Atomic Opera

Groove Metal
Houston, Texas, USA

At some point, Frank Hart was a part of a band called Love in Grey before forming Atomic Opera.

Atomic Opera formed in September 1991 when founding member Frank Hart moved from Missouri and joined forces with producer/manager Sam Taylor. The lineup, consisting of Frank, Jonathan Marshall, Mark Poindexter, and Len Sonnier (brother of Dane Sonnier of the Galactic Cowboys), was fleshed out with a few different Houston-area musicians over the next few years.

In December 1991, Atomic Opera went into Rampart recording studio with producer Sam Taylor, and Engineer Steve Ames to record a demo consisting of the songs “For Madmen Only”, “Daze of Love In Grey”, “The Meaningless Word,” and “Feverdream”. They recorded more demos at Rampart in 1992.

In September 1992, Sonnier quit the band, and was replaced on bass by his good friend and bass tech, Jonas Velasco.

In 1994, after Derek Shulman, president of Collision Arts (a subsidiary of Giant Records) saw the band play live at Zelda's in Houston, he signed them the spot. Soon, they released their first full album For Madmen Only. During this time, the band toured with such artists as Dio and King's X. The band's video for “Justice” was played approximately 20 times on MTV.

Often compared with King's X or the Galactic Cowboys, both of whom were managed and produced by Taylor, Atomic Opera forged their own path with poetic lyrics, varied instruments, and strong Christian influences. Unlike some of their contemporaries, the band did little to hide its faith in its lyrics, but in some ways avoided the stereotypes of Christian rock, as most songs focused on challenging the norms of Christianity and on the relationship between God and man. The band was also vocal about their dislike of the Christian music industry.

The band's label Collision Arts ceased operations, and Atomic Opera found itself without a home, and released their next two albums without a supporting label. After struggling to gain mainstream popularity, the band broke up in 1995 and parted ways with Taylor. Hart continued to write music and decided to release a follow up album in 1997 under the Atomic Opera name called Penguin Dust, recruiting former drummer Mark Poindexter and multi-instrumentalist Kemper Crabb to assist; this album was released directly by Hart and shopped to various independent outlets.

Due to the strength of Penguin Dust, Metal Blade Records quickly signed the band to a long term deal. Crabb became a full-time member, with longtime Hart friends John Simmons and Ryan Birsinger also rounding out the lineup. While working on new material, Hart compiled the album Alpha and Oranges, a collection of unreleased demos originally from the For Madmen Only lineup, and released this independently as well. In 2000, the band released Gospel Cola on Metal Blade with its new lineup; the album garnered some positive notice in both Christian and mainstream music outlets.

Since that time, the band have endured a lot of setbacks (such as a flooded recording studio) and pursued various side projects (such as raising families, session work, multimedia projects, Hart's role as worship leader at a Houston area church, and managing Hart's label Feverdream Records). After adding Trip Wamsley to the lineup in 2004, and parting ways with Metal Blade, the band were working on a new album called The Mystery of Hope, but there has been no news on this effort for several years. The band did have a reunion concert in late 2014 to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the release of For Madmen Only, in addition to re-releasing a remaster of the album with bonus tracks.

The Atomic Opera Timeline from the old Atomic Opera website:

