by April Scheinoha
Reporter
Shawn Miramontes’ mouth has a tendency to get him into trouble. With all of the drama of 2020, it was inevitable that he would ruffle some feathers. That ruffling led him to journey back to one of his loves – music – where he could get out his thoughts and maybe not get an immediate reaction from those who follow him on Facebook.
“This whole year has been crazy for everybody,” said Miramontes, who goes by the name Atlas Storm in his musical pursuits.
The 1997 Marshall County Central High School graduate released “Corruption Part 1” on Wednesday, June 17. “Corruption Part 2 Equality Edition” was released Monday, Sept. 21. Major platforms, such as iTunes, Apple Music and YouTube, carry both singles.
“Corruption Part 1,” a dance/electronic music single lasting 6:45, refers to COVID-19, riots, the president and corruption. Miramontes admitted that it’s obnoxious. “I just blew a lot of people’s minds,” he said.
“Corruption Part 2 Equality Edition” is also political in nature. Robotic voices are found in each single to tie both songs together.
In the beginning of the second single, Miramontes can be heard making a short speech with people cheering. He compared it to a speech given by Martin Luther King Jr. while standing at a podium talking about equality. At the end of the song, a robotic voice says “reaction,” which was his way of leaving it open to see what the political reaction or actions will be after the presidential election in November. It also foreshadows his next two singles. Miramontes records all of his singles in his home studio called Shawn Miramontes Studios.
Miramontes is working on four other singles, which have no relation to politics. He anticipated some of them may feature other genres of music, such as pop music, country music and/or rock ’n’ roll.
Miramontes’ time in the musical business goes back to working as a DJ while attending Northland College and continuing that work until 2003. He also dabbled in movies and TV commercials from 2000 to 2007. Most of his work occurred in Fargo, N.D.
Then life happened. Miramontes encountered many tragedies with the deaths of his grandmother, aunt and mom in a short period of time. He moved back to northwest Minnesota to settle his mom’s estate. Then he decided it was time to find himself – in Helena, Mont., where he has lived for more than four years. Miramontes said he wanted to live in the mountains and get back in touch with himself. He also now works in the medical marijuana industry.
Then came the drama involving the year 2020 and Miramontes’ work on the “Corruption” singles. He needed a cool name to go with his musical offerings. He originally planned to call himself DJ Fortress, but he decided people would automatically limit him to one genre of music with that name. One night, while watching the local weather forecast, he came across a meteorologist with the name Majestic Storm. He took her last name and paired it with Atlas since some artwork of Atlas holding Earth was positioned nearby.