Quick & Dirty - TJ Kong and the Atomic Bomb
By: Cheryl Stornelli
Overnight success stories are common for dime-a-dozen pop acts, but to put a twist in the mix, and maybe a couple of months in between, this is one band that's gaining a buzz a little quicker than first intended.
For vocalist T.J. Kong, it was as simple as grabbing his guitar and sitting down with drummer Deej Martin, crackin' open a few beers and jamming to see what would come out. Although a tried-and-true process for bands of every genre, it's not often that a first-time jam session turns into an all day, all night long event that concludes with recorded demos.
"We gelled really quick," says Kong. "I've never played with anyone who I've connected with so fast and with something I'd written. Without even talking, we hit on all cylinders right away."
Now known as TJ Kong and the Atomic Bomb, the band traffic in boot-stomping, guitar picking, raspily sung songs, reminiscent of late ‘60s folk rock with an overall blues tone. The tunes are so enthralling and catchy it becomes increasingly harder with each play to stay in one place. The weary at times, yet always truthful lyrics have you moaning along with Kong and banging around with the rest of the band.
"I just write the melody and words," Kong explains. "Then, the drummer [Martin] adds to it and takes it in one direction or another. There's not really a message in all of the songs, but you can pull things from them."
Along with the vague symbolism from this Philadelphia-based band, comes a diverse way of promoting their upcoming EP, The Small Apartment EP, set to be released in early October. (Most of the songs can already be heard on their MySpace.) "I vote we go out on top of city hall, play as loud as we can or drive around, blast it guerrilla style, and then just vanish! Or maybe we can walk through the streets playing it, see how far we can push it, you know, hands-on style," exclaims Kong.
For a band that takes prides in their live experience more than anything else, the idea of their public display of talent doesn't seem out of the ordinary. Neither does the band's 'what if' thoughts about their future together. "We treat every live performance as if it's the last one," Kong reveals. "We try to make it something in itself. If the band blows up and gets complicated and takes away the idea of connecting to the audience on a personal level, I won't do it anymore. If it doesn't, and I can still have one-on-one feel, I wouldn't mind doing this and nothing else."
With the band's buzz quickly growing around the Philly indie music scene, where everyone seems to have a venue in their basement, it doesn't seem as if it would be a hard task to sell their EP and gain more fans – regardless of whether or not they sing on top of buildings or in the middle of the street.
"In the back of my mind I'm already thinking that we can go up or down with the EP. Right now we're enjoying the immediacy of this new thing and the small scene," Kong says. "There's clearly no reason to have an agent. If it works, it works." And with these methods of opening minds to new thought processes, ideas and first releases, he's probably right
