Atomic Life is a Long Island-based rock band forged from the New York hardcore world — drummer Billy Rymer (The Dillinger Escape Plan, Ho9909, Thoughtcrimes) and bassist Michael Sadis (NK, The Rivalry) alongside vocalist and multi-disciplinary performance artist Adea Frances. They toured with Alien Ant Farm and shared a stage with Head Automatica in their first year alone, and a debut LP is now on the horizon. We caught up with Adea and Atomic Life before the next chapter begins.
SNQLX: Your songs move between sharp aggression and delicate space. What draws you to that tension, and how intentional is it when you’re writing?
ADEA: There’s no intention in creating that tension. Songwriting is a natural reflection of my inner world and is usually more about the process of creating with my bandmates.
SNQLX: Your lyrics often feel like they’re balancing intimacy with confrontation. How do words and music collide in this band — do they start as personal confessions or as band conversations?
ADEA: Lyrics always start with me, sometimes Billy and Michael will chime in but almost everything lyrically and vocals are coming from me, while the music is written primarily by Billy and Michael.
SNQLX: “Incense & Aries” and “Strippers Anonymous” both feel cinematic in different ways. Do you think visually when writing, and how much does imagery guide the final sound?
ADEA: I have something called “aphantasia” where I have no visual inner world, but I have always been drawn to the visual arts and storytelling. I got my masters in Fine Arts in 2019 where I was doing a lot of painting and contemporary performance art. I don’t go into songwriting with the same kind of intention I used to use when I was approaching art, I spend a lot of time writing poetry and journaling and my lyrics and writing are much more free formed and usually written with the song.
SNQLX: The live debut at Heaven Can Wait came early in your story. What did that night teach you about who Atomic Life is on stage versus who you are in the studio?
ADEA: The band is made up of seasoned musicians so being on stage together in this new project was really a celebration for us. I remember it felt like the biggest thing we have done and it was incredible to have so many people come out to celebrate us and our friends in Gamblers that night. We’ve played so many shows since that one, but that one really sticks out in a positive way.
SNQLX: Every member has their own spark, but how do you keep the songs from pulling in three different directions? What’s the glue that makes them Atomic Life songs?
ADEA: So the songs are written collectively by me (Adea), Billy and Michael. When you’re listening to this band we honestly forget who wrote what part of what song. For instance, I started off Strippers Anonymous but it could have been written by Michael or Billy.
SNQLX: Rock in 2025 can feel fragmented — niche scenes, playlists, algorithms. What does it mean for you to make “rock music” right now, in this cultural moment?
ADEA: The only cultural thing in music that we need to band together against is AI. It’s not “alternative rock” vs “pop rock” anymore. It’s AI vs artists. The reality of AI is even if you have a person tweaking the AI generated melody, those melodies were stolen from the thousands of hours of the labor of real people. I read Spotify bios of AI “artists”-if we can even call them that, that say things like “these songs were in my head and now I can bring them to life finally” and truly these people can fuck all the way off. You are not bringing something to life if you have literally stolen a voice from another human. If you don’t understand why this is a problem it’s probably because you are too lazy to learn a skill. Good music requires humanity, AI generated music is soulless dribbling. Anyone who says otherwise is selling you something, or stealing your data.
I love this answer by Atomic Life and Adea. It truly does feel like AI vs. Artist right now — and I hope that we as purveyors of music magazines will choose to promote the humanity behind the music.
SNQLX: Is there a particular lyric, riff, or moment in one of your songs that you think best captures the core of Atomic Life?
ADEA: This one’s really hard to pick! There are so many moments in this band that capture the core of it. I think as opposed to a particular riff, it’s more the feel of being on stage with this group of people that is Atomic Life’s core.
SNQLX: How do you want vulnerability to live inside your sound? Do you see it as a strength, a risk, or both?
ADEA: You cannot have vulnerability without both risk and strength, it’s like trying to remove yellow and blue from green. I am naturally a person who leans towards self doubt, but in making music I have embraced the pain of vulnerability instead of the pain of regret.
SNQLX: If a full-length record is on the horizon, what would you want it to say as a body of work? Not just track to track, but as a statement.
ADEA: As a much newer band getting ready to head into the studio next month to record our first ever LP, I believe the next step is to put out a more cohesive-sounding body of work. In our songs up to this point, we have oscillated a lot. The next body of work will be to establish our sound and share what Atomic Life really is.
SNQLX: When someone leaves a show or finishes a song, what’s the one feeling you hope stays with them after the noise fades?
ADEA: I hope that you do not feel alone.
Atomic Life exist in the tension between what’s already been lived and what hasn’t been recorded yet. Four people, decades of stage time between them, building something that none of them could have made alone. Adea says she hopes you leave a song feeling like you’re not alone. That’s not a marketing line — it’s the whole architecture. The debut LP is coming. Whatever it sounds like, it will have been built from honesty, a little chaos, and the particular alchemy of people who stopped caring whose riff was whose. Pull up a chair and hang with us.
It wouldn’t be a cocktail — it would be a shot of Jager and a Miller Highlife. And Michael would be the instigator.
There’s a song coming out on the new record that was inspired by the opening scene of Wedding Crashers. I feel like I need to do an entire interview just about that moment.
First thought is being able to speak every language on the planet — but that’s maybe more superhero level.
Direct to You.
