WE GO FAST AND SLOW #3 PART 4: Charred Atlas

 

So UK heads will either already have checked Charred Atlas out or know of them by the people that are involved, after a bangin tape there were practice room video’s, news of recording again and some gigs popping up so with something in the water it made sense to get some words out of them. 123go!

Explain the name and the obsession with Robocop (is it across the band or just Chris???)

(Chris) We started a few years ago and we were called Charles Atlas for a while. I think we got bored of the name almost instantly, but as we did very little other than the occasional practice back then, it wasn’t something we thought much about, so we didn’t change it. When Seedi joined he suggested Charred Atlas, which we all thought was much better. To me, the name suggests scorched earth or a burnt world, which is has way better vibes than a fucking wrestler or wotevz, and is pretty apt at the moment, unfortunately. As for RoboCop, I think there’s a general appreciation across the Charred board, though I may get carried away with it a bit. It’s perfect! It’s a shame RoboCop Returns seems dead; Blomkamp’s District 9 vibes could have been a lovely fit... I think we’re all agreed that we’ve done enough with the RoboCop and arcade thing hence the newer art not looking like that or having that vibe.

(Seedi) Waffle answer: A Charred Atlas is a burnt book of the world, a symbol of the inevitable yet self-defeating human hunger to create beautiful things only to destroy them again, like a vast ecological domino run. And when that beautiful object is itself the product of a colonial, cartographic urge, the metaphor is doubled, as the flames of rampant consumerism and vested interests end up consuming the world itself. The planet has been set on fire by its own children, but it is also a big fan of irony, and therefore probably won't allow humanity to survive the sheer affront of this arson - no bad thing, we say. Real answer: it was better than the name of some old bodybuilder, init. Bonus answer: the laser cannon aboard the Strategic Defence Peace Platform could misfire again any day, you know. Then we could all be in RoboCop for real.

(Pete) When I joined I remember thinking that Charles Atlas was going to be a pretty funny and cool name both because of Charles Bronson (band and actor obvs), and that there wasn't nearly enough 'Charles' bands out there amongst the various 'Bastard's, 'Terror's,'Dis's and '-ation's! But yeh, then Seedi joined and apparently almost immediately he instigated a post-inflammatory regime change policy to the way of the 'Charred'. To us that felt like the best of both burning worlds, naturally we converted instantly and have been staunch devotees ever since. So now, in effect no 'Charles' remains (aka I'll try and keep the PV puns to a minimum from here on in)!

It's very very hard to go wrong with the OG Robo so we decided why not in fact go Robo all the way! That and Chris is obsessed. Endlessly quotable and rewatchable, boss theme music, sneering ultraviolence, dark humour, capitalism-critiquing themes, 80's futuristic urban dystopian visuals and let's face it a killer font! It was an easy way to bond at the first rehearsals as well because we'd all seen the original trilogy multiple times etc..

You are spread across the country... does the logistical challenge concentrate your energies in to playing faster when you get the chance???

(Chris) It probably adds to the speed, or the urge to do as much as we can at practice which turns up the speed. We do make a conscious effort to speed things up once a song is solid, though songs also gain natural momentum and tightness over time. The emphasis is most definitely on pushing the speed and intensity, especially in the newer songs.

(Seedi) I think this is a good way of putting it. We don't have the luxury of being together that often and so we try to cram in as much as we can when we are - this then sort of naturally extends to the tunes. There are pros and cons to everything of course, but I guess it makes us appreciate time together and try to condense it. When it comes to aiming for pure speed, I kind of think of it more as intensity, whether of feeling or effect or meaning or whatever - and that can definitely include speed most of the time. However, I'd say we also want to enjoy the experience rather than just "make it go quickly", when it comes to rehearsals and writing and so on, and so if you can imagine travelling around the country to see friends and making music with them as a type of mini-holiday each time, or something, then it's all definitely about fun too. And time flies when you're having fun, right? So again, that is reflected in the tunes: time flies. At least that's the theory, the trains often have the last laugh, the bastards. They are sometimes the enemy of fast, sadly, which should never be the case.

