Watership Down (band)
| Atomship | |
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| Also known as |
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| Origin | Ocean Springs, Mississippi, United States |
| Genres | Alternative metal, post-grunge, progressive metal |
| Years active | 2002-2004, 2006-present |
| Labels | Wind-Up Records (2002–2004) |
| Associated acts | Ugly Kid Joe, Papercut Massacre, Lonely Unit Shifter, Together Tomorrow, Anorexic Skeleton, Yoon |
| Members |
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| Past members |
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Atomship (formerly known as Watership Down and AtomshipDown) is a four-piece alternative metal band currently composed of Joey Culver, Chad Kent, Roy Williams, and Jared Slade, best known for their 2004 single "Pencil Fight". Nathan Slade was the band's original guitarist until his death in December 2009. The band was known as Watership Down in 2002, before changing their name to Atomship that year. Due to original vocalist Derek Padoe's anxiety, Joey Culver took over his place for the recording of their debut album The Crash of '47, released in 2004. Atomship was later dropped from Wind-Up Records, due to poor record sales, which led until the band's disbandment later that year. In 2006, Atomship reformed as AtomshipDown. In 2010, AtomshipDown reverted their name back to Watership Down. In 2017, the band reformed Atomship with vocalist Joey Culver.
The band was formed in 2002 as Watership Down, named after Richard Adams’ classic tale of the same name, and was originally composed of vocalist and bassist Derek Padroe, guitarist Nathan Slade, and drummer Chad Kent. Although renamed to Atomship later that year, the band retains a cartoon alien rabbit as its logo, designed by Nathan Slade, reflecting the group's interest in UFOs and extraterrestrials. During production of their debut album, Padroe suffered severe anxiety that led to him stepping aside the recording process. Joey Culver was brought in as a session vocalist to record the album. The finished album, The Crash of '47 was released on May 4, 2004. The album's title references the alleged date of the UFO crash in Roswell, N.M. "We're fascinated with some of these things", Slade says. "We’re not conspiracy theory nuts but it is interesting how the media covers up some stuff that's obviously there. We have a pretty strong thirst for knowledge." Nathan Slade played the bass on 5 songs, with Ugly Kid Joe bassist Cordell Crockett playing bass on the rest. The band recruited bassist Roy Williams for touring in promotion for the album. Not long after being dropped from Wind-Up Records in late 2004, the band had a falling-out with Joey Culver and subsequently disbanded.
In 2006, Atomship reformed as AtomshipDown, with the band reunited with original singer Derek Padroe. In 2007, the band announced that they were going to release two albums simultaneously. The first of these albums was to be entitled Let Us Sleep Awhile, while the second was untitled, but labeled as the evolution of Atomship. Derek Pardoe founded "Omni-Mind Productions" at which the band recorded the tracks "Deflower", "For So", "Red", and "Magnolia".
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