A Dirty Dozen with WILL OAKS from ATRON – April 2022

According to a recent press release: “AltRock/Pop band ATRON release new single “They Don’t Care About Us Now” to all major platforms! The single is off of their debut album due out later this year. Martin Svensson started out as a Swedish popstar and songwriter. He signed to Universal Music, and Universal Publishing. Avicii actually recorded one of his songs – “Never Leave Me”, which ended up on his last album, Tim. But Martin never enjoyed the public side of that life, and in an attempt to escape his own music career he started ghost writing autobiographies for international celebrities instead – something he continues to do to this day. Recently, he has worked with Matt Sorum from Guns N’ Roses, Stacey Dash, Perez Hilton, Angie Stone, Fousey (the influencer), UFC star The Mauler, and many others.” We get Will to discuss new music, influences, and more…

1. Tell us a little about your latest release.  What might a fan or listener not grab the first or second time they listen through?  Are there any hidden nuggets the band put in the material or that only diehard fans might find?

Our debut single “They Don’t Care About Us Now” could easily be called “We Don’t Care About Them Now”. It’s a song about freedom, about finally being emotionally independent.  A larger than life kind of song.

2. What got you into music, and can you tell us about the moment you realized you wanted to be a musician?

Music has always been the most exciting thing in my life. I don’t remember not being into music. I have videos and pictures of me banging on pots and toys as a baby boy. My parents eventually had to buy me a real drum set. I was about five years old at the time and I loved it (much to my parents’ frustration because now the whole house was rumbling constantly). But a very defining moment for me was when I was six and my grandfather brought an electric organ to our house (which sounded awful but I fell in love right away). Almost immediately I started writing some simple tunes on it. I sang out load while stamping my foot against the floor to keep the rhythm and, to be fair, not much has changed since then, really. I basically turned that obsession into a career.

3. Building on that, is there a specific song, album, performer, or live show that guided your musical taste?

It’s almost impossible to pick from all the wonderful musical experiences that I’ve had, growing up. But just to make it simple for myself, I might as well mention my uncle Kalle. I always thought he was so cool with his long hair and his tremendous knowledge of rock bands and music. I discovered his original music through demos and recordings that I found at my grandparents house. I used to listen to him and his bands all the time and still think his music is great. He was super influential and inspired me to keep going.

4. Who would be your main five musical influences?

Well I’ll give it a try. I’d say Genesis for their chords and melodies, Jeff Buckley for his ‘out of this world’-vocals, Michael Jackson for his passion and rhythm and Tori Amos for her lyrics (and I haven’t even mentioned all the classic rock bands I grew up with – Deep Purple, Van Halen, Judas Priest and so forth..) But I could go on and on about albums, songs and artists that have made me into who I am today.

5. If you could call in any one collaborator to do a song with, who would it be, and why?

I would definitely want to make a duet with Eddie Vedder! I’m a huge fan of his work in Pearl Jam, not to mention his solo work, which is brilliant. He’s a real artist and it seems his heart is in the right place. His taste for melodies, arrangements and his lyrics and vocal performance is so unique and beautiful. Well, it’d be cool to just meet the man.

6. How would you describe your music to someone who’d never listened to you before? What is the one comparison a reviewer or fan has made that made you cringe or you disagreed with?

Once you get the chance to listen to the whole album I think you’ll hear that we tend to want to create a big and pompous, almost apocalyptic sound. Which is fun because the songs really exist within the pop/rock-realm. So I don’t know… apocalyptic pop/rock haha. Well, regarding comparisons made by others, that’s really out of my control and I haven’t cringed or disagreed (yet). But I was quite surprised when someone thought we sounded a bit like a mixture between Guns ‘n’ Roses and Avicci. I just never thought of those artists during the making of the album.

7. What’s the best thing about being a musician?

Except from being on a big stage playing live in front of a huge crowd? Haha. I think it’s the way you constantly will have to redefine yourself. Every show, every tour and album is different and if you’re open to what we in Atron call ‘the flow’ you can grow immensely as a person and artist and you get to meet exciting people from all around the globe.

8. When the band are all hanging out together, who cooks; who gets the drinks in; and who is first to crack out the acoustic guitars for a singalong?

Oh, that’s simple – Jim ’The Bridge’ will cook (or at least make sure we get something to eat (’cause me and Martin keep forgetting). He makes sure everyone’s happy, which is a blessing. Martin will probably get the drinks if he’s not on the phone making wonders for Atron and I can’t pass by a guitar or a piano without playing on it. Actually, we’ve barely hung out all three of us yet without working on something. So I don’t really know which roles each member would take. Maybe I’d cook? Who knows.

9. When was the last time you were star struck and who was it?

Well, I’d say when I first met Joe Lynn Turner. Little did I know back then that I’d still occasionally play with him in front of hardcore Rainbow and Deep Purple-fans. My friends from the Swedish metal band Dynazty asked me to fill in on keyboards on a tour they where going to do with Joe in Russia and Khazakstan. I first met the rock star in a restaurant the day before the first gig and he was telling us some great stories about Ritchie Blackmore and Billy Joel. I couldn’t believe I was sitting in front of the man who sung ‘I Surrender’. Since then we’ve played many shows together. We’ve been in Dubai and at Sweden Rock Festival to mention a few.

10. If you weren’t a musician, what would be your dream job?

I think it would have to be something creative. I think I’d enjoy gardening quite a bit. Mowing the grass and making gardens beautiful.

11. Looking back over your career, is there a single moment or situation you feel was a misstep or you would like to have a “do over”, even if it didn’t change your current situation?

I think I’d like to erase every moment of laziness. I’d like to have used that time for songwriting or practicing instead. But in all fairness, if you get a small break from being creative you’ll be hungry for it when you get back to it and you might create wonders.

12. If you could magically go back in time and be a part of the recording sessions for any one record in history, which would you choose – and what does that record mean to you?

It would be awesome to hear the entire The Dark Side Of The Moon recording for the first time in the studio where it was created, together with the members of Pink Floyd. Let’s say that I hadn’t heard anything past that very day in that studio in 1973. I think that would definitely be an astonishing experience to say the least. I grew up with that album and I have rediscovered it over and over again and I think it’s a work of art.

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Category: Interviews