Ok first of all Who is this Band Atlas Dusk we’ve been hearing so much about?

We are a 6 piece band which includes Drums (Matt Marshall), bass (Chad), guitar (Antonio Porter), DJ (Alex Wasser), MC (Mike aka: tense 1) and keyboardist (Bilal Jones).

Ho long have yall been together? 2 years as a whole band. A long 2 years!!!

How did yall come together as a band? Started out with Mike (tense 1, MC) in ‘93 making beats and writing lyric’s. Mike hooked up with Bilal years later, then Alex. Chad started out as our guitarist and moved over to bass. We went through a couple of drummer’s before landing Matt, as well losing a few guitarists before Antonio.

Was all the band members from the hip hop genre orginally? No. Bilal’s background is in Rand B, classical, and Jazz. Matt played Jazz through high school, Hard core and funk bands through college. Antonio comes from a funk background. Chad’s dabbled in a little of everything. From breakin’ to graffitti, to writing music- the Hip-hop culture has always been a big part of Mike’s life. Alex also has been making hip-hop music for years! As a whole we come together and just make good music whatever genre we should fall under!


Atlas Dusk is a cool name what’s the story behind it? For years Mike MC’ed under the name Atlas. An Album he completed before the band and was to be titled “dusk“. When printed the finished product a screw up occurred, putting Atlas and Dusk as one word. Rather than reprinting, Mike decided to take on Atlas Dusk as his new name. Once the band joined together we decided to make it the entire band’s name.

What other bands inspire you guys? Eric B and Rakim, BDP, Tribe, de la soul, Jimi Hendrix, The Roots, Cypress Hill, Run DMC, and Earth, Wind, and Fire, Marvin Gaye, amongst many more!

Are you guys like the roots? In the fact that we play instruments we are, but besides that we strive to make good music and have fun.


There are alot of new hip hop bands popping up everywhere what do you think about that/is the scene becoming oversaturated with them? We just want to make our own style of music and not try to follow anyone‘s guidelines. As far as the scene being over saturated, “I don’t know‘, but if everyone tries to do something original and from the heart, it should not matter! Look how many Rock band’s are out there, but only a few stand out as great”!

What venues have you guys played? We’ve played The Annex, The Fine Line, 7th street entry, O’Gara’s garage, Big V’s, Turf, 5 corners, the Red Sea, Gasthof’s, Cabooze.

Have you guys toured? We are currently putting together a Midwest tour that should start in September or October.

Who in the industry would you guys like to work with? There are so many artist’s we’d love to work with, through all genre’s of music! Iwouldn’t know where to start!

What sets you guys apart from other bands or groups? Our multi-dimensional backgrounds.

How many albums do you guys have? This is our first album as a whole band together. Mike, Bilal, and Alex have 2 former album’s together. Mike also has a couple album’s before them with other artists that we don‘t talk about.

Describe what people can expect from your album? A dash of Hip-hop, Jazz, funk, Rock, laced with poetic vocal’s.

What can people expect at one of your live shows? Energy!

Do you think a Hip-hop band is more accepted in the MN scene than MC’s or rap group’s? I don’t know, but it takes a lot of talent to do either. If good, we’re big fan’s of both.

Whats the next move for Atlas Dusk? To keep growing musically and building a bigger fan base. A lot of hard work And a lot of goals to accomplish. The next year will be a long one.

Where can people get your cd's and learn more about yall? You can buy the album at any Cheapo, Electric Fetus, 5th element, online soon, and at any show!


To learn more about us check out our website www.atlasdusk.com

Anything else yall want to say? To anyone that has picked up an album, come to a show, or supported us in any way…. Thanks! Peace