Reaching New Heights
As Tall As Lions Lets Go of the Past to Grab Hold of The Future

By Dominick Scala

Adding a new texture to the Long Island music scene, As Tall As Lions breaks away from the indie/emo/punk-pop landscape and dives into the atmosphere with richness and ethereal audio tranquility. ATAL was founded in 2002 by Daniel Nigro (vocal/guitars), Saen Fitzgerald (guitars), and Cliff Sarcona (drums). Their latest release, "You Can’t Take it With You" proves a true work of art with no compromise or regard for “what sells” or demographic marketing malarkey. Nigro gave me a bit of insight into their musical process.

What got you started on this path of making music?
When I was 5 years old I used to watch my aunt play the piano, and she kind of taught me. So at that point I think I found my passion for it. Then in sixth grade I got into Nirvana, and later into rock music soon after by playing in bands. With ATAL, Cliff, Sean and I started playing together at age 15, [played together] through high school, then disbanded during college, reforming a year later to start ATAL.

So do you think your songwriting style has changed from when you started?
Yeah, you’re constantly evolving, unless you’re in a band that wants to be a specific genre of music and you try to create that style of music all the time. I think that the natural progression of life and experience, and being a product of your environment, you’re always going to change and experience new things and want your sound to change. I feel that we try to let ourselves go with that natural progression as opposed to trying to stick into one particular place.

How long did the new record take, and what was the process like?
Recording and mixing took about five weeks, and we went through two producers, finally sticking with the third. The process varied from song to song - there were a couple songs we recorded to a click track, a couple we did live and some piece by piece. It really depended on the song and the vibe we were trying to capture with the song. I am a firm believer in keeping that live feel - the magic of groove the band falls into - and we tried to record it all live at first although it didn’t work out how we had planned it to.

In the song "Go Easy," the lead guitar sound is fantastic. Did you use an ebow or harmonizer or something?
Funny because we actually tracked it with an Ebow but it didn’t work, so we just used a really dirty guitar tone on a doubled lead.

Is there any underlying theme to this record?
This record was a very introverted record. It’s about realizing certain things about yourself and the world, (laughs) and letting go of things in the past that we tend to hold on to.

As Tall As Lions will perform with Mutemath at Revolution Live with Mutemath at 7 p.m. on Nov. 4 at Revolution Live, 200 W. Broward Blvd., Fort Lauderdale. Tickets are $21. Call 954-727-0950 or visit jointherevolution.net.

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