In our next band spotlight, we chat to Peter Chapman, guitarist and vocalist for Atlas Wynd about music and inspirations.
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S] What stuff inspires the band outside of music?
It seems that everyday occurrences/problems that I face, and sometimes problems that other people are having are what inspire the band. Sometimes it’s hard to open up about things to someone, so it seems to end up in the music. I never really planned for it to be that way but looking at all the songs we’ve had over the past five years, there seems to be a pattern.
S] What are some highlights of the band’s career so far?
Playing Leeds Festival was one of the big ones. We’d been there as punters for a couple of years before, so finally getting the chance to play was big for us. Also, we went to South Korea in 2016 to play two shows at Zandari Festa. To this day we still find it hard explaining how much of an amazing time we had over there. Lastly, playing The Great Escape. We came down to Brighton expecting to be the worst band in the scene since there are so many amazing bands playing around here. Getting the opportunity to headline one of the stages, with it being a packed out room, was something we never expected.
S] Festival season is upon us – what are you most looking forward to?
Cracking open a cold one with the boys. We’re playing a few festivals with our friends this year, so getting to go to them for free with our mates is enough for us.
S] What themes and ideas inspire your sound?
The sound of our band was never preconceived, it just seems to come out with a snarl to it. I guess it might be some underlying angst we can only tap into through playing music together, since we’re pretty chill most of the time. I think now the goal is to push into something that is our own.
S] What is your attitude to success in the industry?
We’re not looking for success in the industry really, we’re looking for success in life. Our goal in life is to be happy and we’ve figured out that playing gigs, making music and putting it out is what makes us happy. If we have to be a part of the ‘industry’ to do what we love full time then that’s fine by us. Success to us is happiness.
S] What’s the band’s mission statement?
We’ve never really had a mission as such since the start. We kind of just do this because it feels right to us. I feel like having a mission to get to a certain place in music isn’t really the right way to approach it because you’ll always be pushing for the next thing and never quite be fulfilled. We take each gig as it comes and are happy with what we have, since anything from now on is a bonus. Going back to our goal of happiness, you can either think ‘when we get to this point, we’ll be happy’ and never quite get there, or you can just be happy now with what you have and just follow what feels right to you. I suppose our mission is to follow what makes us feel good.
