Don't Miss Out on ATOMGA at Cervantes'

Nine-piece Denver Afrobeat ensemble ATOMGA is entering its eleventh year of electrifying dance floors across the state and beyond with its heady brew of world music and poignant lyrics. The band has seen many iterations, but one thing has always stayed consistent: a deep appreciation for multicultural music and groove. ATOMGA layers Afrobeat, hip-hop, funk, soul, jazz, disco and rock into an infectious concoction of sight and sound.

If you haven’t witnessed the throwdown that is an ATOMGA show, the froup will open for San Francisco rock and soul maestros Con Brio at Cervantes' Masterpiece Ballroom this Thursday, March 24.

Ahead of the show, Westword had a spirited chat with multiple members of the band. We talked about their award-winning beer, their infatuation with disco remixes, the hidden gems of Denver’s ethnic music scene, their legacy as a band...and clowns.

Westword: Colorado isn’t necessarily known as a melting pot. How did ATOMGA wrangle together so many different genres of music?

Frank Roddy (tenor sax): Since the beginning, ATOMGA has been very fortunate to find musicians, in a rather limited pool, who were influenced by many genres including, funk, hip-hop, jazz, rock, classical, soul, reggae, Afrobeat and more. Through the years, we have been able to utilize these diverse backgrounds to blend some of these genres while keeping true to our Afrobeat foundation. I can't express enough how grateful we are for the musicians who have gravitated to the project!

Josh Merbitz (trumpet): We all bring different experiences and influences to the table. It makes it that much more fun learning everyone’s different styles. Not all of the band is from Colorado, so I feel this helps us to be more unique — because of all the different influences that affect our sound.

CalySōl (lead vocalist): Colorado might not be known as a melting pot, but ATOMGA is proof that it is. I’m an original “Calirado native" — that’s California-born and Colorado-grown. My experience has been that though Colorado is not recognized for it, this is one of the most diverse places in America to live. That’s why lots of folks are moving here.

Are there enclaves of world music in Denver that you think people should know about? If so, where would people find these, and what can they expect? Any particular bands?

Roddy: A couple great artists come to mind that we have had the pleasure of sharing the stage with: Paa Kow and El Javi. Both are legit and true to their heritage.

Casey Hrdlicka (guitar): Don Chicharrón is a fantastic local psychedelic cumbia band. A couple other worldly inspired local groups that encompass a great deal of talent are Los Mocochetes and Pink Hawks.

CalySōl: Mono Verde Collective is a Latin reggae-style band. Their sound is eclectic, and [they are] among my favorite local bands to see.

Where did the idea of having disco remixes come from? Is any of it an homage to the Nigerian disco and boogie scene of the ’80s?

Roddy: Our remixes are quite diverse on their own. We actually sought out producers who were interested in working with us, and we gave them full creative freedom. We figured that we created the original track, and now it’s another layer of creativity added on.

Hrdlicka: It’s always fun to hear someone else’s interpretation of your work. Also, these remixes have been great for exposing us to other musical markets, where we might have never gotten on their radar otherwise.

How did you get a beer associated with your band all the way in Brazil, and do they still make it?

Roddy: Bodebrown Brewery, in Curitiba, Brazil, hired our friend, Chris Kirk, the master brewer at Banded Oak Brewing Company, at Fifth and Broadway in Denver, to collaborate on a recipe. While in Brazil, Chris played our ATOMGA CD, and the owners loved it and decided to name the beer after us. Yes, ATOMGA Imperial Stout is bottled and sold throughout Brazil and is usually on tap at Banded Oak here in Denver.

What keeps you going after eleven years of playing together?

Roddy: We have always enjoyed playing this music, and being in a big band with so many moving parts is amazing all on its own. We have multiple songwriters who are extremely passionate about writing Afrobeat songs, so that allows us to consistently come up with new ideas. The state of the nation, world and society gives us a myriad of topics to address in our lyrics. We also really enjoy watching as the audience dances and gets all sweaty, and seeing their reaction to our music. The bottom line, though, is that we truly love each other, and we love turning people on to Afrobeat!

