Event

An Evening with Kristopher Roe

The Ataris are a punk rock band from Anderson, Indiana formed in 1995. The band originally consisted of singer/songwriter/guitarist Kris Roe and guitarist Jasin Thomason. Using a 4-Track, they wrote and recorded demos in Kris's bedroom, with a drum machine as the drummer. At this point in time the band was searching for a full-time drummer. The first step in their road to success came when Kris attended a The Vandals concert at Bogart's in Cincinnati, where he passed one of the demo tapes to The Vandals' roadie Fitz. A few weeks later, Kris received a call from Kung Fu Records, who told him they were interested in putting out their record. Though they were initially just searching for a drummer, the band signed to Kung Fu Records anyway. The label sent the tape to various drummers, and eventually the band settled on Derrick Plourde. The band then proceeded to record their debut album "Anywhere but Here", tracking the whole thing in less than a week. In June of 1997, Kris moved from Anderson to Santa Barbara, California. Shortly afterward, Marko 72 joined the band on bass. Jasin Thomason left the band to go back to Indiana, and the group toured as a three-piece from then on. After a short tour in October 1997, the original lineup disbanded. Kris reformed the group with Mike Davenport on bass, Chris Knapp on drums, and Patrick Riley on guitar. From there, they gradually increased in popularity in the underground punk scene, producing the well-acclaimed EP, "Look Forward to Failure", where they collaborated with blink-182's Mark Hoppus on one of the tracks.