Audio Transmission Nine, a.k.a. at9, is an electronic-rock duo whose debut album, Whitewash, is as much a soundtrack to a scary movie as it is a cure for suburban boredom.
From the propulsive, menacing industrial bent of “Sundown” and dark and edgy “Shit Happens” to the more melodic electro-rock of “Walls” and orchestral-rocker “Settle,” at9 sounds like Nine Inch Nails, Bjork, Linkin Park and PWEI put through a meat grinder. The lyrics deal with themes of self — relationships, doubt, regret, triumph — and all the little lies that you tell yourself to help deal with the choices you’ve made.
Hailing from just outside Toronto, at9 is comprised of Vince Franchi (vocals, bass) and Jamie Lirette (drums, backing vocals) and all the tools, programs, samples and innovations at their disposal.
Vince and Jamie first played together in the early ‘90s in the hard rock band Psycho Circus, which had major management and a record deal with Anthem, Rush’s label. They released a full album, Scarred, with Rush producer Terry Brown, but “politics got in the way” and they soon went their separate ways.
Jamie and Vince continued to write together, ultimately evolving into a power duo. “We like the formula that we’ve come up with. The two of us have a great dynamic and we’ve managed to combine our love for electronic music with our love of raw energy” says Vince.
Onstage, Vince and Jamie don’t plan on adding any more musicians. “There’s a huge sound coming out of just two guys on stage and it seems so simple, but the reality is that we’re crazy multitasking in the live setting” says Jamie.
“Our goals are very simple,” he adds. “We want to get out there for people to listen to and if they appreciate and like it, then that’s all we need. We’re more mature now, so we’re not trying to become rock stars, we just want to expose our music and move as many people as possible.”