(Pete) Well it certainly helps impress upon us that time is of the essence in fast music and to always keep one eye on the clock (in the practice room)! It's definitely led to increased fastness of the tunes though, trying to squeeze another run through in before time runs out etc. The logistics side can deffo be a bit draining at times, mainly because often we have to spend more time travelling than practicing and more time practicing than hanging out due to having to leave right away for trains/coaches/lengthy drives etc.. But that's just the nature of the beast, we all knew what we were getting into! I try and maintain the perspective that I'm lucky to still be playing music at this point and that the context of this is privilege.. But, as it goes this necessitates frequent use of public transport on my part. Which occasionally summons a dramatically antithetical viewpoint in my brain for me to chew over at my leisure on some deserted platform/oversold train late at night! Rough with the smooth, it's all worth it coz we're all good pals now.

 Your awesome tape has a very cool old computer game aesthetic and the how to pick a fight with a planet made me think of some of the narcosis song titles; but along with these things and the bands humour live there’s the intensity of playing and lyrics that use play on words, references that broaden the argument and a poetic emotional bluntness... is this contradiction because you avoid the trappings of taking yourselves too seriously or is this just the way CA has come out?

(Seedi) Yeah, Chris did an amazing job as always on the artwork. He seems to get a visual sense of the music quite quickly, almost like synaesthesia, it's enviable, and then when we chucked in both lyrical and general themes of relevance to us, it sort of came together quite nicely. Humour is a big part of that - I refer you back to my previous answer about trying to have some fun to cover the smell of this steaming latrine of a universe. It's nothing new to say there's a fine line between comedy and tragedy, but I think these days they're almost interchangeable. We're just kind of jokey people anyway. The intensity of the things we enjoy needs balancing, you know?

(Pete) I don't think it's necessarily a conscious presentation of contradictory elements, in fact it's probably more unconscious. Or at the very least semi-conscious! Tin Life, mate. In one sense we take what we do fairly seriously because for it to be fun the music has to be good and that takes work.. But we probably couldn't do that work if we took ourselves too seriously! There's an absurdity to what we do anyway and we enjoy it. I mean just in the usual way our music and its presentation is a juxtaposition of ideas and an amalgamation of (various internalised) aesthetic choices (what was that about not taking ourselves too seriously?)! So to a greater extent it is just the way it's turned out I think. Because this is what we want to sound like. Basically at this late stage in the game we trust ourselves, so if it looks good, sounds good to us then we'll speed it up and go with it..

 

The vocals from Seedy are cleaner than the barking/growling/screaming malarkey but then musically tighter, faster and more aggressive sounding than most peers.... this is another cool combination.... deliberate and intended or just how it came together?

(Chris) Piers, who I was mates with from when he was in Flyblown and Morose, and I started doing CA as we had both moved back to the UK after living abroad for a number of years. We talked about doing something that was just fast 90s hardcore along the lines of Stack, Y, My Own Lies, and other similar Euro bands and having no metal or even vague metal influences. That’s kinda the same now stylistically, despite the newer CA songs being much more complex and quite difficult to play, rather than being technical. Around the time when we started, I bumped into Seedi, or more to the point, he (most affectionately!) choked me out from behind at Chimpy, we hugged, we rejoiced, and said ‘We’re old now!’ and we then talked this band with the idea of Seed doing vocals. As it was pretty much straightforward fast hardcore at that point, there wasn’t really a discussion about what the vocals would sound like; I think we just understood it would likely sound that way due to the bands we were looking to ape. The tightness and stops probably comes from it working well in Horsebastard and Narcosis and it being fun to pull off. We’ve spent quite a bit of time sharpening those stops on the newer stuff, which is nice. It’s also quite comical that people comment on the stops being great – so basically, it’s great when we aren’t actually playing anything.

(Seedi) Half intended, like Cat says. I love words and want them to be vaguely accessible, even if not always totally obvious or even intelligible. Trying to reflect who you are and where you come from without constantly yapping on about it in a direct way, that plays into it too. Trying to do something ever so slightly different in fast music, that as well. The other half is simply a limitation of the vocalist, who used to do some of the mad vocal gymnastics of other bands, but is probably just too decrepit to do so any more, really.

(Pete) I'd say deliberate, intended and just the way it came together! There was intentionality in regards to Chris already knowing Seedi and his style when he approached him. But then being able to leave him to get on with it for the most part, so that it came together organically/naturally at the same time as we were getting the sound together.. A telling anecdote might be that because of the way we'd been rehearsing sporadically and separately, with only phone vids for reference that more often than not just sounded like total blasting noise. It was only after the recording of HTPAFWAP that we all really got a proper idea or understanding of what we actually sounded like! I agree, it sounds ace and gives us a bit more of our own sound which is all to the good at the end of the day.

