"American Family(Born to Breed)" has placed in the top 5 of the "Great American Songwriting Contest."
Atom Fellows moved to NYC in '92 from his home town of Baltimore to scratch an itch. It wasn't until a year later with his first band RIVERZONE that he was able to start scratching what by then had become a rash. Tom Denman, Helder Coelho and a never-ending revolving door of drummers became fixtures on the Bleecker Street scene in Greenwich Village for two years. In '95 they released the EP, "SUCH THINGS," and shortly after parted ways.
Soon after, Atom hooked up with producer John "Fig" Ficarrotta (Snow, Kid-n-Play, LL Cool J) and for a tireless six months in Fig's hidden studio lair, created a five songs demo that was quickly passed on by Interscope's Jimmy Iovine.
A much needed break was soon followed by the creation of Io. With Riverzone's bass player, Helder Coelho, singer Tanuja Desai-Hidier, violinist Jeannie Kim and drummer Jonathan Margulis, the quintet quickly acquired management and began garnering interest throughout the industry. Their song "THANK GOD(I'M LEAVING)" was chosen as one of 20 semi-finalist in the Oxygen's Network Roxygen Contest and they were privileged to play Rock and Wrap it Up's fundraiser sponsored by MTV. However, due to personal reasons, Io disbanded after only a year and a half.
Atom recovered from the loss by recording his first solo record, "DasVoidakus." Recorded in Baltimore and his apartment in Manhattan, this very "indie" release was followed by a few shows at the now defunct Elbow Room. The record would have to take a back seat though because in 2002, Atom started construction on what would become Realm New York, a high end digital recording studio in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. In the span of two years, Atom recorded and/or produced great New York artist like The Shon Era, Alice Bierhorst, Dead Blonde Girlfriend, Shanna Sharp, O Fresh, Ken Beasley, Too Late for Princess, The Bramblemen and many more. (CHECK OUT THEIR MYSPACE PAGES!)
At the same time, Atom rejoined forces with Tanuja to form T&A. Together they wrote and recorded a companion soundtrack to her novel, "BORN CONFUSED." (Scholastic) "WHEN WE WERE TWINS," was featured in Wired Magazine ("Books with a Backbeat") for being a first-ever booktrack; Wired deems it “...reminiscent of Alanis Morissette…[the music] reflects the clash of styles, sounds, and influences inherent to cultural assimilation and urban living.†It has been picked up by Creative Artists Agency/Youth Intelligence and TrendCentral.com as a cutting-edge first-of-its-kind trend of the future (the 'booktrack'). The CD is also an Asiana Magazine "Crush" pick in the UK as well as a Vida Magazine pick of the month in Asia. Additional reviews at BarfiCulture.com and CDBaby.com. WHEN WE WERE TWINS has also been included, with the book, on the syllabus of a Brown University literature course, Rites of Passage. In support for the release, they played shows at Joe's Pub and the Bitter End as well as being featured in Time Out New York.
Tanuja has adapted "Born Confused" into a screenplay and the film is currently in development with IndieVest Pictures.
It was around this time that Atom was privileged to have the very talented Shanna Sharp record his song, "DRAMA QUEEN," for her 2004 release, "RUNNING FROM BUSHWICK."
Yet even after all that, the scratch has yet to be satisfied. So in late 2007, Atom released "Politico Sexialus," a full length album featuring songs from past and present as well as featuring "American Family(Born to Breed)," a 2007 top 5 winner of the Great American Songwriting Contest. In 2008, he continues engineering and producing great local acts as well creating music and playing out live with T&A.