• September, 1991: Frank Hart, Jonathan Marshall, Mark Poindexter, and Len Sonnier band themselves together under the name Atomic Opera.
• November, 1991: Atomic Opera signs a production deal with Wilde Silas Musicworks (Sam Taylor's company, producer of King's X, Galactic Cowboys, The Awful Truth, Anapurna, Third Day) Wilde Silas hopes to secure a record deal for the band.
• December, 1991: Atomic Opera goes into Rampart Recording studio with Sam Taylor and Steve Ames (engineer) to record the first demo. (Songs recorded: “For Madmen Only,” “Daze of Love in Grey,” “The Meaningless Word,” and “Feverdream”)
• January, 1992: Atomic Opera goes back to Rampart Recording studio with Sam Taylor and Steve Ames to record four more songs. (Songs: “Joyride,” “December,” “Spinning,” and “Rain Parade”)
• June, 1992: Atomic Opera flies to New York City to play at The Ritz, opening for King's X. It is the only time Atomic Opera & King's X had done a show together (until November 2000 at Numbers in Houston.)
• September, 1992: Len Sonnier quits Atomic Opera and is replaced by bass tech and good friend of band Jonas Velasco.
• March, 1993: Derek Shulman (President of Collision Arts, also signed Bon Jovi, Cinderella, Pantera) is invited by Sam Taylor to see the band play at Zelda's in Houston, TX and after a very strange set (The power is cut off by the club mid set, and Ed Fair (future manager) is forcefully removed from the club) he offers them a small “development deal.” If the band can come up with some more material that Mr. Shulman likes, he might be interested in signing them to his new label.
• April, 1993: Atomic Opera go into Rivendell Recording Studio (Rampart went out of business) with Sam Taylor and Brian Garcia (engineer for King's X, Galactic Cowboys, Velvet Hammer, Precious Death, Toy Subs) to record some of the new tunes. (“Paper Tiger,” “Magic Castle,” “Rainbow,” “She's So Blue,” “Love Knows,” “Achilles' Heel,” “Every Moment,” “What am I Reaching For,” and “All Fall Down” are among the songs recorded)
• May, 1993: The band submits a demo that they have recorded on an 8-track in their rehearsal room (Songs: Justice, I Know Better, New Dreams, World Without End, Wilde Times, American Atheist Hour, Let Go, I Hear the Rain, and Mountain) After hearing the tapes Derek offers the band a major recording deal on Collision Arts Records to be distributed through Giant Records, which is distributed through Warner Brothers Records, BMG worldwide.
• July, 1993: Atomic Opera goes into Rivendell Recording studio with Sam Taylor and Steve Ames to begin recording For Madmen Only. Frank Hart begins working on album art with Allison Smythe (graphic designer). Ryan Birsinger is engineer assistant.
• October, 1993: The record For Madmen Only is finished, mastered, artwork, everything. The record is to be released at the end of January.
• January, 1994: Atomic Opera signs a major publishing deal with Warner Chappell.
• March, 1994: Atomic Opera and Sam Taylor go to West Texas with Film Xero to film the first video, “Justice.” It was played approximately 20 times on MTV. The riff from “Justice” was also used as the opening theme music for MTV news.
• May, 1994: For Madmen Only is finally released. An album release party is held at Fitzgerald's (Upstairs from Zelda's.) “Justice” is the #1 most added single on metal radio the week it is released. It goes to #4 on several charts (FMQB, Hard Report, etc.). 20,000 records are sold on the strength of this single alone (7,000 of them in Japan, where the band had never toured until much later).
• June, 1994: The band goes into Rivendell Recording studio with Ryan Birsinger to record their version of the Crosby, Stills, Nash, & Young Song “Guinnevere.” It was to be used as a B-side for “Joyride.” It was not used. It is cool, though.
• July, 1994: Atomic Opera goes on tour with Dio. (These were days of great fun!)
• August, 1994: Video for “Joyride” is filmed at a sound stage in Dallas, TX while we are on tour. A big political struggle is happening between Derek Shulman and Irving Azoff (at Giant) and it is not a good sign for Atomic Opera. If Shulman loses his deal with Giant, then the record would die.
• October, 1994: The Dio tour ends. Atomic Opera flies to Providence, RI for a big radio station birthday party (HJY.) It is inevitable that Giant will drop all of Derek Shulman's projects (Atomic Opera is the only one that was released out of his 14 other projects).
• December, 1994: While Collision Arts is waiting to go under, Atomic Opera goes on a tour (self-financed) of small clubs around the country.
• January, 1994: Collision Arts dies.
• March, 1994: Atomic Opera returns to Houston and begins writing more material to demo and shop for a new record label.
• April / May, 1994: Atomic Opera shoots two videos as part of their demo (“Hammer” and “God of Hate”). Many songs are also recorded at Frank's home studio. (“A Girl With Rain,” “Down,” “Stop My Heart,” “Silence,” “Feverdream 2,” “Whatever,” “I Don't Know,” “Suck,” “Deaf,” “Moving,” “These Days,” “Stop the Rain,” “Make a God,” “Breathing,” “Hide,” and a few more).
• July, 1994: The band separates from their long time producer/ mentor/ friend, Sam Taylor. They continued to hope, and were working very hard to stay together and make music.
• August, 1994 - July, 1996: Over 100 new songs are written, but it becomes hard to keep morale up. A couple of small independent record companies try to make a deal with the band, but nothing becomes of it.
• August, 1996: Jonathan Marshall and Jonas Velasco quit the band to take serious day jobs. They are replaced by Kemper Crabb.
• March, 1996: Frank goes into Rivendell Recording studio with Ryan Birsinger and Jerry Gaskill to record drums tracks for a new record. All of the songs that eventually become Penguin Dust are recorded, except for “WaterGrave.”
• June, 1997: Penguin Dust tracks are finally recorded. Frank recorded all bass, guitars, cellos, vocals, Kemper's Mandolin, and sound FX at his home studio. Ryan Birsinger is very helpful in engineering during the final vocal sessions. The tracks are to be transferred from the hard drive to the Galactic Cowboy's 24 track ADAT machines to be mixed. Alan Doss will mix with Ryan & Frank assisting the mix. It takes two weeks. Mark Poindexter re-records all drums tracks due to a technical problem.
• July, 1997: The CDs arrive at the Cornerstone Music Festival in Illinois, and are made available for the first time. The band hopes to get distribution for the album, and tour.
• October, 1997: HM Video Magazine Volume 4 features a segment on Atomic Opera. It includes interview footage of Frank, Kemper, and Ryan, as well as the videos for “Hammer” and “God of Hate.”
• November, 1997: John Simmons joins band and replaces Mark Poindexter on drums. (John is the former drummer for Toy Subs, From Now On, and other notable Houston Bands.) Ryan Birsinger joins the band as bass player.
• September, 1998: Atomic Opera is invited to Japan for a 12 day tour. They will play Tokyo, Canal City, and the Aspecta Fire Beat Festival in March, 1999. Frank's wife Kim and Kemper's Wife Jen also go along. We had a wonderful time and the shows were a blast.
• January, 1999: Metal Blade Records sign Atomic Opera to a two record deal. They first will be titled Gospel Cola and the recording will begin in February at Frank's Digital Penguin Studio. (The band wishes to publicly thank Ty Tabor for his help in making this deal a little sweeter.) We use the advance money for the album to build a studio in Frank's house.
• January, 1999: Atomic Opera releases Alpha & Oranges through the fan club. It is a ten song CD of previously unreleased out takes. Massive Groove Productions assists in manufacturing of the first thousand.
• January, 2000: Gospel Cola is in the… can. Metal Blade will release the new Atomic Opera Album in April. The 19th in Christian Music Stores through Diamante, and the 25th Through RED to the mainstream market.
• March, 2000: Gunter Ford at World Management hears the new CD and LOVES it … He is soon the new manager of Atomic Opera

