Brann Dailor and Core Atoms Talk Arcadea’s The Exodus of Gravity
Mastodon drummer and friend bring metal one step into the new wave
We live in crazy times, and there’s a plethora of art being made to react to our current situation.
This creative output mostly centers on the increasing presence of technology in our everyday lives, how we’re not conversing with each other in compassionate ways, and how we’re getting closer and closer to an immense decline that we may never build back from. It’s a precarious era to be living in, but at least there’s going to be some awesome music to go along with it.
A prime example is the new album The Exodus of Gravity from Arcadea, which is a synth-metal project led by Mastodon drummer and co-vocalist Brann Dailor and multi-instrumentalist Core Atoms. It came out on Aug. 22 via Relapse Records and it possesses an array of unique tunes with an abundance of energy.
I had a talk with both Dailor and Atoms, ahead of former Mastodon co-guitarist and co-vocalist Brent Hinds unfortunate passing, about the making of the full-length, making a music video that felt like they were at a high school prom, and hoping to make people realize the power of love and empathy again.
The storyline behind The Exodus of Gravity is a unique one with it centering on a post-human world billions of years into the future with AI having a major presence. How did you guys come up with this concept? What inspired this particular theme?
Core Atoms: I think just the conditions we’ve been living in for the past couple years while we’ve been playin’, jammin’ and recordin’. The state of the world, and I think it’s ever present right now where we all have at least one thought on the future and where we’re going. AI is coming around, so how much of us remains human and how much of us dive into a dark well of technology. It’s the human versus the machine and these things are kind of ever present while being accelerated in this situation of the digital age. It just creeps in, so it’s hard to live without it while trying to have your finger on the pulse.
Brann Dailor: It’s a nice way to politely say that it’s time for a reset for humanity, something like that. Strip humans down to the studs and maybe start over with the first thing you look at being that feeling of love, which seems to be shoved in the corner somehow.
CA: Yeah, it’s empathy through the tiniest of things, and it’s the opposite of where we seem to be headed.
In terms of the songwriting and recording process, what in both of your opinions makes The Exodus of Gravity different from the self-titled album that came out in 2017?
CA: To me, this was much more of Brann and I getting a lot of time to jam together and actually work out parts. There’s a lot that went into the first one as well, but Brann and I couldn’t be in the same room as much. This one enabled us to hash out ideas and work on stuff.
BD: The first one was Core reaching out to show me what he was making on these keyboards in order to have me get involved and play some drums. Whenever I’d get home from a Mastodon tour, he would be at the studio already having things worked up with a click track. I would jump in there, a lot of times it would be the first or second take through and then I would have to go. It took two years to make that record as well, so we took our time with it, but before going in to do a second one, we had discussed me being more involved if possible. We got together in my basement to jam and do some stuff, so I have a little bit more ownership over this one along with it being more collaborative, going back and forth with him and I.
VIDEO: Arcadea “Fuzzy Planet”
Very cool. The music video for the single “Fuzzy Planet” off the album that came out last month has a sci-fi high school prom happening with all sorts of creatures and Brann, you’re wearing some kind of clown makeup. Who had the idea for this setting for the video and what was the experience like filming it? It must have been a lot of fun getting to dress up with people dressed as all these different characters.
BN: I’ve been in this situation many times before where you want to make a video and you have about 10 dollars to do it, so you have to phone in a bunch of favors from friends. The best way to make something like that happen is to throw a weird party, hope everyone is cool with that and just film it while having us be the band that’s jammin’. It’s fun to make because hopefully everyone is having a good time, even though there’s the obvious waiting around and sitting for hours for things to happen. That’s the nature of being on a set for anything that’s going to be filmed and put together, but our good friends Bryan [Bankovich], his whole crew, and [Video] Rahim, who is a great videographer, they can make somethin’ out of nothin’ and make something cool with not a lot of money to work with. Those guys are invaluable to us and they’re really great at what they do.
CA: Agreed, yeah. It came together fast and it was filmed in more or less a day, but it was super fun. I have to tell you, it ranks up there with some of my favorite shows I’ve ever played, just because the experience of standing on stage and looking back at an audience that’s made up of aliens and creatures and they’re all partying together to the music had me saying to myself, “This is the best dream I’ve ever had.” If you could pick your audience, that would be the audience. Also, Brann and I never attended a prom I’m pretty sure, right?
BN: Yeah, I dropped out in 11th grade so no, I never got the opportunity.
CA: I was kicked out by 12th grade, so I never went. I probably wouldn’t have gone either way because I wasn’t really into those things back then, but this was our chance to have our own, and it was pretty fun. Who doesn’t want to play their prom? That’s pretty awesome.
I thought the video was really, really cool, I enjoyed watching it. Brann, you mentioned earlier about the main band you’re in with Mastodon, and Core, you’ve been in the bands Zruda and Gaylord, with Brann also being a former member of the latter. In terms of Arcadea being a creative outlet, what does this fulfill for the both of you as musicians versus the other projects either you’re currently a part of or have been a part of?
CA: I know for me, I don’t get to always write for someone else’s voice. In my old band Gaylord, I was writing my own lyrics and I was writing the songs I was performing, but to write with my friend’s voice in mind, and knowing what he can and can’t do, is a thrill. This project and this band is something I don’t really get to do in my everyday life. I can write songs all day long for myself, but to collaborate with an awesome artist and an amazing drummer is something that I don’t get to do all the time. I get to play with great musicians, but Brann is one of my favorites.
BN: Thanks, buddy. (laughs) For me, it’s a little more dancey and it’s very electronic, obviously. There’s a lot of synth stuff, I’m a big fan of a lot of electronic music and I have been since I was a kid, a lot of the ‘80s new wave stuff like Depeche Mode, New Order and A Flock of Seagulls. You name it, it’s what dominated the airwaves and it’s a lot of what my dad was listening to, so I always liked the aesthetic and I always liked the sound of synthesizers, but in a rock format. I like some dance music too, and I don’t really get to play a lot of dance music with Mastodon unless you’re talking about slam dancing, which is super awesome.
I like all that stuff, but it also just more music in the world. I like to be as creative as possible and our time here is limited, so I want to leave as much art behind as possible and I can’t think of a better person to make some art with than my buddy Core. I’ve known him since I was in my late teens, so any opportunity to be creative with him and come up with something cool, I’m ready to do it.
That’s a great perspective to have. For people who have either been checking out The Exodus of Gravity or they haven’t given it a listen yet but they plan on doing so, what do you want people to take from it? With the whole theme of AI in the future, do you want people to be more aware of it going forward?
CA: I hope they take away what I get from some of the records I love when I take it home and I have an experience where my life merges with that music. I hope people love it and I hope they have the same thrill I do with my favorite stuff. I’ll also say that I don’t think AI is the main thing at all, there’s so many different aspects, but most of it to me is getting in touch with empathy, getting in touch with emotion, not being afraid of love and realizing that it’s actually a powerful force. Like gravity, it’s this invisible thing, but it can control or push a lot of things. It’s one of the greatest powers in the universe in my opinion, but we don’t really talk about it, we shy away from it.
I hope they maybe think of that, but there’s also a lot about the environment in that record. It’s undeniable that we’re living in a world that we’re building and destroying while moving towards mass extinction and whatnot. I hope someone can take something from that, or they might not get the story at all, but hopefully they at least dance to it.
BD: I think there’s something positive and uplifting about the tunes, so I hope people sink into it and go on a bit of a psychedelic journey with us. I hope the music makes them feel good and they want to continue going back to it.
- Brann Dailor and Core Atoms Talk Arcadea’s The Exodus of Gravity - August 29, 2025
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