Lost in Atlantis
Q&A with Mark Willis, co-founder of the Atlantis Music Conference
By Josh Bashara

Mark Willis calls the annual Atlantis Music Conference “a four-day drinking party with a music problem.” He’s being sarcastic, but just barely.

Created in 1998 to present the greatest platform of discovery of new talent in the country, Atlantis has been steadily gaining a reputation of not just one of the most educational music conferences around, but one of the most wildly fun get-togethers as well.

The conference takes place every August in Atlanta, Ga. and features a slew of educational panels, a music industry job fair, exhibition areas, up-and-coming musician showcases and, of course, a variety of cool parties.

Last year, over 42,000 people showed up to watch the artist showcases, and the conference saw nearly 3000 registered attendees. Entertainment was provided by 318 acts hosted by 18 different venues throughout the city. The typical Atlantis attendee has about three to five years experience in the music industry, but everyone from beginners to veterans show up to take part in the magic.

This year’s panel topics and specific events are still being planned, but listings will be available soon at http://www.atlantismusic.com.

The Music Phone Book decided to find out a little more about this alternative to South by Southwest, so we went straight to the source. Co-founder Mark Willis talks about how it all began, why musicians should attend and exactly what goodies everyone can expect in those little gift bags we all love so much.

So how did the music conference originally come about?

Atlantis was a response to other conferences under-representing the Southeastern acts. Back in 1997, after years of going to Austin, I was perplexed by the numbers. They had 700 showcasing bands and only about 12 were from the Florida, Georgia and the Carolinas. I felt that less than 2 percent representation was disrespectful, so I got together with a guy I knew—Rich Levy—who shared the same vision for a conference/festival type event in Atlanta, and together we launched into this labor of love!

How does Atlantis differ from other music conferences, specifically South By Southwest?

First off, let me say that I am a fan of SxSW and I believe everyone should experience it at least once. We are similar in that we have daytime panels and evening showcases, and that’s pretty much where the similarities end and the differences begin. Austin has 6 th Street; we have venues spread out all over Atlanta. SxSW is film, media, technology, music…we are music, period. SxSW brings in keynotes like Little Richard and Robert Plant—artist driven fan friendly draws; we bring in Steve Gotlieb, Rodney Jerkins, John Alagia, Matt Serletic—business driven, educational draws. SxSW now showcases over 1000 bands with the majority being signed, we showcase 95 percent unsigned bands. Attending SXSW is all about the party; it’s the spring break of the music business. Atlantis is about discovery—the party just happens to be a bonus. I like SxSW being what it is…it allows us to be who we are.

What’s the atmosphere like at Atlantis?

It’s dry, usually 78 degrees with a light breeze out of the south…

Haha, very funny. What I meant to ask is if there is a lot of posturing, or is it evident that everyone is there to learn and better their craft?

Oh come on, what a loaded question! With the mixture of media, talent and industry we have, you are seriously going to ask if there is any posturing? I can’t even believe that you asked me that! See, I am posturing right now by acting all shocked.

Speaking of the talent, is it a balanced mix of all music genres, or is it geared more toward rock?

If I had to look into my crystal ball and think of something newsworthy, I would have to say the biggest challenge facing us has been the city closing the bars down earlier as a knee jerk reaction to high-profile shootings in Buckhead. You don’t amputate your foot if your finger is broken but that’s how the city handled the problem; by forcing our Atlanta venues to stop pouring 90 minutes early, during some of their busiest hours. That hurt a lot of venues.

Can you tell me a little about the educational panels?

Current and relative industry reps talk and debate music business issues with interaction between the panelist and the attendees at the end. We don’t necessarily target the biggest names in the respective fields, as I find the biggest names are often completely disconnected from the realities of the business needs of the folks attending these panels. I target those mid-level folks who are actually in the clubs and on the streets doing the work.

People seem to say Atlantis is what SxSW was 10 years ago, in that it actually focuses on independent artists instead of showcasing national acts already signed to labels. Is that intentional?