 

Tell me your plans.... I’ve seen a UK fest, some dates in Europe??? and a practice room video of a new song so what's in the pipeline?

(Chris) We’ve recorded 22 new songs which are much faster/consistently faster, tighter, more abrasive and angular and the fastcore and fun sound of the previous recording isn’t really there. Theres quite a lot packed into a really short spaces of time in each track and the songs are more varied, despite the tempo being upped considerably. The lovely labels releasing it as a 10” are Bones Brigade, Coxinha, Weekend on Monday, and this will be the new recording on Side A and HTPAFWAP on the B side. I think its 44 songs in total. The fabulous Eggy Tapes is doing the cassette version of the new stuff, plus a repress of the ‘How to…’. Artwork is by me and isn’t the same style as the last recording art. We recorded with Boulty Thrower at Stuck on a Name again because he is a hunk of burning grind and the best at recording fast bands. After that, we’re doing 10 days in Europe in June with Pothole from the UK who are great fun, and it should be a superior chortle from start to end!

(Pete) Think Chris has covered this, but yeh a week or so in Europe with Pothole (Lincoln PV/HC) in late May/early June. And yes, the reason these answers have taken ages (soz!) we've been focussed on rehearsing as much as possible for our new recording. Another 20 songs are now recorded and will be released soon. Recorded and mixed once again by the ever-patient Boulty at Stuck On A Name (ta mate!.

 

Rum Lad Steve Larder drew this

It seems like Dan is from a different generation in terms of waves of bands in the diy scene with Chris and Seedy being more established back in the day whilst Pete was just starting out.... is it strange to now be all playing together?

Are you too niche to be considered a supergroup

(Seedi) It is strange, but no stranger than anything else, like the concept of the supergroup itself - surely a supergroup is just any band you really really like? What do YOU think Matt? It's not like you're a newbie or don't play music yourself. The fact this niche even exists, has survived and evolved, has still sort of retained its urgency and validity (for me at least), and that despite distance, age, money, life changes, etc. we still managed to find each other in it - that's quite sweet, no? Regardless of from which particular angle we came at it or at what time, the common thread is we're all just a little bit obsessed with bands and that. It's not necessarily logical but I'm fine with that.

(Pete) I don't think it feels strange to us at all (hopefully the others agree)! The only peculiarity to overcome for me was the logistics of arranging rehearsals and learning songs from practice vids etc. Chris, Seedi and me are pretty close together in (old) age anyway really, but as you say Dan is a decade or so younger. In fact, I think it benefits us more than anything because he's the drummer, so he's the engine of the band and has the most youthful energy to burn in the pursuit of performing relentlessly rapid blastbeats. Thus driving us all on and on to yet further feats of fastness! Personally, I wince noticeably whenever anyone uses the 's' word about us tbh! An embarrassment of niches etc… But the other side of that assertion is that it's utterly understandable in the context of promoting the band. After all, we do want to actually play gigs and release our music!

 

Clean bass.... was this a hot topic when you started out or did Pete just forget to pack his pedal when you first practised???

 (Seedi) I won't speak for Pete on that but as mentioned elsewhere, in a more general sense I don't think we ever intended to be the heaviest or most extreme band in the world ever or anything. Just intense in our way.

(Pete) It was Chris's suggestion from the off, I can assure you of that! Not really a hot topic apart from the occasional anxiety attack about not having my usual safety net of scrunchy fuzz to hide mistakes behind as I've been used to in the past. That's probably definitely led to me just once or twice occasionally rambling on about it now and again. To anyone in earshot. But apart from that, I honestly think that with the way our sound developed a distorted bass wouldn't sit right in the mix now. Similar to the way Seedi's vox are not the usual screams/grunts/gurgles.. The clean bass offsets and compliments the distorted caterwaul of the guitars, sits well with the shimmering hammer of the drums and bounces off the syllabic onslaught of the vocals! I really like the balance, it's punkier this way and part of our sound now..

I've been asking about creative process in this issue of WGFAS, your question is do you have a single order for song writing or mixed methods? Do lyrics ever happen first?

(Seedi) It's never really lyrics on their own to start, but a concept or an intended title might inform the shape of a riff, or an imagined song structure. Offering then immediately snatching away from potential future audiences the opportunity to dance is another major song-writing influence. And the main thing I bear in mind when writing is I'll get told off from all sides if the song is too long - quality is always secondary to this.

