Biography
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Years Active
2010 – present (14 years)
Abatis is a fuzz-rock power trio from San Francisco. Listeners have compared them to the Black Keys and Queens of the Stone Age. Loud. Catchy. Dynamic. Fuzzy.
It all started when Sean Wagner (Vocals/Guitars) entered the studio in mid-2010 to record a new music project—the Arm Your Soul Tapes. Sean played every instrument… well, almost. He recruited Paul Hicks (by noise and rumor) for drum duty. After completing two tracks, he needed a band to bring the music to a live audience. So, in true rock 'n' roll fashion, Sean turned to craigslist.org. Miraculously, Ben Lauffer (Drums) responded, and the two began rehearsing a handful of gritty, stripped-down, blues-rock songs. A few months later they added Stuart Maaslehbrown (Bass). Originally performing under the name "The Outlets," the trio refined their bluesy sound. As they rehearsed, performed, and wrote together, that sound developed and transformed into something new—still gritty, still raw, but more intricate, melodic, and unpredictable.
With the new sound came a new name—Abatis.
For those of you who do not know what an abatis is: welcome, and prepare to be enlightened. An abatis is an ancient war mechanism. It is a defensive wall fashioned with fallen, sharpened trees. An abatis is the physical manifestation of the natural transformed into the ominous, the ingenious, and the epic. Need we point out the obvious parallels?
Under the new name, Abatis hit the San Francisco Bay Area scene. Hard. Crowds at historic San Francisco clubs like Bottom of the Hill and Red Devil Lounge were completely blown away, and demanded more. In reference to a recent show at The Rockit Room, music blogger Tough Customer writes, “If ever there was a band that benefited from the sum of its influences, this is it… The Forms may be the heart of this show, but Abatis are definitely the balls.”
Wasting no time giving the fans what they wanted, Abatis headed to Prairie Sun Studios to record their debut EP, Abatis—five loud, raw, infectious tracks. Matt Wright, chief engineer at Prairie Sun Studios describes the record as “fuzzy, loud rock, knocked out live, rough, and ready to kick some ass.”
Currently, the band is putting finishing touches on their self-produced LP which is due out in the fall. Let the salivating commence.
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