BEHIND MY DEBUT ALBUM ‘WHEN THERE’S NOWHERE ELSE TO RUN’.
💿 My debut album 'When There's Nowhere Else to Run' is OUT NOW!! You can download it for FREE on my Bandcamp page or grab a cassette tape in limited edition through Petite Victory Collective!! 🖤.
Have you ever thought about your own thoughts or questioned your mental processes? Do you sometimes take time to clarify your values in a moment of doubt or uncertainty?
I certainly do. And not always in the right way. This time I decided to do it through music. Through the only therapeutic tool I can control and feel 100% comfortable with.
My debut album ‘When There’s Nowhere Else to Run’ is an introspective exercice. A celebration of the last 10 years of my life. Facing myself and life choices. Finally embracing an artistic direction that resonates with my believes and creative needs. I poured myself into this debut album along with some of my international friends and producers. Having them along for the ride is a real blessing. They had to deal with my rules and vision and all nailed it in each their way.
For this first effort I wanted to push boundaries by imposing myself restrictions in my creative process. I’ve been thinking a lot this year about the creative power of limitations. Instead of thinking outside the box constantly and getting lost in all my plugins, I decided to find new ideas by repurposing the box.
Being limited in my actions while working only with the Digitakt and Circuit Tracks really triggered my creativity in the best way possible. I had really mixed feelings while going through this process. What, at first, would sound incomplete or underproduced to me turned out to provoke a lot of excitement and surprise. This is an effort that I’m super proud of. I hope you’ll find the tracks to resonate with you the way it does with me.
‘When There’s Nowhere Else to Run’ is a collection of songs delivered with love for any souls able to connect with it. Put on some headphones, go for a walk, bike, run, workout, dance, or whatever you wanna do… let’s go for a wander together. 🖤🏰
Super happy to announce that 'When There's Nowhere Else to Run' got released on a bunch of cassette tapes in a very limited edition through Petite Victory Collective!!
Includes unlimited streaming of When There's Nowhere Else to Run via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
“While listening to this jam picture this: Yourself, under the rain. Most people run for cover when it starts to rain, meaning it’s only the brave souls who continue strolling during a storm. You're left alone with your thoughts and reflecting about the last 10 years of your life. The rain here help you see things with a different perspective: Whether it’s the darker lighting, the gloomy mood, or the reflection of streetlights in puddles, almost everything looks different on rainy days. This helps you to view your life challenges and other daily aspects in a different light. 10 years went gone, the sands of time are running out. We have to keep moving forward.”
Here’s a direct live performance of the first version of this track: “10 Years Gone Pt 1”.
I wanted to open the album with my long time friend and favorite jammer 59 Perlen. Having him joining this project really meant a lot to me. Here’s some words and a live performance from my friend 59 Perlen:
“I once more collaborated with my good Danish friend Atlas Castle for his debut album “When there’s nowhere else to run” (out now!) and I couldn’t be more proud to deliver the opener track for this promising collection of collaborations and so many talented artists.
The track got produced a while ago and during the past days I transformed it into a performable Octatrack arrangement. I really can’t wait to play this gem for you folks at DUST, really love the vibes and I hope you gonna love it too! I'm performing this tune on Digitakt, Digitone, Octatrack - Digitakt for drums, loops and textures, Digitone for melodic parts and pads, and Octatrack triggers some additional sounds and it controls the complete arrangement with its arranger.”
Track. 02 - Creature of Habit
Atlas Castle x Captain Ghostnote
“If you say that someone is a creature of habit, you mean that they usually do the same thing at the same time each day, rather than doing new and different things.
Is being a creature of habit a good thing? What’s the cost of it?Having habits can be a very good attribute in one's life. The secret is to learn and maintain healthy habits I guess.”
I got to meet Captain back in 2020 through another dearly missed collective called 'Electronic Curiosity Collective'. I felt for the man before the music! It's not every day that you meet umble, genuine and inspiring souls living the art and passion for music with manners.
Here's how Captain describe himself in the virtual world: "Bassplayer lost in a world of bleep. Beatchemist. Elektronaut. Jazzhead. Composer." Having Robert joining me on this adventure was a huge privilege.
Track. 03 - As Above So Below
Atlas Castle x Silence Castor
“At any place there is a duality, one where half of the duality is deemed “above” while the other half is deemed “below,” and tries to establish a relation between the two.”
I was delighted when my friend Silence Castor said yes to join me on this ride. He really got the ears for deep, dark and mellow tones. He utilizes old-school recording techniques, analog synthesizers, and generous amounts of reverb and delay to create music ranging from space themed ambient electronica to funk inspired lo-fi hip-hop… What’s not to like right?
I got introduced to Nate’s music back in 2020 with his single release “Dead Rocketeer (Together Into The Sun, Vol. II). The way Nate creates lush environments and transcendent moods really got me hooked all the way.
