The Los Angeles based rock band Attaloss released their first EP earlier this year titled “Attaloss”. The band is currently out on tour in support of the release and Media Mikes had the chance to talk with the band about the formation of the group and the making of the EP.
Adam Lawton: What led to you guys starting the band?
Chris Johansen: The band started about two years ago. We had all came from other projects and each of us knew what we did and didn’t want to do. We really took our time and made sure we had great people who were in it for the right reasons. We took about 6 months getting it all together as we all came from different cities. When we all finally met each other in person we knew we had the right group.
AL: How would you describe the band’s sound? And what makes Attaloss stand out from other bands?
Matt: I would probably put us in the modern rock category. We have a very popular sound (Laughs). Other than our live show which I think is what really sets us apart, I would say our music is fresh and it keeps your attention.
AL: How would you describe the band’s latest release?
Danny Aguiluz: We are extremely excited about this album. We have been on tour now since before its release in March. We have gotten a lot of really great feedback from people who have bought the album which has been cool. We are very proud of how it turned out.
AL: What was the recording process like for the album?
Dakota Clark: We wrote as many songs together as a band as we could. I think we had 30 verse/choruses written. After that we got a hold of our producer and just rapid fired the songs at him. He would tell us what songs he thought would work and which ones didn’t. We would then take the remaining songs and work them really hard. We started out with 5 songs which we worked on for about 2 months in the studio. Once we had those done we thought it would be cool to just do a full length album. We wanted to show people that not only could we play rock music but we could also play acoustic.
AL: Did you find performing the acoustic versions of the songs to be any harder than the electric versions?
CJ: The songs were all originally written on an acoustic guitar. It was almost like taking them back to their birth. During this time we were still a four piece until Matt Geronimo joined us. He added a whole other layer of harmonies and vocals. Those added things really changed how the songs sounded. When we went back to playing them acoustically it opened up an entire new world of sound which we were really excited about.
AL: Are there plans to release a video for any of the songs?
CJ: We have a video for our first single “Open Door”. We had also planned on doing another single/video release however the director who we worked with on “Open Door” got called out to shoot in China. This guys works all over the world and we had him locked in for about two weeks but then he got called out. Hopefully when we are done with this tour we will be able to work on the video.
AL: How much longer will you be out touring? And what other plans does the band have?
Zo Perea: We are actually going to be out for a couple more months. When we get back we plan to take 6 months off from touring to do some songwriting and hopefully release a new EP.
CJ: This whole year has been about being on the road. We will have been on the road for more than half the year when this tour wraps up. This has been about just getting out there and building up our fan base. We have been lucky enough to get on 27 different radio stations and made our way out to those places that have supported us. We now know a lot more about who we are as a band and I think our next release will be a true 12-14 song album.
