A'tris

ā'trĭs /ˈeɪtrᵻs/ is an American indie rock band formed in Boston, Massachusetts in 2003 by Mason Taylor and Michael Kreher while they were attending the Berklee College of Music together. The band currently consists of Mason Taylor (vocals and piano), Ben Azar (guitar), Nate Lueck (bass, background vocals, and guitar), and Travis Abel (drums) while performing live, although the live shows feature prominent synthesized elements programmed by Michael Kreher and Chuck Sokol. In the studio, both Kreher and Sokol perform many additional instrumental and occasional vocal parts in the process of arranging and producing the music for the recorded releases. These parts are typically the basis for the synthesized elements featured in the live setting.

History

Formation and First Years (2003-2004)

Taylor and Kreher met in a writing skills class at Berklee in 2003. Taylor would frequently perform original songs before the class would start, and the music caught the attention of Kreher. Kreher, who had experience in both the business world and music industry prior to attending Berklee approached Taylor about a possible collaboration. Taylor began working with Kreher on new musical material while formulating a plan to build a career as a touring musician.

After putting together a small collection of original tunes written primarily by Taylor, the pair auditioned a series of musicians resulting in the first incarnation of what would later be known as ā'trĭs. Heading into the recording the band featured Mason Taylor on vocals and piano, Dave Lewis on Drums, and Zach McLean on guitar. Other parts were performed by session musicians from Berklee.

At the recommendation of other students on campus, Taylor and Kreher approached classmate Chuck Sokol to work as the recording engineer on the band’s first demo. Sokol had a small collection of recording equipment in his dorm room, which in turn was located adjacent to the sound-isolated dormitory practice rooms. This amateur set-up was the venue for the first recording by the band.

Upon completion of the demo, Kreher forwarded several copies to industry figures with whom he had contact in the past, including several A&R executives at Atlantic Records. The demo was received with a high degree of criticism, specifically mentioning that the sound was too close to other less popular singer-songwriter styles. After receiving this criticism, Taylor and Kreher began working to develop the sound into a more alternative and unique style.

Appeal (2005-2006)

After reinventing the sound and style of the music, Taylor and Kreher decided on the name Atris to represent the band. Because many people were having trouble pronouncing the name, Taylor suggested including American Heritage Dictionary phonetic symbols, resulting in the current all-lowercase form of the name, “ā'trĭs.” After several of the musicians from the first recording project left due to artistic differences, Taylor, Kreher, and Lewis worked together to write a set of new songs to record as the band’s first full-length album. Taylor, Kreher, and Lewis enlisted the talents of Chris Ashworth (guitar), James Colazo (guitar), and Pete Wahlers (bass) to record and tour with the band.^[1] Kreher approached Sokol once again to engineer the recordings, and also brought him closer to the project as a co-producer and arranger. The initial recordings were done at Colazo’s home studio in Connecticut, while the remaining tracks and arrangements were all done in Sokol’s apartment in Boston. Appeal became the first ā'trĭs album to Kreher and Sokol's synthesized programming.

After the completion of Appeal in mid-2005, Kreher formed the vanity publishing company Offensive Tie Publishing to track royalties for ā'trĭs. Offensive Tie would later spin off from ā'trĭs into a music production and publishing group. Kreher also enlisted the aid of record label owner and acquaintance Mark J. Morette and his record label Mark Custom Recording Services, Inc. to warehouse and distribute the album. The album was sent again to several large record companies for review, all of whom at best offered only criticism.

ā'trĭs began preparing for a national tour in support of Appeal in late 2005, but all of the musicians except Lewis dropped out when faced with a tour of that scope. Eventually the line-up was filled with new musicians including Ben Azar on guitar so the tour could continue as planned.

Following the tour, in early 2006, Taylor left Berklee to begin working on new material. Kreher, having completed his intended coursework, declined to return to the school as well, and Sokol graduated. Shortly thereafter Kreher and Sokol both moved to western Massachusetts to begin creating the space in which many of the post effects and synth elements would be added to future ā'trĭs recordings.

Of the Commons (2007)

At the end of the summer, in an effort to capitalize on the momentum generated by ā'trĭs' tour, Taylor relocated to Western Massachusetts to begin the production of a new record that would prominently feature Ben Azar's guitar work as well as the hallmarks of their debut album. Auditions for a drummer and bass player were held at Berklee in Boston to compliment the new direction and Pete Koopmans and Pat Speece were added to the lineup to begin tracking the next release, an EP eventually titled Of the Commons. Concerning the title of the record Taylor had this to say in one of his blog entries: "While writing the lyrics to these tunes, I realized a common theme had begun to emerge. Each song had come to speak to how the middle class has been forgotten and our voice really isn't being heard. I wished to express that the songs included were written and recorded for the commons by the commons, thus it is "Of the Commons."

Kreher and Sokol who, by this point, had partnered as a production team decided to suggest using the Berklee studios to record some elements of the EP. Sokol, who had gone through the recording program at Berklee, was familiar with the studios and together with Kreher thought they would provide a superior environment in which to record. Three of the six tracks featured on Of the Commons were recorded at least in part in the Berklee Studios, with the remaining three recorded entirely outside the studios in the space Kreher and Sokol had previously developed.

Tinderbox Music promoted the release to college radio with a top charting position of #184. The EP was also received well by music critics,^[2] who generally praised it for its unique sound and blending of styles. ā'trĭs offered the album in its entirety for free download online.^[3]

Lensing (2008)

Immediately following “Of the Commons” ā'trĭs began recording tracks for the follow-up release “Lensing.” Before much work was done Speece left the group to study in Europe, leaving Sokol to fill in on bass for the album and interim live performances. By the end of the recording Nate Lueck had joined the group, but not soon enough to appear on any of the recorded tracks. Lensing was released to radio January 15 promoted by Tinderbox Music and Planetary Group and broke the top #100 on the college charts^[4] within a few weeks following its release.

Presently ā'trĭs has brought drummer Travis Abel on board to create drum tracks to aid in the commercial viability of their next record. Both Lueck and Abel appear in a music video alongside Taylor and Azar for the first single from Lensing, “Automatic Doors.” ā'trĭs is scheduling a follow-up tour to promote Lensing during the summer of 2008, as well as gearing up for the release of a new record in early 2009.

Musical style

Kevin Sellers of Music Emissions describes the sound as “soulful, eclectic and enamored alt-rock,^[5]” as well as “walking a fine line between experimentation and formulation.^[6]” Taylor has cited influences such as David Bowie, Metric, Death Cab, R.E.M, The Decemberists, Ambulance Ltd, Tegan and Sarah, Radiohead, Robbie Williams, Elton John, Belle and Sebastian, Elbow, INXS, Garbage, Muse, Peter Gabriel, Queen, Sufjan Stevens, Billy Joel, Yoko Kanno, Seal, and The Police.

Political Messages and Lyrics

Although ā'trĭs did briefly support Amnesty International in its first tour, the band has shied away from making any political statements. However, the cover of “Lensing” features an image of a graffiti-like message reading “I am so afraid of war movies” with the word “movies” scratched out. Although many lyrics seem to be alluding to contemporary political or social crisis, the band has not commented on the meanings behind any of the lyrics, instead encouraging the listener to imbue the lyrics with their own interpretations. In this spirit, ā'trĭs does not print the lyrics publicly.

References

• Sonic Bids Biography