History of Silver Atlas

Alan Ruffin and Jason Lichon trace the origins of Silver Atlas to a  Dreary January day in Dublin, Ireland.  This was 2001.  Alan was fronting a band, called Viery Peel, that was soon to be defunct.  Jason was in his 4th year of creating songs under the alias, Infinite Buddha, and his musical productivity had slowed to the point that he was considering whether he should dismantle his home studio.  While drinking way too many beers in a 300 year old pub and discussing their common frustration with trying to make music that they believed in they decided to colabrate on a 3 song EP.

They were old friends.  They had originally known each other as members of rival high school bands in their hometown of Saginaw, Michigan.  Despite the rivalry they had always been on friendly terms.  After high school they didn't cross each other's paths for years until they reconnected in Chicago through a network of Saginaw transplants.  Each was glad to hear that the other was still making music, and Jason even strapped on a guitar and sat in with Viery Peel a time or two. 

But in Dublin they decided to see what would happen if Alan brought his acoustic guitar and some songs into Jason's studio.

The first studio session didn't happen until August of that same year.  Alan came in and played 4 songs.  He just played his guitar and sang into a few microphones that Jason had set up.  Jason had a particular liking for the song, "Always Too Late."  A week later Alan returned, and was startled to hear how Jason had transformed the song by adding beats and a bass line.

Over the course of a year, one song became ten.  They worked on each song to completion, never starting a new one until the previous one was complete.  They always worked at night, and at the end they decided that it would be fitting to name the album 4 a.m. after one songs.

Since that time, the band has expanded beyond the original two.  Even on the first album there were vital instrumental contributions from Darren Shepherd on guitar and Joe Bianco on drums, both of whom would play live shows with the band.  Rex Espinosa was added and became a core utility player, moving between guitar and keyboard as the songs demanded.  Finally, when Darren departed, John Mastro was brought in to replace him.  On the last album, Layover, Joe, Rex and John were all key contributors.

As they look ahead, Silver Atlas, plan to keep pushing their amalgam of genre defying music on the world until every last man, woman, and child proclaims their greatness.