NEWS

Chad, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. What’s been the most meaningful project you’ve worked on?

​

My sophomore record, “A Momentary Ray of Joy” came from a long musical drought after my first project, coupled with a fair amount of depression and inner turmoil. Years would pass and I would find that I was getting in the way of my own happiness. It took sobriety and putting in the work and self-care to push me in the right direction and finish the record. My hope is that it might be a reminder to others that we’re all stronger than we give ourselves credit for, and that the sun always shines even when things feel overcast.

You can’t help but enjoy the slick and slinky overall sound of Chad Atkins dance music. EDM seems to follow some pretty well defined lines, for the most part, but Lightning offers something much more interesting. Because it slices pop grooves  in with EDM beats and calls back to a 90’s golden age as much as it looks to a club dance floor future there is an originality mixed with a familiarity, a progressive edge laced with a taste of past glories.

​

Chad Atkins writes love songs. Granted, the 24-year-old vocalist, multi-instrumentalist, and composer is neither alone in this nor free of antecedents. Much of the poppier stuff he records and releases (as opposed to what he ends up scrapping, which is a lot) is unabashedly built on DNA from the deep end of the song pool first populated by the Postal Service and Owl City. But Ben Gifford and (especially) Adam Young’s lyrics and music to tend to run as chaste and convoluted as a Mormon tween’s LiveJournal in 2003.

​

Such is demonstrably not the case with the Lincoln, Nebraska native who first found inspiration in their work well before moving to Minneapolis a few years ago. While calling Atkins ‘Nebraska’s answer to D’Angelo’ might be taking things a bit too far (for now), truth is, his default mode is already skewing toward the sensual and direct in ways most pop EDM artists simply lack sufficient hormones (or imagination) to even think of emulating.[...]

​It’s easy to overlook the power that stories have on life, but as you listen to Chad Atkins’ debut album, Stories, their compelling power, and rightful place, becomes clear once again. Being released on August 25th, Stories is comprised of electronic beats, soulful lyrics, bright synths, and a liveliness that brings dancing back to the dance floor. Even if you aren’t interested in dance music, you will find yourself moving along to every piece.

“I decided to do this album as a testament to my life and my name, and as a sort of reminder to anyone who listens to it that their life has such immense significant purpose, even though we are such small, small specks in this vast universe, we all have a story to tell.” – Chad Atkins

​

​

Minneapolis-based EDM/Pop artist Chad Atkins has been a very busy man since August. After releasing his debut album, Stories, on August 25th, Atkins has performed a handful of dates with his Nice Guy Entertainment labelmates at various clubs around the Cities, as well as releasing a three-song EP last month. Now, Atkins finds himself on the […]