The origins of ATOMS AND VOID can be traced back to the early-90s, when Carstens first heard TALK TALK’s ‘Spirit of Eden’ and ‘Laughing Stock’. Being a member of the band JUNO, he felt like starting a new band one day and going into new musical directions. Living in Los Angeles, Carstens started recording his first ideas in the 2000s and started GHOST WARS, the band which should subsequently be renamed to ATOMS AND VOID, together with his old friend Eric Fisher who is working as a music producer in Seattle. Thereafter, whenever time allowed, the two began recording songs onto 4-tracks, answering machines, micro-cassette recorders, laptops and iPhones. They recorded in cramped apartments, empty houses and tiny rehearsal spaces in Los Angeles. ATOMS AND VOID recorded in real and make believe studios in Seattle, Shoreline, Sunland, Santa Monica, Studio City, Echo Park, Angelino Heights, Highland Park and Downtown Los Angeles. They recorded in Portland, San Francisco, Boston, Austin, Mexico City and New York…for years.
Eventually Fisher and Carstens began integrating a slowly evolving cast of additional instrumentalists and audio engineers to help bring their compositions to life, including (but not limited to): Nate Mendel (Sunny Day Real Estate, Foo Fighters, Juno, Lieutenant), Gabe Carter (Juno), Jay Clarke (Pretty Girls Make Graves, Jaguar Love), Cory Murchy (Minus the Bear), Morgan Henderson (Blood Brothers, Fleet Foxes, Cave Singers), Rosie Thomas (Sufjan Stevens), Eric Akre (Treepeople, Built To Spill, Juno), Joel Cuplin (Constant Lovers, Triumph of Lethargy), Josh Myers (The Fire Theft, Jeremy Enigk, Rosie Thomas), Drew O’Doherty (Ted Leo & the Pharmacists), Griffin Rodriguez (Icy Demons, Need New Body), Toshi Kasai (Melvins, Big Business, Lieuten¬ant), Kory Kruckenberg (J. Tillman, The Revenant), Jenna Conrad (Avians Alight, Damien Jurado), and Lena Simon (Pollens, La Luz, Kairos) among others.
Along the way they’ve had a laptop stolen in Toronto and crashed a hard drive in Seattle, circumstances which have caused the duo to pause for years at a stretch while figuring out how best to re-record the album. Twice. Early versions of three songs have floated around the Internet for years. Folks rip them, trade them, and write social media and YouTube odes to them. For a handful of listeners the album-in-progress has taken on an almost mythic resonance. Fair enough, it’s been a long time coming.
Nevertheless, the band’s first full-length album, “And Nothing Else,” will be ready for your listening pleasure this spring – with all its dark, slow, heady and heartbreaking world of sounds and experiences. We are incredibly proud to announce the worldwide vinyl release of this album on Arctic Rodeo.
ATOMS AND VOID – “And Nothing Else” LP+MP3
Pre-order: April 18
Street date: May 20