(Chris) We’ve all written songs on this recording as we did on the last. Once they go through the grinder, they end up coming out the other end chargrilled and ready for us to then play at double speed and worry about. There’s not really a formula, but when we bring riffs in the arrangements for beats are usually in the writer’s head, otherwise it probably wouldn’t make much sense. I assume all fast bands do something similar to this as it’s not really jammed out music. That said, we all throw ideas into those pre-planned structures, and some songs have changed quite a bit. I personally like to have a set of songs with one contrasting song thrown in the middle, which has worked out quite nicely on this new recording.

(Pete) Mixed methods because everyone brings their own riffs and arrangements. I finally pulled my finger out and contributed two tunes to the new recording. So yeh peeps write riffs/arrangements, they get worked on in the room, undergo the usual rapid mutations until no more fat can be shaved off then sped up ruthlessly. Then we try and play ‘em fast!

Quick fire round:

Warhammer or D&D?

(Seedi) Warhammer - just a little more gritty, though nothing against D&D.

(Chris) 3rd Edition Warhammer and AD&D. Games with compelling worlds and vibes rather than ‘Me and my character’ driven narcissistic story-arcs full of superhero characters right from the start. The best of all is Dave Morris’ paperback Dragon Warriors - pure 80s atmosphere.

(Pete) Neither! No Borehammer and No Gods No Dungeon Masters fraid.. As always, I've got less important things to do, soz!

 

Asshole Parade or Despise You?

(Seedi) Asshole Parade - just a little more catchy, though nothing against Despise You.

(Pete) That's a toughie, I've listened to 'West Side Horizons' more recently than 'StudentGhettoViolence' so DY.

Shitbrains or EPMD?

(Seedi) No need to choose, just splice them together and you get Shit Prices Diminish Brains.

(Pete) I'll plead the split LP!

Robocop 2 or Robocop 3?

(Seedi) Robocop 2 - mostly cos I don't think I've seen Robocop 3 (have I even seen Robocop 2?).

(Chris) Robocop 2, but I’d watch Robocop 3 each and every day over that utterly heinous remake.

(Pete) It's got to be 2 of course! Yes, the descent into cartoonishness starts here but plenty of memorable scenes to compensate. I love the failed prototypes and the randomness of Elvis Presley's skeleton on display in a glass case and of course the lengthy scrap between Robo and Kane! Though in 3's defence, nowadays I seem to enjoy it more and more with each subsequent viewing. It gets a lot of flak, but I dig spotting 'Seinfeld' era character actors, the jetpack Robo scene and to top it off the robot ninja fella with the wonky face. Give it another go, I've seen worse!

 

Internal Rot or Forced Starvation?

(Seedi) Internal Rot - mostly cos I don't think I've heard Forced Starvation (have I even heard Internal Rot?).

(Pete) I've not heard FS yet so it's IR for the win.

 

Playing fast or playing faster?

(Seedi) Trick question - you want me to say 'playing faster', but you can't play faster than fast without first playing fast, so playing fast is the OG, plus 'playing faster' could just be playing faster than really, really slow. Playing fast. Also, I refer you back to ‘intensity’ vs ‘speed’ yadda yadda. Also, you know full well that slow is quite fun too, no? What’s this zine called again? Bonus piss take - I didn't do this round quickly, you're not the boss of me.

(Pete) The latest studio sesh has proved indisputably that faster is mostly bester.

 

 Anything you want to add??? If not maybe share future plans about picking fights? Should our immediate solar system or maybe the entire universe be expecting to be offered out anytime soon or is it only human dwelling planets that need shove?

(Seedi) Two things (sorry not sorry): firstly HTPAFWAP doesn't actually specify which planet, so the question is inherently anthropocentric - even if we put that to the side for now, and say for the sake of argument the planet in question isn't generalized and IS actually Earth, then humans are part of the planet, not additional to it (hello Timothy Morton), so yeah, we're just fighting ourselves by doing that anyway, of course; and secondly, I'm an absolute wet blanket, so please don't beat me up.

(Pete) Thanx for the interview and patience. Future plans are contingent as always on the future itself. Tour, Vinyl, Gigs pls. If we can't manage peace then I guess we'll just have to BURST THE MULTIVERSE instead. Peace would be better though.

(Chris) Many thanks for the interview and keep dancin!

Whilst we wait for the new 10"/ tape.......