Hrdlicka: For me, ATOMGA is a great excuse to spread my compositional and our arrangement wings. I have personally written a number of our horn arrangements, and it’s been a great, constant learning process and challenge in developing interesting harmonies and arrangements. As a non-horn player, where else would I have the excuse to work on horn arrangements? Plus, with this group, I have the freedom to experiment with all kinds of musical scales and modes. Not to mention that the feeling you get from ten people combining multiple layers of rhythm and harmony into one sound is quite exciting, and the audience reception has always been extremely inviting.

CalySōl: Music in and of itself is a beautiful unfoldment, a journey. When there is a love and respect for the craft and also for one another, it reminds us of why we choose to gather. ATOMGA as a unit works well because we’ve intentionally cultivated a safe space where members extend freedom, appreciation, truth and sincerity to one another. Musicians are unique, like flowers. So our sacred spaces are the gardens for creation.

Peter Mouser (Fender Rhodes, keys, electric mouth harp): ATOMGA has always been and will continue to be a true musically cosmopolitan band, with an intrinsic goal of making good Afrobeat-inspired music. With that said, the makeup of its members is not built upon the potential monetary gains associated with being a professional musician, but instead focuses on the family of ATOMGA and our collaborative efforts toward making, enjoying and performing tasty noise. All of this, combined with the fact that Hrdlicka always brings me Swedish fish for my essential rehearsal din-din!

With so many members of the band, have there been multiple iterations of the lineup, or has that stayed relatively consistent?

Hrdlicka: There was a time when we had four horns. Also, we had a stint with two singers together on stage. Throughout our history, we’ve had times with three percussionists on stage and other times with just two. But we’ve always kept relatively the same instrumentation; vocals, bass, guitar, drums, percussion, keyboards, and a horn section with never less than three members.

Mouser: I remember back in the way-back beginning when we had a clown on stage with us for most of our shows. His sole job was to make balloon animals for Hrdlicka and me while we played. Those were the good ol’ days.

Lots of members mean lots of different schedules. How do you find time to rehearse together?

Roddy: It’s like trying to put nine monkeys in a barrel! Honestly, each and every one of us is extremely busy with family, work, other projects and life, so it is a miracle that we can put all of that aside for a few hours once a week and play music and explore new song ideas.

Mouser: The honest fact that we somehow wrangle our crew together even once a week speaks to the dedication and love that each member has for each other and for the music that we are producing!

How has your sound evolved over this period of time?

Hrdlicka: With new members comes new ideas, new arrangements and different sounds. Each new musician brings something new to the table. I believe we’ve had around 27 different members over the years. Some have been around for years, some have been in the group since our first gig, such as Mouser, Roddy and Hrdlicka. Some are still new to the band. With this type of multi-layered integration, we have a consistent yet ever-changing sound.

Where do you hope that the Colorado music scene heads? Anything you’re excited about or that could be improved?

Hrdlicka: I personally enjoy music from a wide variety of facets. From folk music to jazz fusion to brutal death metal, Colorado has it all. Not to mention that Colorado has seemed to become even more of a destination for national and international performers than it already was. I’m also glad to see a lot of organized jams coming back around. As a music teacher, I often get the question from my students ‘How do you find people to play and form bands with?’ I always recommend they find these open jams going on around town. I’ve seen a number of great bands form and start gigging from meeting at these types of open jams.

CalySōl: Back in the day, you listened to the radio and learned of a fair amount of local music happenings. Now with social media, music streaming, etc., advertising has become scattered. Not everyone is on social media. Not everyone listens to the radio, and not everyone is willing to receive emails. I believe this stifles the music industry as a whole, with local markets suffering the most. We have a lot of music-loving folks here in Colorado. The Colorado music scene is diverse and bubbling in just about every genre sought after. It'd be a refreshing thing to lessen the gap between music enthusiasts and local projects. Ideally, it looks like a one-stop entertainment advertisement hub. I’d love for our Colorado entertainment scene to have something like that as an easily accessible resource.

ATOMGA opens for Con Brio, Thursday, March 24, Cervantes' Masterpiece Ballroom, 2636 Welton Street. Tickets are $17.