Adversity. Everyone in this life will face it, and when you do, you have two options: you allow it to cripple you, or you rise above, coming out stronger on the other side. Moving Atlas, a Progressive/Hard Rock/Metal band from Dallas, Texas, is far from being a stranger to that word, and has consistently chosen the latter route.
In 2005, guitarists, Ricky Dansby and Ben Scott, bassist, Geoff Lucke, and vocalist, Cameron Uranga, conceived the band out of the ashes of a previous shared musical endeavor which had come to an end, with the name, Moving Atlas, coming from a song title by the defunct band.
Matt Baker joined on drums, however they hit a snag as Cameron departed soon after the bands inception. Another vocalist would fill his shoes and help them record and release their debut EP, but due to personal differences he was soon let go, leaving the group singer-less.
The short relationship served a purpose however, as the EP spread like wildfire to the ears of local music fans in the Dallas-Fort Worth area that hungered for something new and fresh. Not only did they turn heads with it, but also gained some interest from established musicians in the scene, such as veteran front man, Dunagin Gaines, who would become a permanent fixture to the group in the early months of 2006.
With the puzzle complete, they quickly hit the studio to lay down the songs that would make up their full-length record, “Et al”, and by the summer of that year, the album was released.
It drew some praise from Mark Beneventi of Harderbeat Magazine, who not only said the album had a “…Tool-like vibe…”, but also deemed it as “…A powerful blend of metal, prog and emo that accomplishes something unusual - it has songs that are strong, important and catchy at the same time…”.
Over the course of the next year, Moving Atlas would perform in any and every venue in and around Texas that would have them, building a solid and dedicated fan base almost everywhere they went. The road seemed endless while the possibilities abounded… at least until June 20th, 2007.
On that day, Matt Baker, who was somewhat of a revered figure in the local music scene and known for putting on an explosive live performance, made a tragic and early departure from this life. As if the abrupt loss of such talent was not shocking and hard enough for his family, friends, and band mates, the fact that he died by his own hand only made the situation harder to absorb.
This brought the band to a screeching halt, and while you may never truly get over such a tragedy, you can and must carry on with life, and they did just that by tapping the highly acclaimed Ross Rubio to fill in on drums until they could find a replacement.
It did not take long though before they realized Ross possessed every attribute they desired in a drummer, and only months later made him an official member and set to work on new material.
The summer of 2008 saw the release of the “Elephant Gun” EP, which received many positive reviews. One came from Kaj Roth, a writer for www.melodic.net, who said of the band, “…They sound like they have been around for much longer than a few years, these new songs has the same strength and punch as from a new hungry band but also with the same experience as a band that's been around for more than a decade…”. He also likened the bands style of music as being “…Somewhere between P.O.D and Ra...”
While Keven White, with Harderbeat Magazine, said the EP, “…Showcases an ultra-modern musical style that fits neatly between emo and metal. Moving Atlas use tight vocal harmonies tinged with primal screams atop heavy guitars and thick, powerful drums to create a very listenable, memorable record…”
With the record came another year of touring to not only support it, but also to demonstrate what a dominant force they were, and in 2009 they put out a follow-up EP, “Red Shelter”.
It too received rave reviews, as Kaj Roth of www.melodic.net weighed in on this one as well, considering the newest effort, “…Simply great timeless songs that could be performed as R&B or singer/songwriter tracks…”
This proved a fruitful year for the band, as they built a sizable international following by utilizing social network sites such as Facebook and Myspace, as well as were nominated for and subsequently won an Independent Music Award for Best Hard Rock/Metal song with “Becoming Blue”. The song was also featured on the Rockband Network for XBOX 360.
2010 only got better, as Moving Atlas signed two deals. One was a development deal with Dirtbag Records who combined and re-released their previous two EPs as a self-titled full-length, while the other was a management deal, led by John Moyer of Disturbed. Unfortunately, neither was built to last, and both ended in the summer of 2011.
After a successful year, which saw the band opening for the likes of Fair to Midland and Karnivool, only adding to their impressive list of bands they have shared the stage with, which includes 10 Years, Alien Ant Farm, and Nonpoint, they took a little hiatus to dedicate their time to creating new material.
That time off resulted in the “Machina” EP, and in April of 2011 the band came out of their seclusion to headline the legendary Dallas venue, Trees, where they played to a packed house and debuted many of the new songs.
Leading up to the release of “Machina”, the single, “Crawl Out of the Cold”, held the number one spot on www.ActiveRock.pl for three consecutive weeks, beating out such heavy-weight bands as Deftones and Korn to name only a few.
So, with “Machina”, which was only recently released and has been described as “…Nothing but an armada of high quality modern rock songs to save the day.” by Kaj Roth of www.melodic.net, what is next for the band once referred to as "Cerebral, crafty, radiant – thinking man's hard rock."? by the former music director on KDGE-FM (102.1), Ayo.
Only time will tell, but you can be guaranteed two things: more new music will come in the future, and no matter what trials may arise, Moving Atlas will conquer them all.
Moving Atlas is:
Dunagin Gaines - Vocals
Ricky Dansby - Guitar / Backup Vocals
Ben Scott - Guitar
Geoff Lucke - Bass
Ross Rubio - Drums / Backup Vocals
Bio written by: Jordan Buford
Check out his site: http://themusicenthusiast.tumblr.com
and his Pocast @ http://www.whiskeyboy.us/category/tmep/
