Brothers Keith and Michael Jeffery of Australian pop/rock powerhouse Atlas Genius seem at home on the road. Fresh off last night's showcase at Chicago's Subterranean and just before their set on the BMI Stage, we talked with Atlas Genius backstage at Lollapalooza about how art sometimes imitates life on the road.
"It's going to be an epic tour. At the same time, we have new music coming out," Keith told us. "We have a new single that just came out called '63 Days.' The tour is pretty comprehensive … There's a couple of cities, which I've noticed people are disappointed we're not hitting. But for the most part, we're hitting the bulk of the cities in the country."
"We are going to go back and get those cities we missed," adds Michael. "You have my word."
It's a busy life, for sure. And the song "63 Days" Keith mentions was actually written based on a 63-day tour.
"That [song] was written just prior to the tour we did in the spring," said Keith. "It was actually 63 days long, and that number was just stuck in my head. When I was writing the track I had this idea of that being the framework for two people are being taken apart for whatever reason — in my case it's touring. … There's that fear that everybody has that it's going to fall apart while you're away.
"['63 Days'] is kind of like a promise that, 'Hey, I'm going away for this time, but it's going to be okay."
The single, a guitar groove- and vocal hook-laden trip into the mind and heart trying to keep love alive dropped in July and precedes an extensive fall tour for Atlas Genius.
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The single begs the question: Is there more new music around the corner?
"We have 11 songs we've recorded. There's another 15 or so we're going to finish," Keith told us. "So that's leading up to an EP in the fall and a full-length in the early part of next year."
With all of this recording and performing, the brothers Jeffries haven't lost their sense of humor. When asked about the benefits and challenges of being in a 'brother band,' Keith joked, "The biggest benefit of being in a band with your brother is I don't have to pay him. … The worst part about that is he gets half of everything I get."
"It's like being married," Michael fired back. "When we break up, I get half." Then the brothers broke into together.
With so much in the works, Atlas Genius and their fans have much to look forward to.
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