The Ataris - Songs From The Album End Is Forever

The Ataris are an American pop punk band from Anderson, Indiana. They have released five studio albums, and their most recent E.P. was released on November 25, 2010 on the Gainesville, Florida based label, Paper + Plastick. It contained two new tracks entitled "All Souls' Day" and "The Graveyard of The Atlantic". The band has said they are going to release a new album titled The Graveyard of the Atlantic, however the release date and status of the album is unknown, as it has been delayed since 2009. Kung Fu Records (19952002) Formed in 1995, the band originally consisted of singer, songwriter, guitarist Kris Roe and guitarist Jasin Thomason. Using a 4-track, Kris wrote and recorded demos in his bedroom, using a drum machine while he searched for a full-time drummer. The band's first big break came in 1996 when Kris attended a show at the club Bogart's in Cincinnati, where Jasin passed one of the band's demo tapes to a roadie from the band. The roadie gave the tape to Joe Escalante, bassist from the band The Vandals who owned their own label, Kung Fu Records. A few weeks later, Roe received a call from Kung Fu Records, who told him they were interested in putting out their record, even though he was really only searching for a drummer. The Ataris signed to Kung Fu and the label passed the tape along to various drummers. Eventually, Roe decided upon ex-Lagwagon drummer Derrick Plourde. The band then proceeded to record their debut album Anywhere but Here, tracking the whole thing in less than a week. The album was released on April 29, 1997 and the band held a release show party at Missing Link Records in Indianapolis on May 2. In June 1997, Roe moved from Anderson, Indiana to Santa Barbara, California. Shortly afterward, Marko Desantis joined the band on bass for a short time. Thomason decided to leave the band to stay in Indiana, and the group toured as a three-piece for a short while. After a brief tour in October 1997, this lineup disbanded. Roe, out of money and living in a van, contemplated moving back to Indiana. But the band still had an upcoming tour booked with Dance Hall Crashers and Unwritten Law, so Roe decided to give the band one more shot. He got his friend from Santa Barbara, Mike Davenport, to play bass. Davenport shared a small rehearsal space on East Haley Street with his friend Marco Peña, who was in a different band. One day at the rehearsal space, Roe and Davenport heard the drummer of Peña's band, Chris Knapp, playing and immediately asked him to join The Ataris. While Roe and Davenport joked that Peña would be upset over them "stealing" his band's drummer, Peña surprised them by showing up at their practice the next day, strapping on his guitar, and playing along. It turned out Peña had learned all the songs from Anywhere But Here. He joined the band as a second guitarist and the foursome went on their scheduled tour. However, Peña soon left the band due to personal reasons and was replaced by Patrick Riley. From there, the band gradually increased in popularity in the underground rock scene, a lot due to their consistent touring and personal, DIY approach to the band. They then found more success with their 1998 EP Look Forward to Failure, released on San Francisco punk label Fat Wreck Chords. However, it wasn't until the release of Blue Skies, Broken Hearts...Next 12 Exits in the year 1999 that they started to gain widespread acclaim. The album's name comes from the name of a mobile home park along Highway 101 in Santa Barbara. Also, "...next 12 exits" refers to a nearby sign on Highway 101 North that reads "Santa Barbara, Next 12 Exits". The album contained personal, storytelling lyrics and heartfelt tales of relationships, discovery and things once left behind. After this album, Riley left the band to go back to school, and Marco Peña re-joined the band. The band's third full length studio album, End is Forever, was released in 2001. This album painted a more intensely personal side of the band's storytelling and personal relationships. Due to their persistent touring schedule, a lot of the arrangements and lyrics were worked out at the last minute while in the studio and then the vocals recorded while Roe had a bad cold. Roe maintains that he was not completely happy with half of the songs, although he went on to state that in spite of this, several of the songs such as "Fast Times at Dropout High" and "Road Signs and Rock Songs" were still to date some of the band's strongest of their earlier career. So Long, Astoria (200305) In 2002, the lineup changed again, with John Collura replacing Peña on guitar. Prior to this, Collura had played in his own band who'd toured with The Ataris. He'd also done time on tour as a guitar tech for The Ataris just prior to Peña's departure. During this same period, the Ataris' contract with Kung Fu Records expired, and the band chose to sign with Columbia Records. Later that year, they began recording their fourth full-length album and major label debut, So Long, Astoria, released on March 4, 2003. Produced by Lou Giordano, the album's production served as a stark contrast to any of the band's past releases. Whereas previous efforts would be recorded in short time spans between tours. So Long, Astoria was widely credited for introducing The Ataris to a larger mainstream audience and generating several successful singles, including "In This Diary" and "The Saddest Song." Musically, the album showcased very personal, encrypted and slightly more optimistic songwriting with a more refined, straightforward rock sound, not unlike Jimmy Eat World. This album also included their hit cover song, originally recorded by Don Henley "The Boys of Summer

Members

• Kris Roe
• Chris Knapp
• John Collura
• Mike Davenport
• Bob Hoag
• Angus Cooke
• Marko DeSantis
• Paul Carabello
• Sean Hansen
• Shane Chikeles
• Derrick Plourde
• Patrick Riley
• Marco Peña
• Bryan Nelson
• Thomas Holst
• Jason Baker
• Rob Felicetti
• Christopher Swinney

• ataris.com
• myspace.com
• en.wikipedia.org
• lyrics.wikia.com
• rateyourmusic.com
• allmusic.com
• spirit-of-rock.com
• theataris.bandcamp.com