By Jim Barber
Can you hear the chug, chug, chugging of the big iron wheels, the rumbling of the engine, the shuddering ground, the clackety-clack as it passes faster and faster over the tracks. A big hard rockin’ locomotive has set off from its home station in the province of Quebec, intent on bringing its cargo of powerful songs and face-melting live shows to audiences across Canada and beyond.
Atomik Train brings a dose of modernity to the classic rock, classic metal sounds of bands like AC/DC and Guns ‘N Roses, with elements of Avenged Sevenfold and the contemporary metal bands of the 21st century thrown in for good measure. The band has already issued its bombastic debut single, ‘Supersonik Speedway’ with a follow-up track, ‘Back on Earth’ coming soon in anticipation of the launch of their self-titled inaugural album, set for both physical and digital release in the early autumn.
The talented quartet came together when a pair of musicians from the Quebec hard rock/metal scene, Junior Bourcier and Francois Babin, decided to collaborate with the intent of making metal music for the masses – straight ahead bangers, lyrics that connected with the hearts and minds of everyone, and songs that would translate even more powerfully when performed live.
“We were both playing gigs around the area, and it was around 2015. Francois had his solo band because he was already pretty well known, and he was looking to have another band play with him on the bill. I was a lead singer in another band as well as the lead guitarist and I wanted my band to open for someone that was known. We also happened to have the same bass player, so we met and there was a spark right there,” Bourcier said from his home in Victoriaville.
“So, we did that show and then after that we started doing a bunch of shows where it was just him and me – acoustic and electric. Eventually we incorporated other musicians and one time we did a gig for a friend of ours in this small town up north in Quebec – actually we did two gigs in the same day up there, with Alex Guilbault on drums and after that we thought, ‘man we gotta so something big.’ And that is when Atomik Train was born.”
Babin has the biggest public profile of the four members of Atomik Train. Back in 2003 he was a finalist on the popular Quebec talent/singing show Star Academie and went on to become a proficient and prodigiously busy touring musician throughout Quebec and eastern Canada, as well as making some forays into the U.S. including a show at the legendary Whiskey A Go Go in Hollywood.
“We became friends with the first handshake, honestly. I always dreamed of having a frontman like Francois in my band. He has that frontman energy and he’s good looking and he moves well onstage. And I loved his voice. He sings a little like Brian Johnson [AC/DC] sometimes. He sings with his balls and he’s a gutsy guy and that’s what I was looking for. Also, we have a really, really profound friendship together – we’re more than just bandmates and business partners. We support each other and help each other with anything and everything,” he said, adding that his pal has played and sung a lot of styles over his nearly 25 years in the music industry, but that Babin’s heart is rooted in pure rock and metal.
“Dave Grohl of the Foo Fighters is his biggest influence. But he also talks a lot about AC/DC like me. Hard rock and metal are the most important musical influences for him. Like Dave Grohl, Francois is a good leader and a fun guy to be around. We are partners in this project and have been since the beginning. We have the same craziness but also the same desire to go very far with this band.”
The aforementioned Guilbault has been a drummer since his early teams, and according to the bio on the band’s website, was influenced by a mixture of the soul and funk stylings of the 1960s and early 1970s, but also by Led Zeppelin’s brutishly brilliant John Bonham.
“Alex is amazing, and he hits hard and that’s one of the things I love about him. He’s got a really good driving beat and great technique – he’s like John Bonham a little bit. The way he joined the band is pretty cool. Francois went into a music store and Alex was teaching in the basement and Francois heard him rehearsing before his next student and waited around to meet him afterwards, and that’s how he got into the band,” Bourcier said.
“He’s a really very disciplined guy. He played hockey at a pretty high level, AAA when he was younger and was very good, so he’s got that same sort of discipline and work ethic of a top athlete. And of course, he’s strong too because of that, and has stamina. He being so disciplined helps us a lot because Francois and me, we’re a little bit less disciplined at times. So, Alex brought the thunder, the loudness that we were looking for.”
Atomik Train is a family affair too, not just because Babin and Bourcier are as close as brothers on and off the stage, but because there’s actually a second Babin in the band – Francois’ son Nolan, who not only plays bass with suitable rumbling badassery, but contributes a great deal to the band’s visual image and branding.
“He’s a really good artist as well as a really good musician. He’s into arts full time. At the moment he’s working on his second comic book. And he did all the logos and design and drawings for the album. And he’s done it since the beginning; he did the first Atomik Train logo with the train coming out of a big hole or tunnel there. So, we’re very fortunate to have him with us. He’s a really good bass player, has great ears and great instincts, even if he’s a lot younger. He’s a pretty decent kid and gets along with us and with his dad, so it’s been a very, very cool ride so far,” Bourcier said.
The guitarist is the band’s primary songwriter, but he works closely with vocalist Babin to ensure that the band’s vibe and tone is consistent.
“I do it mostly myself, but sometimes there are songs that I write the lyrics in part and Francois helps me because we have such a great chemistry. When I’m with that guy, it’s always a lot of fun, but I also know we have the same vision for the band. ‘Never Again’ was the first song that we wrote together. I had a riff for the song, so I brought it to him, and we had a couple of beers and started rocking out and the song came fast. He was saying and singing a lot of things into the microphone as I was playing along, trying to get to the lyrics. At one point he said, ‘never again’ and it was like, ‘that’s it. That’s the chorus.’ So that’s how that song worked out and then everything came together after that,” he explained, adding that most of the ideas come to him while he’s noodling on the guitar.
