With a swagger as fulsome as their name suggests, Atlas are five passionate indie-rock lads from Rochdale with big guitars, big lungs and big ambition to match.
Having racked up nearly 100 gigs in two years, including support slots to Ocean Colour Scene and The Lottery Winners, they’ve got a proven work ethic too.
Adam Statham (vocals): “We’ve done every local venue, including the ones that we had to beg and plead to. As 2024 was getting warmer, we ended up getting a residency at a bar in Bury. That really tightened us up as a band, but equally as friends as well. It was a thrill. We were getting our ‘one free drink per band member’ from a different bartender each time, acting like we hadn’t had it yet! We grew much closer and that’s when we really started writing.”
Atlas started life as a covers outfit. The band – now comprised of Adam, Oscar Hill (guitar), Ben Braddock (bass), Joe Bradwell (guitar) and Marshall Lord (drums) – formed at Wardle Academy when they were all aged 16, with original drummer Dylan at the helm.
Thrown together with the lure of an end-of-year-assembly gig, they hurriedly learned how to play a handful of indie-rock staples for the occasion – Are You Gonna Be My Girl by Jet, Basket Case by Green Day and I Bet That You Look Good On The Dancefloor by Arctic Monkeys.
“We practiced and practiced. Bear in mind Adam had never sung before and Dylan had never played the drums. Then we performed to 200 people.”
Buoyed by the experience, Atlas started hitting up small venues in their immediate neighbourhood. They got gigs but found that such places were largely on the look-out for tribute acts. Atlas had more to offer. Feeling the pull of creativity, and following their Bury residency, Atlas spread their wings, secured gigs further from home, started writing their own material in earnest and, all of a sudden, things took off.
Adam: “We ended up getting the support slot for Ocean Colour Scene and The Lottery Winners. That was our first big gig. And we headlined our own night at the Golden Lion in Todmorden, which we filled out. That really gave us the motivation to keep it up, because people liked it. West Yorkshire, particularly Todmorden, Hebden and Halifax, is just the place to be for a good gig. The culture and nightlife is just much more pure and exciting. We can safely say we’ve never had a bad gig over that way. Some of our favourite bands have done gigs at The Trades and the Golden Lion. To say we’ve played on the same stage The Only Ones, Terrorvision, The Fall and Jarvis Cocker is really cool.”
Much like the suave, punk-ish guitar luminaries they hold in such high esteem, Atlas’ songs are fuelled by relentless rock riffs yet coated in melody. In short, they write tunes that reek of romantic, youthful exuberance.
Their first release last year, Don’t Miss Mr Mills, was a prog-ish slice of post-punk with clipped street vocals that bring to mind The Clash’s Rudie Can’t Fail. The follow-up, This Girl, saw the band move into more Britpop realms, albeit the harder edges of the genre. The guitars took on a more intricate level of interplay. And Adam began to explore the full spectrum of his vocal abilities, from gentle pop to snapped rock attitude, a little like early Richard Ashcroft.
Moving in to 2025, Atlas released Newen’, a crunchy riff-led track that comes with a higher sheen in the production and, again, nods to a greater degree of complexity, this time most notably in the rhythmic switch-ups.
Atlas now have a new, four-track EP for your ears. Collectively titled Maybe In Time, it sees them embracing sunnier and altogether more joyous climes. Lead single Barcelona hooks into the the kind of trippy, jangly 90s pop made perfect by The Bluetones and The La’s, with a narrative inspired by The Stone Roses’ Going Down.
With a nod to Yorkshire indie icons Embrace and Shed 7, second track A New Beginning channels a similar path, full of breezy feels and catchy bite-sized nuggets of colour. There’s a new version of This Girl on the EP too, while final track Lock and Key surfaces an Orange Juice-esque guitar run and is arguably the stand-out moment on the record.
Adam: “While we all love that classic 90s-Noughties rock, Oscar loves 70s, like Zeppelin and Clapton, Ben loves Rage Against The Machine and Limp Bizkit, Joe listens to The Lemonheads and Thin Lizzy, Marshall enjoys the complexity of Rush and plays for a European Champion Brass Band, and I love funk and soul music… There is a scene around at the moment that embraces alternative and indie music. Bands like Fontaines DC, Wunderhorse and Florentenes are booming, with expanding fanbases and chart success. It’s great to see.”
The band’s trajectory to this point is impressive but that’s not to suggest it’s come easy. Far from it. They’ve put in the hard yards and thrust themselves into opportunistic spaces.
Adam: “We’ve had a really nice time networking. No complaints, other than the £6, grass-flavoured pints of beer at networking events in central Manchester. Most promoters, PR agencies, bands and managers have been really pleasant and helpful. Though we aren’t at a stage yet where agencies and managers are blowing up the phone, we have received a lot of help and advice from local councils, particularly Calderdale and Rochdale, as well as promoters like After All, Clampdown and We Believe Music. Venue owners like Gig at Golden Lion, Jo from The Polished Knob and Anne from Empire have been a massive help too”.
Atlas consider their gig at The Trades Club in May 2025 to be their best yet. That night they played an all-day youth showcase called Melodic Journey, headlined by Rose Villas and put together by young local promoter Honey Andrews. A sold-out Golden Lion show from last year also makes their top three, as does a set at Whittles in Oldham from October 2024.
Adam: “Playing live is just better than anything in the world… There have been weekends where we have done three or four gigs in the space of three days. It’s honestly a rush and you feel great for doing it. You can say what you want about drugs and alcohol, but I guarantee, watching someone sing your own lyrics back to you live is better. Doing a show is beautiful. You have freedom of expression and can really zone out and enjoy the feel and flow of the music.”
Follow Atlas on Instagram for news of their latest gigs and upcoming releases.
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