Drummer Adam Swoboda, far right, and his band Major Tom & The Atoms are hitting the right notes with their new EP. 84150 Picture: SUPPLIED
By VANESSA VALENZUELA
DRUMMER Adam Swoboda is a bit of a perfectionist.
The Keilor East resident and member of rhythm and blues band Major Tom & The Atoms admits he wants to continue working on his songs after they have been recorded.
“I wouldn’t ever say a recording is finished. You have to pry me away from the studio and drag me out of there and tell me it’s done,” he said.
“You can always work on a song. When is a piece of art truly finished?”
Adam was asked to join the Melbourne band by former Little Red keyboarder Tom Hartney, who he met during an exchange trip to Japan during high school.
“For one year, I lived overseas in Japan for a scholarship. That’s how I actually met Tom. We were 16 years old at the time,” Adam said.
“In September last year, we had our first rehearsal all together. The first rehearsal can be uninspiring or it can click and it clicked. Everyone got this real buzz and asked when we were going to do this again.”
After performing their first live gig at the iconic Retreat Hotel last year, the band has rocketed to the top of Melbourne’s live music scene, performing at venues such as the Northcote Social Club, Cherry bar and The Evelyn.
The 29-year-old has been playing drums since high school, trading in his saxophone for a cheap drum kit in Year 9.
He draws his inspiration from a number of genres and musicians, but has always had a love for rock music.
“I love the big band sound. I love the big rock bands like Metallica and Aerosmith. But as you play with more and more musicians, your palette diversifies,” he said.
Adam said the band owed its success to hard work and working together as a group.
“It has been hard luck and we are blessed and fortunate enough to have six guys in the band who find the project 100 per cent exciting.”
Major Tom & The Atoms recently released their debut EP ‘Shake It Til You Break It’ and will take a break from performing to focus on developing their first full-length album.
