ATROPHY

TIM KELLY

I got the opportunity to interview drummer Tim Kelly from Arizona thrashers Atrophy. The band is since long defunct but back in the eighties they signed up to Roadrunner Records and became label mates with King Diamond and Sepultura. Atrophy was a rather shortlived band that recorded and released two albums, First Socialized Hate in 1988 and then Violent By Nature in 1990.

During that time they toured and gigged with bands like Venom, Sacred Reich, Coroner and Forced Entry. Atrophy did a few reunion shows in the late nineties back in Arizona but not much has been heard from the band since then. Now over to Tim Kelly...

How did you get in contact with Roadrunner Records?

They actually contacted us. They got their hands on our Chemical Dependency demo and called the number on the cassette. It was Rick's home number. I don't think we even had a manager at that point. Next thing you know we were playing for Capitol Records and another record company. Capitol passed so we went with RoadRunner.

What bands were you influenced by?

I grew up in New York and remember hearing KISS for the first time and then seeing them in 1977 when I was 11 years old. It was festival seating, no seats on the floor. You could rush the stage so I did and stood right in front of Gene Simmons. The next show I saw was Rush 2112. I can't believe it myself, I also loved Black Sabbath, The Police, The Who, Dio, Scorpions, later on it was Metallica, Megadeth, Testament, Exodus but we were already jamming at that point. We started the ATROPHY thing in 1986 and put the demo out in 1987.

Your first demo Chemical Dependency was hailed by Kerrang and Metal Forces as one of the best demo tapes of the year back in 1987. Were you surprised by how it was received?

I don't think we were surprised but we were really happy. I really liked it and thought if we had a better recording we could compete with those bands we loved. We just went into a local studio in Tucson called The Sound Factory and ripped it out pretty fast. I remember screwing up Preacher, Preacher a couple times and Chris was like "Come on dude, your thinking to much. Just play it like we do at practice. He was right, we just ripped it out and it sounded cool. I was over thinking it. I think Brian's vocals were real cool too. He didn't sound like a young kid. I remember playing the demo for friends and they were saying, who is this guy?

Socialized Hate (1988)

Who is Louis R. Drake MD.? The name can be seen on the artwork of your Chemical Dependency demo...

Just a fictional name. I think the artist came up with it. I think I asked the same question. Maybe there is some meaning behind it. Nothing I know of.

Your debut album Socialized Hate was released back in 1988. What do you think of it in retrospect?

I think it was a great first album. I'm very proud of it, We were only together for 2 years at the most. We would jam just about everyday of the week. As a drummer I really focus on the guitar riffs. I really loved the way Chris played rhythms. He had such great technique and mixed thrash with punky catchy grooves. He would start playing a riff he made up or start jamming to a beat I was doing and some amazing shit would come out. To this day he is one of my favorite guitarists.

James was really good at coming up with some killer stuff too. I really liked to help put all the rhythms together with them. That's the most fun, trying to get these riffs to flow into each other naturally. Once you get going they almost write themselves. Rick was my best friend at the time and when he got into the band things really progressed. He had a cool lead style and a cool sound. Real easy to work and jam with.

Your second album Violent By Nature from 1990 had another feel to it than the debut. Was that intentional or was it just a product of spending more time in the studio?

Yeah, I like the production on that album. Maybe a little more bass guitar like on Socialized would have been nice. Bill Metoyer did a great job on both albums with the resources we had. I remember him telling us "If you guys would just slow down I could get such a heavier sound for you. I was like isn't this the guy who recorded Slayer, hha. We put a lot of time into putting those songs together and trying to make it incredible with a little more thought into the lyrics and arrangements.

We were definitely trying our hardest to make a great album. We did Socialized real fast, almost like the demo. I remember doing Socialized and Bill said well let's hear one. So we ripped out Product of the Past or Chemical and Bill was like "That's a take. You wanna come back and hear it? So we listened to it and said yep that's how it goes, next.

I've read that you did three gigs with Venom in Germany. How was it to share the stage with such legends?

We thought it was cool but they weren't very happy with us. We were on tour with Sacred Reich and sharing a drum set so Venom had to setup in front. I think they were pretty pissed off. There wasn't much anyone could do about it. I just remember hearing they were pissed off but I never saw it. I was never really into them so I didn't know to much about their history. They were cool to watch, they put on some good shows.

Violent By Nature (1990)

You gigged a lot with fellow Arizonians Sacred Reich back in the eighties. Are you still in contact with them?

I see them at some shows up in Phoenix on occasion. Just saw Greg Hall at the Testament, Exodus show. We had a good time. Pretty scary to get signed and share a manager with them and then to hear the drumming on Ignorance. I was like oh shit I need to practice and up my game a little. I got to sit behind him for probably 80 shows on a couple different tours, Hell of a nice guy and an amazing drummer. All of Sacred were totally cool to tour with. Like I told Greg, some of the best days of my life.

Is it true that Atrophy recorded a per-production tape for a third album?

