Today we’d like to introduce you to Silver Sorensen.
Silver, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
In the early 2000s, I was the bass player of Norwegian rock band, Guards of Metropolis. We flew over to the US and toured the West Coast in a 25-year-old red Camaro with a homemade trailer for our gear, cramming all 5 of us in a single motel room or sleeping on someone’s couch. How many CDs and T-shirts we sold at our shows determined if we could afford both dinner and gas to the next town. For our national tour we borrowed an RV and traveled the whole country with a golden retriever and two pet rats. We signed a deal with Kiefer Sutherland’s production company, Ironworks and lived in LA for a while.
After a few years I got to record and play with other artists like Pete Yorn, Grand Duchy, consisting of Violet Clark and Black Francis from the Pixies, Larry Norman, Mark Lemhouse and many more.
I started Atomic Disc with Jason Carter, the drummer from Guards of Metropolis. Coming from a musician’s background, we understood the challenges of touring artists, especially the need to maintain cash flow while having high-quality merchandise to sell at shows. Having the right kind, and right amount of CDs and merch can make or break a tour.
Over the years, Atomic Disc has grown into one of the nation’s leaders in CD, merch and vinyl manufacturing. Our mission has always been to help independent artists sustain their livelihoods while being kind to the planet.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Atomic Disc started with just the two of us and has slowly grown into one of the most prominent CD, merch, and vinyl manufacturers in the US. We have scaled slowly by purchasing one piece of machinery at a time and expanding our team only when necessary. This approach has kept financial risks under control, allowing us to avoid the heavy burden of massive loans and overhead.
However, running a business means being on call 24/7. Whether we’re away on a rare break or spending time with family, we’ve several times had to drop everything and rush back to the shop to fix machinery or solve production issues so our clients always get what they need on time.
Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about Atomic Disc?
Atomic Disc manufactures CDs, merch, and vinyl records for independent artists all over the US. We are known for high-quality short-run duplication and manufacturing that helps independent musicians maintain cash flow. Whether it’s CDs, vinyl, or merch, we know from experience that for independent artists, these items are often their primary source of income.
The biggest difference between us and our competitors is our perspective: we’re run by musicians, for musicians. Atomic Disc was started by bandmates who toured the country in vans, slept on floors, and sold merch to pay for gas and dinner. Because we’ve lived that life, we understand exactly what a release means to an artist. This is why we have more 5-star reviews than many of our larger competitors; we treat every project as if it were our own release because we know how much is on the line.
Additionally, we are the only disc manufacturing company that has completely removed plastic jewel cases from our offerings. We believe in the future of the music industry and the planet, so we focus entirely on eco-friendly, sustainable materials like cardboard jackets, wallets, and digipacks. We even utilize recycled water bottles for our custom flexi-trays.
We want artists to know that they have a partner who is just as invested in their success as they are. We’ve spent decades refining our process to be as efficient and sustainable as possible, from offering small-batch runs (as few as 25 units) so bands don’t end up with a garage full of unsold inventory, to ensuring every product we ship is retail-ready. We are musicians serving musicians, dedicated to keeping the music industry alive, one project at a time.
What are your plans for the future?
Despite streaming platforms, AI and online distribution of music, fans still want tangible products. Both CDs and vinyl have seen massive increase in sales nationwide and more and more younger people are buying physical music. This is very exciting for us and Atomic Disc keeps growing. We’re currently expanding our vinyl pressing offerings and hope to increase our market share there.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://atomicdisc.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/atomic.disc/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Atomic.Disc/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/Atomicdisc/videos
