The Ataris: Musical misfits set to rock Pipeline Cafe

By Derek Paiva
Advertiser Entertainment Writer

The Ataris are, from left: Chris "Kid" Knapp, Johnny Collura, Kris Roe and Mike Davenport. The Ataris with National Product and Chapter 4 7 p.m., tomorrow Pipeline Café $17.50 (877) 750-4400

But there were a few often-enough repeated kernels of untruth that have tailed his band that brought up clearly battle-scarred defense mechanisms even when barely skirted in conversation.

Among these, any possible mention of The Ataris as: 1) an overnight success; 2) a pop-punk band; and 3) devoid of any musical influences dating farther back than two years and any literary stimulation beyond the likes of "One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish."

I knew, of course, that The Ataris were none of these before lobbing questions Roe's way. But Roe was quick to defend and briskly encapsulate the history of his band (very politely, I should add) before I could show off my own informed intelligence of The Ataris' not-quite-overnight-success story.

Or maybe it was just some studied self-promotion on Roe's behalf.

Sample our very first Q&A parry and thrust as an example.

Is the kind of success the band has enjoyed of late, after so many years of work, a bit scary and overwhelming?

"It's neither," Roe said, swiftly. "It's been really gradual, and something that happened on such a good day-to-day basis that it wasn't something that was either scary or overwhelming. And that was based on the fact that for the last six years, we just got out as a band, toured and built up a really good grass-roots following.

"Now, if we would've — six years ago — signed straight to a major label and put out our first record, I'm sure it would've been both scary and overwhelming. But we put out three full-length successful records on an independent label, and each one did a hundred thousand copies each. And I think that that (combined) with us just going out and building up a good fan base was the perfect setup for our new record 'So Long, Astoria.' "

Whoa, Kris! Save some of that stuff for the follow-up questions.

Newly famous (if not exactly newly formed), The Ataris — in addition to Roe, guitarist/vocalist Johnny Collura, bassist/vocalist Mike Davenport and drummer Chris "Kid" Knapp — will play its first Honolulu headlining gig tomorrow night at Pipeline Café. (The Santa Barbara, Calif.-based band was last here in September 2000, opening for where-the-heck-are-they-now Christian pop-punkers MxPx at the World Café.)

Now playing for larger, more diverse audiences drawn by its successful major-label debut CD (the sweetly '80s nostalgic "So Long, Astoria") and first-ever pair of decent-sized radio hits ("In This Diary" and a kicky remake of Don Henley's "Boys of Summer"), Roe and the band were hardly nostalgic for a return to their indie upbringing.

By 2001, The Ataris had recorded three CDs for independent label Kung Fu Records, each selling — kudos for the info, Kris — 100,000-plus units, thanks to the band's nonstop touring schedule. But Roe, who left smalltown Anderson, Ind., for the West Coast in 1997 at the behest of the label to form a band that would "just continue on an upward climb," wanted his music to be heard by larger, mainstream audiences.

"We had reached as many people as we could at an independent-rock-level audience, and I felt that there were as many people outside of that that needed to hear our music," Roe said. "We didn't feel that our label had enough power to really promote our band outside of that."

With a number of labels pursuing their services, The Ataris signed with Columbia in 2001. Among the goodies promised: a continued understanding of the band's grass-roots relationship with its fans, vigorous promotion and support of the band's releases, and carte blanche for The Ataris to take their time writing and recording the Columbia debut. The band indulged in 15 months' worth.

"We wanted to make a record that focused a lot on storytelling, and just trying to tell really personal stories," said Roe, who looked to the work of masters of the art such as Tom Waits, Van Morrison and Elliott Smith for inspiration. "It had to be very in-depth, and really come across as personal and vivid as possible."

Though individual tracks on "So Long, Astoria" are inspired by various subjects — "The Saddest Song," Roe's apology to his infant daughter for Daddy's being away from home so much; "Unopened Letter," discusses a spiritual link between Emily Dickinson and Kurt Cobain — the album, said Roe, is "very much a concept record."

Roe used as his inspiration punk rocker/poet Richard Hell's novel "Go Now," which posited a theory of memory transcending the original experience that created the memory.

"Everything from the art and the way it's laid out, to the stories, is like a scrapbook," said Roe, of "Astoria." "We wanted a scrapbook documentation of our lives."

Roe wrote much of the album on a return visit to his home town highlighted by long late-night drives rediscovering old haunts. He'd park, jot down lyrics and move on. Roe also revisited the music of his favorite "shoe-gazer" rock bands (Dinosaur Jr., My Bloody Valentine and Swervedriver, among them) as well as stuff from Depeche Mode, The Replacements, The Ramones and The Clash.

"There are so many different influences," Roe said, of "Astoria." "I think the easy thing is for people to say, 'Oh yeah, this is another pop-punk band.' But I think (anyone who says that) is ... high. We don't sound anything like Sum 41 or Good Charlotte or any of those bands."

Indeed, on "Astoria" The Ataris come off more like deep-thinking power-pop rockers with more than a passing affection for true-blue punk. The lyrics and music are upbeat ("Lighting fireworks in parking lots illuminate the blackest nights. Cherry Cokes under the moonlit summer sky.") and crazy nostalgic ("'We Are The Champions' playing loud on the radio station.").

Playing up the many explorations of nostalgia on "Astoria," much has been made in the music press of Roe's admitted fascination with the 1985 Gen-X cinematic touchstone "The Goonies" and its effect on the record. (Astoria is the small Oregon town where "The Goonies" was filmed; the water tower being destroyed on the CD cover was an Astoria landmark.)

Roe sought to play the connection down but came off more a die-hard fan in the process.

"I referenced a line where (a character named "Mikey") is at the bottom of a wishing well and says, 'This is my wish, and I'm taking it back. I'm taking 'em all back,' " explained Roe of the final line of the title track. "(That's) because I feel that those kids are very similar to the way that we feel when we're out traveling. We're just out having this great adventure.

"We may not change the world, but we're doing our best to try and have the time of our lives."