LITTLE ROCK — A band that took as its name Maps & Atlases might be thought to be a bunch of old geezers, living in the past, ignoring the invention of GPS devices and smart phones.
It’s not necessarily so, as the four Chicago men in Maps & Atlases are all of the somewhat youthful persuasion, although their shared love of art may separate them from some of their more technologically advanced peer group.
“We were all students at the Columbia College art school,” says guitarist Erin Elders, who put the band together with drummer Chris Hainey, bassist Shiraz Dada and singer/guitarist Dave Davison eight years ago. “We were in the old printing and publishing district in Chicago, and every day, we’d walk by a sign on the side of a building that said ‘maps & atlases,’ and it seemed like a fitting idea for a name to us.”
Maps & Atlases has released several EPs and two CDs, both for Barsuk Records: Perch Patchwork in 2010 and Beware and Be Grateful, on April 17. Along the way, the band has been compared to TV on the Radio, Deerhoof, Can and Prince.
The latest album is one that Elders considers a step beyond the “math rock” label that some have attached to Maps & Atlases.
“Every band gets described in a certain way, but that’s not a term we would use,” he says. “We think of our sound as more angular and complex, with time signatures arranged with lots more syncopation and rhythmic qualities. We try to work within pop song formats and make it enjoyable at the same time.”
Elders cites as some of the influences of Maps & Atlases such original talents as Van Morrison, Otis Redding and Kate Bush.
“We listen to a lot of artists, and like to take influences from their experimental stuff,” he explains. “We’d also include Philip Glass and even Electric Light Orchestra.”
Maps & Atlases members collaborate on the songwriting, but Davison is the only singer. The other three members may create an idea and discuss it with him, or he may come up with a sketch and then the fleshing out begins, Elders says.
For the past five years, the band has performed at the South by Southwest conference in Austin, Texas, where they have met other musicians and industry insiders who have helped them advance their career, Elders says.
“Every year, we’ve gotten asked to play there, and we’ve done great shows in Austin,” he says. “We’ve also toured the United Kingdom and Europe twice in the past year, plus Mexico.”
The group has toured with or opened shows for Minus the Bear, Portugal, the Man, Good Old War, Ra Ra Riot, mewithoutYou and These Arms Are Snakes.
Maps & Atlases
Opening act: Cory Branan
9 p.m. Saturday, Stickyz Rock ’n’ Roll Chicken Shack, 107 River Market Ave., Little Rock
Admission: $10
(501) 372-7707
stickyz.com
Weekend, Pages 36 on 09/20/2012