ATP'S ROTY: #1 Maps & Atlases - You And Me And The Mountain
My number one record of the year was from newcomers on the music scene, Maps & Atlases with their latest EP, 'You And Me And The Mountain'.Despite the record being five tracks long, the key factor which stood out was that it was great to hear something new and fresh. The band have definitely matured from the days of 'Tree, Swallows, Houses' and from here can only go onto to better things.
I managed to catch up with frontman, Erin Elders, who spoke to Alter The Press about how 2008 was for the band, when we can expect a new record and more.
Alter The Press: How would you describe 2008 for you?
Erin Elders: 2008 has been pretty intense for us. We recorded You and Me and The Mountain and then basically went on tour nonstop until a few weeks ago. We got to travel to pretty much every city in the U.S. and the U.K. and also a few places in Europe. I would say 2008 has been pretty amazing for us so far.
ATP: Can you explain the writing process behind, 'You and Me and The Mountain'?
EE: A few of the songs on You and Me and the Mountain started out as complete songs that Dave had that we went through and added layers to. For these songs it was an interesting process of building ideas up and then breaking them down. The core of the song was there and we knew how we wanted it to feel, it was just a matter of achieving that feeling in the end. The other songs came from getting together in a room and experimenting with stuff and coming up with parts and then putting it all together. The process for the two groups of songs was pretty similar, its just that some of the songs started with a little more meat on their bones.
ATP: Being from Chicago, how do you feel that your senator, Barack Obama is the new President Elect of the United States?
EE: I think most of the country is ecstatic that Obama is going to be our next president. Its a really incredible moment in American history and we are all really exited to be alive during it. It will be nice to not have to be so embarrassed to be from the U.S. I'm looking forward to the change.
ATP: What does 2009 have in store for Maps & Atlases?
EE: We just started working on a full length. We have a bunch of ideas and will hopefully be recording sometime in the spring. We are all really excited about the record, it should prove to be really different than anything we have done. We are hoping to release it sometime next year. Other than doing a full length record, 2009 should be pretty packed with touring. We are already planning on doing some shows in Alaska in February and a small east coast tour with some friends of ours in April. But we are all hoping to stay unemployed for as long as possible so we plan on touring a lot.