We intentionally focus on independent artists, not being like anyone else. I went to SxSW in its eighth year, I know what it was then versus what it is now. Frankly, I feel confident it makes a lot more profit due to what it’s become versus what it was. There is not a lot of profit in the unsigned artist business, as I am sure you can imagine. We survive from the income we get from corporate sponsors, not the income from our attendees, as most are unsigned artists, so we don’t charge very much to attend. These large corporations don’t give us much, because unless there’s a lot of name recognition involved with the talent that is going to be at an event, they just don’t get it. Bottom line is that 300 unsigned acts is not very sexy to sponsors, so we struggle financially, even after eight very successful years, where as (and this is complete conjecture on my part) SxSW does not have the same financial struggles, I feel sure they have their own different degrees of struggle. Does that make them smarter, better, sellouts, corporate whores or does this make us cooler, better, dumber, SxSW wannabes? It’s all relative to the individual’s interpretation of what each event does for them. And to answer your question: yes, coincidentally Atlantis is a lot like SxSW was in its eighth year.

How does Atlantis maintain the intimate feel that is lost on other big conferences like SxSW?

It begins with the person answering the phone at Atlantis. I have called other large events and was spoken to as if I was doing them a favor trying to give them my money. Screw that. We not only provide our Web site address but we give out our phone number and talk to people. We actually like what we do. I think the attitude and spirit of any event starts and ends with the owners, and that attitude and spirit is felt by the attendees. I know that sounds all ‘pretty in pink,’ but doing what you like is a choice and Rich Levy and I surround ourselves with young, energized men and women who love this business. I can assure you, the Atlantis staff is not paid what they are worth and many have been with us six and seven years now and they are the best in the business. And during Atlantis, the owners are on-site the whole time; I am the first one there and the last to leave so it’s not a matter of finding us as it is with most large events. Hell, during Atlantis, you can’t get away from us! So it’s hard to not have that intimate feel when you are so close, so attached to what’s happening. We want to hear what you have to say—good, bad or indifferent, and that’s not the case at most events. You have a complaint, I want to hear it and I might just bitch back if you come to me bitching. You see, after seven years we have become a community outreach program and our community is the unsigned artists. Last year we had unsigned artists from 32 states and four countries performing with usually no one else but each other to lean on. That’s what I call intimate.

How much does it cost to attend?

It depends on the time of year. The longer you wait to register, the more it costs. Full conference registration started at $100 and is now up to $165 until June 3, then it becomes $199. Check the website for all the details, including the $100 student and military discount.

The five official parties are some people’s favorite thing about Atlantis. What can you tell me about them?

We have dedicated parties every day with no other competing events and these parties are dedicated to bringing everyone together. Many people who attend Atlantis do business together all year but see each other only once annually. The Atlantis parties are about just that: partying. We like to party as hard as we work, which is why there are no live performances at these parties. I had live music in the first year party and watched hundreds of people yelling over the sounds of great performers like Shawn Mullins and Ken Block from Sister Hazel, which I thought was terribly disrespectful to the artist, but I realized there was an important aspect to these conference gatherings that did not involve live music, so there is a Kick Off, an Opening, a VIP, a Pool and a Late Night Breakfast and Karaoke Party.

About the performing artists—how do you select them?

Five months of listening to every CD and/or mp3 that is submitted. It is a very long, complicated and in some aspects, politically-charged quagmire. Right now it’s Saturday morning and I have already been listening for three hours. I love it. Of course you might be thinking all these events are political bullshit and I don’t disagree, nor do I hide behind the politics. It’s usually the ones that cry foul the loudest that are the guiltiest when it comes to playing politics. I don’t know how other events do their submission listening and I don’t want to know. I think ignorance is bliss. I listen to every single submission. It first goes to one of our listening members and if it is rejected it comes to me and I listen to be sure I agree. Music is subjective and there are a lot of times I disagree with the opinion of someone else; that’s what makes music so personal to me. If I agree with their opinion then the band is rejected after the second listen. If the listener accepts them, the artist is put forward to the next round and so forth and so on until the final slotting weekend which is three eight-hour days. In a nutshell, every band that submits gets listened to at least twice and while it never hurts to know someone, if your bands sucks, they don’t play, I don’t care how much juice you have.

What goodies do attendees get in their grab bags?

Lighters, rubbers, flyers, magazines and two Atlantis CD compilations of performing artists. I remember in 1998, Los Lonely Boys did a guitar-shaped flyswatter with their name on it.

Why should an independent musician attend a music conference in the first place?

I think the question is why wouldn’t they? We are not in the business of selling dreams; we sell opportunity and entertainment. Atlantis is a tool for you to use however you see fit and if we don’t fit your needs, attend the ones that do.