Track. 04 - When There’s Nowhere Else to Run
“This song is about how sometimes as human being we can find our lives unravelling and discover that no matter how many thousands of kilometers we put between ourselves and our demons, sometimes there's nowhere else to run. Have you ever tried to escape your old demons, evolve, mature, learn just to realize one morning that they are just there. They’ve always been there. Waiting for you to realize that things doesn’t change so easily, even if you’re trying hard to prove yourself the contrary. A part of me went lost in this track. If you don’t know me as a person, maybe you’ll get a sense of who I am while listening to this jam. Who knows.”
Track. 05 - A Moment Apart
Atlas Castle x Dontmesswithjuan
“A Moment Apart” is that moment when the voice inside your head that never shuts up finally does. You finally have clear eyes on the dashboard of your mind. You need a moment to breathe
You tried and tried to stop this voice in your head because it always is telling you contradicting things. This voice is generating thoughts based on past, bad experiences that you kept in your memory and it's telling you how to react in certain situations so that you feel better. All while your problems still exist inside of you and will forever…
This moment apart opens your eyes. Right before the real pressure starts. You now have the right tools in your hands to face yourself. This time you’ll be brave...”
DMWJ & I virtually met back in 2019. Growing side by side in our musical journey as been nothing but inspiring. Having my friend @dontmesswithjuanmusic joining me on this musical adventure is a real blessing as well.
Track. 06 - Pressure 2222
Atlas Castle x Big City
Big City rocked my Digitakt back then with an official and very personal custom sample pack, exclusively developed for my creative needs.
Cinematic brasses, soothing pads, dark and epic leads are all reunited in one place. Yves really managed to improve my workflow by gathering and creating all the former sounds, textures and feels of my first EP: ‘Titanomachy’. This sample pack definitely had a huge impact on ‘When There’s Nowhere Else to Run’ sounds and artistic direction.
This track was created from a Digitakt project that Yves started and handed over to me. I was in a period where I kinda felt empty and seeking new sounds that I wasn't yet to master. With this jam I tried to redefine my sound. A little more raw, mellow and electronic. Trying to use oscillators as Hi-Hats and Snare instead of more traditional samples.
Track. 07 - Peace Was Never Mine to Be Found
Atlas Castle x Audible Void
“No rest for the restless”.
The original jam as you can hear under had a very different vibe. I had a clear idea in mind for this one. I wanted something cinematic, ambient and dark. But as well a lot of tension. I wanted the listener to expect hope, peace, release while listening to this track… but you’ll never get it. It’s all about that tension all the way with mellow tones.
My friend Audible Void was the perfect match to collaborate with on this track. Being fan of his art and sound design approach, I knew we would get there
Track. 08 - Ad Infinitum
Atlas Castle x Niamh Sygrove
'Ad Infinitum' is used to describe a non-terminating process, a non-terminating repeating process, a set of challenging patterns set to be repeated 'forever', no matter what you do to change your faith...”
Having Niamh joining me on this musical adventure is absolutely unreal. We got to connect with each other on IG back in 2020 and I've been fan since then. If you haven't heard about her before now, you're definitely missing on something 🖤.
Track 09 - This Feels Like The End
Atlas Castle x Gabriel De La Mora
“Someone told me once to stop avoiding my old demons. Stop fighting them. Instead, I had to learn to make peace with them and love them. But how do you do that when you’re scared of them?”.
Gabriel's artistic process goes beyond the music itself. My friend is creating and crafting his music with a very passionate and personal approach that I absolutely respect and cherish. Handing him my stems back then was a very exiting moment. I didn’t knew what to expect… but I knew that I would be blown away by the outcomes.
Gabriel as a very strong mindset and vision when it comes to his art that I certainly respect and admire. Collaborating with him was a real treat. Get ready to embark on a deep sonic adventure with this track.
Track 10 - Feeling (Live Session)
BONUS TRACK
“This jam was created during a Hardware Jam Challenge that was actually pretty much needed. I'll not share too much details about my personal life, but I had to become a little asocial at some point to charge up my social battery. I'm far from being introvert. But I can really be drained by negative karma. Social exhaustion is a thing and you should always remember to listen to your body and mind before anything else. Self-care is definitely a necessity if you ask me. I hope you'll enjoy this jam. Here's some music to melt to... while taking care of you.”
Track. 11 - Dancing With Ghosts (Live Session)
BONUS TRACK
“I created this track under a Hardware Jams Challenge as well. The topic was "Less is More". This challenge was about creating space in our jams - allowing each element to shine. I choose to create a jam with only 6 tracks with the Circuit Tracks. How do you think it went? Minimalist enough? To create this track I used the - Techno Foundations Pack - developed by my good friend Yves Big City & Techtronix. This Pack was created to give the modern Techno Producer a great starting point for both drum sounds and patches. I had a lot of fun being creative with it! This pack already became a must have in my collection.”
This is it! If you made it all the way till the end, thank you! I’m delighted to have you here sharing this moment with me. Your time over here is certainly not taking for granted. Let’s keep the creativity going. 🖤🏰