1991 Independent

Frank Hart - Lead vocals, guitar
Jonathan Marshall - Guitar, backing vocals
Len Sonnier - Bass, backing vocals
Mark Poindexter - Drums, backing vocals

1. For Madmen Only
2. Daze of Love in Grey
3. The Meaningless Word
4. Feverdream

1991 Independent

Frank Hart - Lead vocals, guitar
Jonathan Marshall - Guitar, backing vocals
Len Sonnier - Bass, backing vocals
Mark Poindexter - Drums, backing vocals

1. Joyride
2. December
3. Spinning
4. Rain Parade

1993 Independent

Frank Hart - Lead vocals, guitar
Jonathan Marshall - Guitar, backing vocals
Jonas Velasco - Bass, backing vocals
Mark Poindexter - Drums, backing vocals

Songs recorded included:

• Paper Tiger
• Magic Castle
• Rainbow
• She's So Blue
• Love Knows
• Achilles' Heel
• Every Moment
• What am I Reaching For
• All Fall Down

1993 Independent

Frank Hart - Lead vocals, guitar
Jonathan Marshall - Guitar, backing vocals
Jonas Velasco - Bass, backing vocals
Mark Poindexter - Drums, backing vocals

1. Justice
2. I Know Better
3. New Dreams
4. World Without End
5. Wilde Times
6. American Atheist Hour
7. Let Go
8. I Hear the Rain
9. Mountain

1994 Collision Arts / Giant Records (9 24540-2)

Frank Hart - Lead vocals, guitar
Jonathan Marshall - Guitar, backing vocals
Jonas Velasco - Bass, backing vocals
Mark Poindexter - Drums, backing vocals

1. Joyride (5:11)
2. Justice (3:33)
3. Achilles' Heel (5:54)
4. I Know Better (4:16)
5. All Fall Down (3:38)
6. War Drum (5:33)
7. Blackness (4:09)
8. December (5:07)
9. This Side of the Rainbow (3:37)
10. New Dreams (9:41)

1. Joyride (alternate version)
2. Hammer
3. Magic Castle

1. Guinnevere (Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young cover)

1994 Independent

Frank Hart - Lead vocals, guitar
Jonathan Marshall - Guitar, backing vocals
Jonas Velasco - Bass, backing vocals
Mark Poindexter - Drums, backing vocals

Songs recorded included:

• Hammer
• God of Hate
• A Girl With Rain
• Down
• Stop My Heart
• Silence
• Feverdream 2
• Whatever
• I Don't Know
• Suck
• Deaf
• Moving
• These Days
• Stop the Rain
• Make a God
• Breathing
• Hide

1997 A Comic Opera Music
1997 Massive Groove Productions

Frank Hart - Vocals, bass guitar, guitar, cello
Kemper Crabb - Mandolin, vocals
Mark Poindexter - Drums

Todd Bragg - Cymbal on “WaterGrave” Garrett Buell - Percussion on “WaterGrave”

1. Make a God
2. Stop the Rain
3. Fade
4. Thirst
5. God of Hate
6. November
7. Spirit of Age
8. FreakShow
9. WaterGrave
10. FeverDream

1999 Massive Groove Productions

1. Rain Parade
2. For Madmen Only
3. All These Things
4. Feverdream #1
5. Magic Castle
6. Love in Grey
7. Meaningless Word
8. Paper Tiger
9. Spinning
10. Let Go

2000 Metal Blade Records (MBD 6205)

Frank Hart - Vocals, guitar, cello
Ryan Birsinger - Bass, Chapman Stick, vocals
John Simmons - Drums, percussion, vocals
Kemper Crabb - Vocals, mandolin, dulcimer, recorder, bouzouki, harmonica, ocarina

1. Jesus Junk (3:29)
2. October (3:58)
3. Winterland (4:02)
4. Reiah Discerns the Times (2:20)
5. Malediction (5:30)
6. My Head (3:59)
7. Silence (2:48)
8. Muse (6:02)
9. Love is as Strong as Death (3:59)
10. The Circle is Closed (4:49)
11. Stop My Heart (3:35)
12. Doxology (5:58)