Yes we did. It was very rough sounding but I think we just assumed we would be putting out another album and that they wouldn't just give up on us because Chris left the band. The songs were pretty cool. Real thrashy and fast maybe a little more Socialized sounding. It would have been pretty bad ass in the end. We still had more songs to write. Oh well.

How was it to tour with Coroner and Forced Entry?

That was a great tour. Coroner are probably three of the coolest guys you could ever meet. Very mellow easy to get along with. I remember we used my Tama Superstar kit for that tour. Their drummer couldn't bring his kit so he asked if he could use mine. We opened up for them and had a killer show. I remember coming off the bus to go inside to see their set. I'll never forget I walked in and Marky is standing on my bass drums with his arms in the air and the cymbals were on fire! I almost shit a brick.

They were his cymbals but I was like what the fuck, this is gonna be a long tour. He turned out to be a really cool guy. Forced Entry was very impressive. We liked them a lot. I'm sure we would have toured with them again. Everyone got along really well and it was our third tour so we were getting pretty comfortable playing out.

Why did Atrophy disband?

Well Chris left the band to pursue his medical career. We all knew that day was coming but felt like we could continue. He thought we would be fine and that we could put out some good stuff but the record company didn't see it that way. We sent them a demo and they just lost interest in us I guess. Brian then left the band I really don't remember the circumstances to well but after getting a new guitarist and another singer it really didn't feel like the same band anymore. We never really made any money to speak of so it was hard to continue. James and I played in another band for a while and then Rick joined another band for fun so it just wasn't meant to be.

I still play everyday and am currently playing in a band called Parasite, Check out our video Weirdo. I love this band, total old school thrash.

Tim Kelly back in the day.

In the nineties You, James and Rick started another band called Head Circus, did you record anything under that name?

Nothing to speak of, I got back jamming with an old high school buddy of mine Karl Fickle. We played together before Atrophy, It was a pretty cool band.

What have you been doing since then?

I've owned a bakery since 1984.

I also have a screen printing shop. (anybody need shirts hit me up, tamatim@msn.com)

Have you noticed a renewed interest in Atrophy's music now when there has been a thrash revival going on?

Facebook seems to be blowing it up a little bit. I was contacted by a fan of ATROPHY John Thomas and he asked if he could make us a Facebook page. He said there was nothing on Facebook and I said we've been broken up for 20 years but feel free. He had 1300 likes in a few days it seemed like.

Displeased Records re-released your albums back in 2006. Where the band behind the re-release?

No not at all. I had heard something about it. They may have contacted Rick and he referred them to me. I have a ton of pictures from the tours and some videos (nothing great). They sent me an e-mail asking for some videos or unreleased tracks. Nothing happened with that.

What was the highlight of your career?

I can't think of one specific thing. I think just being able to make it out of Tucson, Arizona was pretty remarkable. Then to actually tour the world and play for so many people. It's what I always wanted to do, just to get a real taste of what it's like to tour on a real bus and not a U-Haul and play live. I remember flying to London and taking a ferry with our tour bus to Ireland for our first show. We turned down the street at like 2:00pm and there were kids already there waiting. Totally sold out show. Killer.

Have you got any funny story to tell, if anything weird has happened while touring or so?

Well lot's of crazy things happened, like the tour bus breaking down on the train tracks or getting the bus stuck going through a rock tunnel. Rick flying out of his bunk and just about breaking his leg. (guess that's not funny) There was a crazy bar fight in England and Phil Rind from Sacred Reich got thrown through a window by a gang called Satan's Slaves, I think.. You know the usual stuff, lol.

One show in California we were announced and started playing Urban Decay only to find out Brian was still sleeping on the bus. I remember one night I finished playing Socialized Hate and Greg Hall came up behind my kit and said that I was fucking awesome and gave me a drink from the bar. He said "Here's a hot drink for a hot drummer" so I slammed it down and it was straight Tabasco and then Chris started the next song. I was dying. Greg and Gloria, our manager thought that was pretty funny. Greg would also pull my stool back so I couldn't reach my pedals or pull my ride cymbal away from me. We got him back though.

Last but not least, is a reunion possible?

I would do it in a minute but I don't think it will ever happen. Maybe a few of us could do something one day but I don't see the original band all together. Not that we don't get along, we just live in different places and it would take some effort to get tight again. Not even sure if everybody still plays anymore. I would love to go play a festival somewhere. I would like to get together with a couple of the guys just to play those songs again. They're really fun songs to drum to. More double bass please!

Any last words to our readers?

Just a huge thank you to anyone who bought or heard our music and liked it. We just played what we really liked and turns out other people thought it was cool too. I've had so many people contact me on Facebook letting me know what Socialized Hate and Violent by Nature meant to them. Really makes you feel good to know you may have influenced someone to pick up a guitar or drumsticks. The first concert my bass player/singer ever went to was ATROPHY. He was 13 years old. (Check out Parasite, new CD coming soon). Who know maybe you'll see me in a thrash band at age 70 cause I'm not stopping!!

/Ruthless

Special Thanks to John Thomas for setting up the interview.

(20-04-2015)