“Honestly, it’s almost always riffs first. Every time I’m playing the guitar I try stuff. I’m always exploring and trying different kinds of sounds. And when it sounds good, I keep reworking it and repeating it and make it sound better. And often I will have images that come into my head when I play which helps define the song, but sometimes I don’t have those images right away. When I wrote ‘Back on Earth’ it was a Sunday morning. I was having my coffee sitting at the kitchen table with my acoustic guitar. And there was a five-dollar bill on the table. I put it there when I emptied my pocket the night before. And if you remember what’s on the back of the new five-dollar bill, it’s an astronaut. So, I was playing, and I looked at the bill and I saw the astronaut and it gave me an instant idea. I started writing stuff about an astronaut that’s lost in space, trying to find his way back, and how he never surrenders and never loses hope and all that stuff.”
Some ideas are more personal and closer to the heart than the sci-fi adventures of a lost astronaut, as evidenced by the autobiographical ‘Destination.’
“It’s the first song that I showed Francois when we started playing together. Destination is pretty much a little bit of the story of my life. It’s about wanting and working to accomplish my dream of making music as a living and playing everywhere in front of thousands of people and inspiring others to also accomplish their dreams. It’s about taking your vitamins and doing your push-ups and getting up every day and giving it all you’ve got until you get to where you want to be. I want it to be something that when people are frustrated, they can go sit in their car and crank it to the highest level. For me, I put on [classic AC/DC banger] ‘For Those About to Rock (We Salute You),” Bourcier explained, adding that the lead-off single from the album, ‘Supersonik Speedway’ is also about going hell bent for leather for your dreams.
“I first wrote the riff, then added the intro and I presented this with a first verse and some sort of a chorus to the guys, but at first, they weren’t that interested; they didn’t want to play it that much. I’ve laughed a lot about this because I had to come back to them a couple of times, and eventually they really started to dig it. And when I got to finishing the lyrics, I was with Francois, and I already had a couple of words written. But for the chorus, we were looking for something that was rhyming with the ‘A’ sound, and at one point he said, ‘speedway.’ And the light went on in my head, and soon I had the rest of the story of the ‘Supersonik Speedway.’ It’s about when you’re heading in the right direction and when you’re choosing yourself. It’s a song about achieving something, being self-accomplished and when you’re rolling down the highway of life and things are good, it becomes a supersonic speedway. The obstacles clear out of your way, and you can go full tile. When you get locked into your confidence and your belief in yourself, you become powerful like a race car.”
Atomik Train also chose to put a hard rock spin on a classic Canadian song from the early 1980s – Red Rider’s ‘Lunatic Fringe’ – an idea presented to them by former Red Rider band member, and the band’s producer, John Webster.
“We wanted to do a cover, because there’s a lot of songs that we like to play live and John proposed ‘Lunatic Fringe’ because he was the keyboard player for Red Rider when that song came out and was a big hit,” Bourcier said.
“And I’ve always loved the song. I heard it a lot on CHOM FM, our big radio station in Montreal. So, when he proposed that we do it I said to the guys, ‘man, we gotta do this.’ So that’s what we did, and it was a lot of fun.”
Webster learned his trade at the feet of two of Canada’s most prolific and successful record producers; the late, great Bruce Fairbairn, and Bob Rock. He’s had the chance to work in the studio with the likes of Aerosmith, Motley Crue and Alice Cooper, among others, and brought not only his impressive catalogue of hit albums, but a sense of professionalism and encouragement for the members of Atomik Train during the recording of the debut album.
“We were very fortunate to work with him. Besides being a great producer and engineer, he’s a really, really excellent musician. He’s got a great vision for each project and is a great leader in the studio. And it’s funny because people were telling us before going into the studio to just do everything John says, and it will turn out amazing. And we did, but he was really good about listening to our ideas. He definitely got the best out of us. I remember when we listened to the stuff after he worked on it and compared it to what we were doing before I said, ‘okay, now we’re getting somewhere,’” Bourcier said.
With the self-titled debut album set to come out in late September or early October, plans are afoot to not only tour extensively throughout Quebec and the Maritimes, but get into Ontario and, hopefully, further afield.
“We want to go everywhere. We want to go to the States. We want to go everywhere in Canada and Europe. South America, of course, would be a good place for us to go. Listen, we’re ready for this. We’ll go wherever we need to, to get our music out there for people to hear. And I know once they see us live, they’ll become fans. We’re already pretty well known for our live show,” Bourcier said.
“It’s been a long time coming. We all have day jobs that we want to quit. We’ve invested a lot in this project – time, money and energy. We feel very lucky to be where we’re at right now, but it’s only the beginning. Playing live all over the world is what we want to do. We love playing live. We love having the connection with the crowd. Besides the fun we have from writing the songs, playing for people is what we love the most.”
For more information on Atomik Train, including release date for the album and upcoming shows, visit the band’s socials or www.atomiktrain.com.
- Jim Barber is a veteran award-winning journalist and author based in Napanee, Ontario, Canada, who has been writing about music and musicians for more than 30 years. Besides his journalistic endeavors, he works as a communications and marketing specialist and is an avid volunteer in his community. Contact him at jimbarberwritingservices@gmail.com.
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