sky (2009)