L O Boult

Atom Man L O Boult

Unceremoniously dumped and kicked out of her old band in the same night, Astrid's life is not going entirely to plan. Depressed, lonely, and stuck working in a call centre she despises, Astrid's dreams of playing music in front of an adoring crowd seem to be becoming impossible. Until she meets the enigmatic Atom Man, that is, the eccentric front man of a local cult band known for his bizarre live performances and always wearing a mask made from an old sack. His sway can seemingly make the impossible possible for Astrid and it just so happens his band needs a new member after their old guitarist mysteriously disappears.

But what if the cult band you've joined is just a cult?

Set in the often-bizarre world of the live music scene in Cardiff, Atom Man tells the story of Astrid, a young aspiring guitarist so obsessed with her dream of playing lead guitar in a successful band and being worshipped by their dedicated fanbase that she overlooks unnerving discoveries she perhaps shouldn't. As Astrid enters Atom Man's strange world and headquarters in an abandoned bowling alley, everything she has ever wanted seems to be within reach but just what is she willing to do to make her dreams a reality? Theft? Murder? Insurrection?

Astrid needs to choose before it's too late between success through ignorance or failure through knowing.

'Something terrible will happen, I have no doubt of that, there's nothing to be done. But terrible isn't necessarily undesirable, what's worse is the absence of anything, I've realised. It's the foundation for real positivity, real meaningful change. The terrible is still something that is happening. Atoms moving, action, evolution. It is life in its most raw and real form. And we should celebrate that as much as we would celebrate a birthday party.'