Radioactive renegades

ATOMIC OUTLAWS

Atomic Outlaws have been building a fan base locally and around the country with their high-energy brand of rock ‘n roll. The Tacoma band consists of Zak Eastyn on vocals, Pat Hall and Rev on guitars, Rob Z. on bass and Double J on drums.

The band has been together for a year. Its origins go back to another local band with the same name, which included some of the same members. That band released an album and did some touring along the West Coast. The lead singer left. Soon after, Rod Black, a singer from Vancouver, B.C., came down to Tacoma and briefly joined the band.

Black was working on original material and ended up moving back to Canada. He formed Jet Black Stare, which released its debut album this past summer on Island Records.

Eastyn and Hill were brought on board to form the new band. “We kept the name because it was established,” Double J commented.

This summer the band released the album “Rock ‘n Roll Love Affair.”

“It was the best experience I have ever had in a band,” Rev said of the recording sessions at Pacific Studios in downtown Tacoma.

Rob Z. noted the basic tracks were recorded in just two days. One of the songs, “Train Wreck,” was written in the studio.

Eastyn writes the lyrics. “If the singer writes the lyrics he can put more feeling into them on stage,” Rob Z. observed.

The music comes from members bringing in riffs for practice. “We throw them against the wall and see what sticks,” Rob Z. said.

Four songs from “Rock ‘n Roll Love Affair” have been getting airplay on KISW, which selected Atomic Outlaws as a “Loud and Local Band of the Week.”

B.J. Shea, who hosts a show on the Seattle radio station, has used snippets of songs as intro music.

Hill has noted more interest in the band since the album was released. “Things have snowballed,” he said. “We are seeing more people at our shows.”

In July the band played at South Texas Rock Fest in San Antonio. The three-day festival was held in a huge field behind a Harley-Davidson motorcycle dealership. “It is the biggest beer garden you have ever seen,” Rob Z. remarked.

Major bands such as Tesla, UFO and Queensryche performed at the festival. Atomic Outlaws had the opportunity to play in front of 20,000 people. They enjoyed the hospitality area organized by some local bikers, where plenty of barbeque was served. Well, four of the members did.

“Texas sucks for a vegan,” Hill declared. He ate a lot of tortillas, one item that fit his dietary restrictions.

Getting used to the challenges of traveling is important for any band that plans to tour.

On Nov. 1 Atomic Outlaws will play a Halloween show in Coeur ‘d Alene, Idaho.

Later that month they will open up shows for their friends Jet Black Stare, plus Saliva and Drowning Pool, in Coeur ‘d Alene, Boise and Spokane.

In early December they will play a club in Honolulu.

Hill is quite familiar with the reality of touring. For bands at this stage, touring is about building a fan base and making connections, not making money.

“A lot of bands say they want to go on tour, but they do not want to go on the road and lose money for 10 days,” Hill said. “That is what you have to do. If you are doing it for money you are fooling yourself.”

After playing in various bands over the years, the members of Atomic Outlaws feel comfortable and confident in this group.

“We have spent so much time with people we did not like,” Rev noted. “With this band everything fell together. We are all friends and we like the same music.”

Atomic Outlaws play at 8 p.m. Oct. 10 at Hell’s Kitchen in Tacoma and Nov. 29 at El Corazon in Seattle.

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