Edinburgh-based collective Atom Eyes have released their kaleidoscopic new single Building Blocks.
Once again showcasing their ability to combine propulsive, inventive rhythms with playful melodies and radiating harmonies, Atom Eyes prove they are ones to watch. Front woman Lissa Chen Robertson’s stunningly soulful vocals are at the forefront, backed by award-winning jazz pianist Alan Benzie’s impressive skills, alongside guitarist Fraser Christie, drummer Scott Jamieson and bassist Tom Wilkinson completing the formidable rhythm section. Building Blocks is a song about platonic relationships and the rising need for women and non-binary people in particular to talk to each other. “I wanted to write lyrics that represented how much I appreciate the relationships I hold,” Lissa elaborates, “I had read an article about building neural pathways in the brain by creating positive experiences and, given all that was going on at the time in world politics, I really wanted to get past dividing people and look forward to building on safer, considerate and inclusive conditions for better experiences.”
In this interview spotlight, I chat with Atom Eyes about the latest music, technology, challenges and more.
Full Q&A along with links and music below.
Let’s dive a little deeper into You, the artist and your music. What attracted you to this genre(s) or style(s)?
We feel that music is a two-way street in that, not only is it the perfect way for you as an artist to express what you feel and say what you want to say, it’s also a way of influencing how other people feel. At the heart of Atom Eyes is the sense that, having a listener hear your track and come away from that feeling uplifted, seen, supported or part of something bigger is the most valuable thing to us. Our lyrics talk a lot about mental health positivity, gender equality and stories inspired by the lives of friends, and our sound can best be described as warm, nostalgic and uplifting. The genres we love tend to stay away from cliché, use interesting harmony and more often than not rely on solid, funk, jazz, rock or hip-hop influenced grooves. We are trying to achieve all of that too, but whether we have or not I guess is open to opinion!
What led you into this journey with music? And further, what drives you to push it out to the public?
I think it’s fair to say that, as individuals, when we discovered music at an early age we all grasped onto it as a way to express ourselves and build friendships. We all eat, sleep and breathe music and have done since school age. We are so keen to push our music out to the public as we think there’s something in our sound for most people to enjoy. There’s the soulful vocals and relatable lyrics from Lissa, the killer grooves from Tom(Bass) and Scott(Drums) that anyone could dance to, the guitar parts that half the time sound like they belong in a different genre for those into the alt-rock Radiohead type vibes and then the jazz/hip-hop chord innovations from Alan Benzie (keys). On one hand we’re a band that fellow musos enjoy for musical geek reasons (we are very much those people too!) but on the other hand, we write what are basically pop/funk/soul songs a lot of the time that wouldn’t be *that* out of place on a Top 40 album.
Who or what influences your creativity? Have your tastes in music changed over time?
We are pretty much open to all influences! We definitely aim to avoid cliches though, whether they be musical or lyrical. There’s so much music around that feels very much like a carbon-copy of other artists, or albums where it’s basically 12 versions of the same song. This is clearly a successful model when it comes to business for some artists, but also, yawn. We can’t imagine writing music just to fit on a playlist, or to make sure that ‘x’ radio station might play your track. We think we’ve found a sound that is accessible and relatable whilst keeping creativity and freedom of expression as our main aim.
Each individual member brings an electic mix of influences to the band. Lissa (vocals/writer) is a huge fan of the likes of Nai Palm (Hiatus Kaiyote), Amber Jeanne (Moonchild) and her influences also extend into the pop world, Ariane Grande for example. Fraser (guitar/producer/writer) and Scott (Drums/writer) are massive fans of Jeff Buckley, Radiohead, D’angelo, and most things hip-hop. Alan (keys) is from a more traditional jazz background and studied at Berklee College of Music in Boston, Tom (bass) plays a lot of straight ahead funk style music, and I think our sound can best be described as somewhere in the middle of that vast array of influences!
Were you trying to accomplish anything specific on this new project? Creatively or otherwise?
As we’ve touched on above, I think the main thing was just to try and get our favourite local musicians together and allow everyone absolute freedom to bring their own influences to the table. That seems to have resulted in us finding a sound we feel is fairly unique! There’s still a pop/hip-hop production ethos at the centre of it all though so, even though certain songs might occasionally have ‘uncommon’ chords or more unusual grooves, we still think our music appeals to a broad audience even if it doesn’t fit neatly into one or two genres. We’ve all learned a lot from each other along the way as well, and it’s made the whole process extremely rewarding and a genuine joy to be a part of.
What was the last song you listened to?
‘Better Than I Imagined’ from Robert Glasper’s ‘Black Radio III’, featuring H.E.R and Meshell Ndegeocello.
Which do you prefer? Vinyl? CDs? MP3s?
Vinyl. Infact, I think I own about 3 vinyl emulation plugins and it’s no doubt my most overused production trick! Can’t beat the real thing though.
How about this one…. Do you prefer Spotify? Apple Music? Bandcamp? Or something else? Why?
In theory, Spotify is a brilliant tool to get your music out there to as wide an audience as possible. However, if they could start paying artists fairly that would be ideal. We managed to achieve around 20k streams from our first EP back in 2019, and I think by the time we split it five ways we’ve all just enough to buy a meal deal. (Don’t get us wrong, we love a meal deal but…c’mon.)
Other than the digital era overwhelming us with access to an abundance of music, what is the biggest challenge you face when trying to connect with or find new fans?
I think it’s trying to convince the more prominent press voices and playlisters in the industry to support a band or song that doesn’t fit neatly into one genre. We love a straight up pop classic or a 4 minute 4 chord funk jam as much as the next person, but so often it seems what is being touted as ‘the next great thing’ is in actual fact, pretty safe, pretty bland and will be forgotten about by the end of the year.
Our first single from the current batch was rejected from two prominent Spotify playlists, one for being ‘too commercially viable’ and the other for being ‘not commercial enough’. We found it pretty funny to be honest as the situation does perfectly sum up our sound, albeit in a totally unhelpful way in this case. We think we’re definitely commercially viable, and also definitely have elements that differ from the usual. But the way the industry is now, rather than us being featured on both of these playlists and creativity being encouraged, we were rejected from both. Not many people want to take chances it seems. It’s almost like the industry is set up to penalise creativity, not reward it, and I know we are far from the only band finding this to be an issue.
I often think about my favourite artists/albums and what they have in common is their ability to evolve and take the listener on a bit of a journey. Imagine Jeff Buckley trying to explain his classic album ‘Grace’ to a playlister or reviewer in 2022.
’Well…it’s got this English carol on it….and then this 6 minute rock ballad….then a heavy punk song…oh and also I cover Hallelujah….’.
‘Rejected. What genre even is this?’
Where is the best place to connect with you online? Discover more music?
Anything else you’d like to add before signing off?
Thank you for printing this interview and to anyone who checks out our music! Please feel free to get in touch with us on socials, we’re always up for a chat.
