Atomati: Well, if piracy is any indication, it's been received well.  Lon has a bunch of friends in LA who've taken to burning copies and handing them out to friends.  The same thing,thankfully, is happening here in NYC as well. Of course any band starting out encourages that type of behavior.  We play and record to be heard. That and we've been too broke to keep up with demand and produce enough CDs, which is why we decided to make the EP available on iTunes (click on album cover above) .

SO: What is the background on the band name?

AI: Oh man! Did you have to ask that question!?! It's the question we fear most, you know.  It was either "atomati" or "Flowers and Unicorns," but we just didn't know how to pull off the latter. In truth, we stumbled upon the name, which is a reference to automatic weaponry. Apparently, in Nigeria, illiterate soldiers call automatic weapons "atomati."  The name, in truth, was decided on for its graphical appeal. We weren't looking to be dogmatic when we chose it.  That being said, we also liked the metaphor. In the beginning we felt illiterate while holding these very powerful tools/instruments – guitars, keys, drum machine, drums, bass, microphones. We tend to shy away from the meaning now, as we hate guns.

SO: What is your favorite track on the album and how long does the songwriting process take for the band?

AI: Each of us likes different songs for different reasons. Milind loves "Submarine."  It's by far the pop standout on the EP. Hell, Danny even plays a Moog on it. Lon is kind of attached to "Clothes on Fire." Again it may have something to do with the keys Danny plays on the track, but it's also a dancey song saturated by a hard to define mood.  Also, the song structure is a bit different.  It's not your typical verse-chorus-verse song. Very few of the songs we write are. "Clothes on Fire" is also a fav because it's about running around, drinking a 40 oz, and screwing while the world crumbles around you. For less than a soda you can download one from iTunes.

Songwriting is so much damn fun.  It's a truly collaborative process.  No one in the band is a hired gun.  We tend to get in a room and feed off each other. Most of the time, we bring small bits to the table, try them out, and then tear 'em apart.  We've written songs faster than you can play 'em, but we've also worked on songs for months.  Until it's recorded, we tend to continually fiddle.   

SO: Arlene's Grocery seems to be one of the best places in NY to see up and coming bands in a post CBGB's landscape. For people who have yet to get over to the venue, what is the atmosphere like, how is the crowd?

AI: Arlene's is amazing. The sound guys really go all out for bands there, so you're guaranteed a great sound, which is a huge luxury for a struggling band in NYC. We've also noticed that people show up at Arlene's just to see bands.  Too often, bands have to rely on friends to ensure a crowd, but at Arlene's it's different. When we mingle prior to a show there (ok, while we're getting drunk), we run into people who are just there to hear new music. Sometimes they don't even have any idea who's playing.  For us, our goal is to convert 2-3 people who've never heard us or heard of us at every show, and   Arlene's is great for that.  The audience is always receptive and discerning.

SO: What are you all listening to these days? Who are your influences?

AI: A proper list of favs could take months to effectively shape. We feel like John Cusack in High Fidelity making a mixtape for a girl he wants to screw. Listening to… Lon is semi-obsessed with Les Savy Fav, Hot Chip, Of Montreal, Wolf Parade, Professor Murder, Pulp… Yikes! This list could fill your magazine.  Milind often mentions Camera Obscura as well as Peter Bjorn and John. "Young Folks" is an amazing track. Danny's listening to Bloc Party, Mew, anything produced by The Neptunes or Nigel Godrich. As far as influences go, Danny's guitar is often informed, technically, by the Edge. Surely the band is influenced by U2, The Cure, Joy Division, Gang of Four, Pulp, Fugazi, Manchester + Bollywood + Electronica + "the 80s," … We have no idea how to be concise concerning this topic.   

SO: Since the release of the EP last year, what's in store next for Atomati? Are you currently recording songs for another release?

AI: Yeah, we just started recording some demos.  Typically, we like to record new songs by ourselves; Lon has an aging computer that somehow accommodates 10-15 tracks of audio. So we'll record some stuff and then listen to it, tweak stuff, show it off to friends, get some feedback, and walk into a real studio with a strong grip on the weakness and strengths of the songs, rewriting and/or trashing some of them.  We want to be in the studio in April or May and put together another EP. We tend to favor the EP format.  In a perfect world, we'd release 5 EPs a year rather than one LP. We tend to write songs in groups and because of that there are obvious thematic and technical similarities that make those groups a bit more cohesive. Also, music stores like iTunes, now allow musicians a chance to release steadily throughout the years, giving fans a bit of consistency.  You don't have to wait two years for your favorite band's next record. EPs just seem like the new format to us.