Music Style Melodic Metal

Similar Artists Iron Maiden, Blaze, Area 54 etc

Artist History Everything has to start somewhere - except for Erskine. He didn't have to happen. He just did. The story of Black Atom begins in the small town of Auchenblae, about thirty miles south of Aberdeen. Here, two young men came up with the idea that they wanted to start a band. Those two men were Joe Johnston and Bob Turner. With a basic grounding in guitar playing and a backbeat supplied by a clapped- out drum kit, the story begins here. However, for there to be a band, there would have to be considerably more members. Enter James Erskine and Ross 'Rass' Anderson. The line-up looked like this: Joe Johnston - Vocals/Rhythm guitar Rass Anderson - Rhythm/Lead guitar James Erskine - Bass guitar Bob Turner - Drums The band went under the name of [UNTITLED] and the quartet enjoyed jamming together in Joe's front room. However, after a while, Joe wished to move more into a lead vocalist position and enlisted the help of Len Wiltshire to assume guitarist duties with Rass. Joe Johnston - Vocals Rass Anderson - Lead/Rhythm guitar Len Wiltshire - Rhythm guitar James Erskine - Bass guitar Bob Turner - Drums After a new line - up change, soon came a change in name, conceived by Rass and Len's little brother. Black Atom was born. The euphoria was short lived as soon dissention grew in the band, and Bob was asked to leave. The gap in the band was filled by then guitarist, Len, as Joe moved back onto guitar. Joe Johnston - Vocals/Rhythm guitar Rass Anderson - Lead/Rhythm guitar James Erskine - Bass guitar Len Wiltshire - Drums After returning to a foursome for a period, and after his involvement in covering several tunes with the band, Jamie 'Mac' Mowatt was formally invited to join Black Atom. A week later saw the band play their first gig in Aberdeen at The Malt Mill. Joe Johnston - Vocals Rass Anderson - Lead/Rhythm guitar Jamie 'Mac' Mowatt - Lead/Rhythm guitar James Erskine - Bass guitar Len Wiltshire - Drums/backing vocals Once their first gig was obtained, the band did a few more performances in their local area, notably for charity and fund-raising events, before focussing themselves entirely on breaking Aberdeen. Several gigs followed at Drake's Dungeon, Triple Kirks and The Pelican, including a semi-final victory in the North East Battle of the Bands. All was not well however, and due to wranglings with in the band and also an interest in another local band, The Puritans ( with former bandmate, Bob Turner), Rass bid a sad farewell to the band he had helped to establish for nearly eighteen months. A quick decision had to be made and thankfully, due to the abundance of talented axe-weilding friends, a suitable replacement was found in Geoff Sharp. Joe Johnston - Vocals Geoff Sharp - Lead/Rhythm guitar 'Mac' Mowatt - Lead/Rhythm guitar James Erskine - Bass guitar Len Wiltshire - Drums/backing vocals The arrangement continued for several months, in which time the band played several times in both Drake's Dungeon and the Triple Kirks. Unfortunately, due to excessive pressures, Geoff left the band, and concentrated on his other band, the now defuncted Hoodoo Zephyr. Who should rescue the band in their hour of need but former guitarist Rass. Seamlessly, Mr. Anderson stepped back into the 'Atom fold. Joe Johnston - Vocals Rass Anderson - Lead/Rhythm guitar Jamie 'Mac' Mowatt - Lead/Rhythm guitar/backing vocals James Erskine - Bass guitar Len Wiltshire - Drums/backing vocals As one would have guessed by this stage nothing, except for perhaps Erskine's ability to break stuff, ever remains the same in Black Atom. It was now time for Len to step out of the Atom picture, and leave for university in Glasgow. The search was on for a replacement drummer and backing vocalist, a commodity not as readily available as guitarists. In the interim, Risactonia drummer Scott Dixon battered the skins for Black Atom. Joe Johnston - Vocals Rass Anderson - Lead/Rhythm guitar Jamie 'Mac' Mowatt - Lead/Rhythm guitar/backing vocals James Erskine - Bass guitar Scott Dixon - Drums With gigs only being possible when Len was back up from Glasgow, a more permanent replacement had to be found and in January of 2001, it was found. The replacement was replacing himself! Len vowed to return and take up the sticks for the Mighty Atom again. Joe Johnston - Vocals Rass Anderson - Lead/Rhythm guitar Jamie 'Mac' Mowatt - Lead/Rhythm guitar/backing vocals James Erskine - Bass guitar Len Wiltshire - Drums/backing vocals From then on, the band has gone from strength to strength and 2001 alone saw them support a number of critically acclaimed international bands including, Blaze, Anti-Product and King Prawn. Also, there have been special guest appearances in the band's line - up, most notably, the addition of the legendary Spoonie, who took over bass guitar duties while Erskine was trying to get through customs. In late 2001, the band recorded and released their first E.P, the humorously titled, '..Like Disco Never Happened..' to encouraging reviews. The track listing was as follows: 1.Down 2.Fallen 3.Blind 4.Desolation 5.Bitter 6.If This Is What You Want The band recorded a majority of the E.P at Captain Tom's Studios in Aberdeen, but also used material that had been recorded previously with Ken Taylor. The E.P sold over 100 copies in stores - a notable victory for old school metal in an environment which, at the time, was being saturated by nu - metal, ska punk and So - Cal offerings. With the confidence gained by the release, the band continued writing and rehearsing new songs throughout the year and playing to crowds of appreciative spectators. As word spread of the mini revolution that 'The Mighty Atom' had incited, the attendances to each performance began to grow and expand to include those individuals who at first may not have taken to the music. It appeared that although the band did not take themselves seriously, they were quickly gaining reputations as notable musicians and perhaps most importantly, as entertainers and performers. As 2002 came to a close, the 'Atom returned to the studio to record a new album with the material which had been written over the past year. This time, the band put their faith in Mark Nichol of Exile Records, to capture the excitement and energy that had made their live performances such a success. The mini album was recorded, mixed and mastered over a week and surpassed the band's expectations. At present, Black Atom are gearing towards the E.P release and another year of old school shenanigans. The Black Atom story is far from over, but it is uncertain as to how many chapters will have to be put aside for Rass and Mac's drunken antics, Joe's spontaneous rants, Erskine's bouts of stupidity or Len's ventures into progressive rock. Stay tuned for more unashamed old school metal - Black Atom style!! Len Wiltshire 2.10.01 (Updated 19.02.03)

Instruments Vocal, 2 Lead Guitars, Bass, Drums

Albums Out of Exile (2003 AUBL Records)

Press Reviews "And then came the mighty Black Atom (10). It is very hard to write this review without sounding like a brown-nosing, snivelling little suck-up, but to put it simply - they rocked. They rocked more than 'The Rock' on a rocking chair in the Rocky Mountains. On Rock day. Musically, they were tight as hell and every single one of their songs just gleam with class. Mac and Rass showed they are probably the best guitar partnership around, with some great leads, melodies and catchy-as-fuck 'guitarmonies'. At this point I would also just like to say that Len Wiltshire is an absolute genius. As well as being a quality drummer he is an amazing song-writer, and new song "The Last Day" is still stuck in my head. No Black Atom gig would be complete without at least a little bit of excitement though. Unfortunately it wasn't all good as Singer Joe (who was on top form) got smacked in the mouth by Rass' guitar mid-set, before breaking his ankle during the final song "Fallen" whilst jumping off the stage. There was no highlight to their set because it was all so damn excellent that it is hard to pick a moment that stands out above the rest. Black Atom are without a doubt, the best metal band in Aberdeen. Actually, fuck that, Black Atom are the best band in Aberdeen." "Black Atom on next, the peoples favourite going by the mellee stage front for most of their set. If you have never witnessed this band in full flight simply think Brave New World era Maiden with less song progression and more energy. Total old school workout from the clothes to the moves to the music. Confident between song banter creating a bond with the audience which is held intact and aloft with the furious delivery of the music. Lots of fists in the air, lots of band members in the air. Its like the nineties never happened. To be honest the last gig Black Atom played in Lava was amazing and almost impossible to touch performance wise so tonight was a slight let down but still an excellent set. All the favourites aired which even i know without owning any recorded material , Chasing Ghosts and Fallen both particularly worthy sing-along-whilst-you-bang-your-head-and-flex-your-denim anthems played with passion and joy from the assembled band. Occasionally they are too close to Maiden without their own slant on things, occasionally Joe the singer forgets he is a singer but overall a pretty unique band in todays climate and for that i salute them, well done boys."

Location Aberdeen, Aberdeenshire - United Kingdom

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