You must be living under a rock if you didn't hear about the Atari's coming to UNH to play. How could you miss the seemingly hundreds of posters that SCOPE marauded the school with during the month of September? Well, you heard they were here, you went to the concert…but chances are that you didn't get backstage. I'm going to gloat now: I did. With my ALL ACCESS pass proudly emblazoned on my chest, I walked around that night like I owned the Field House…and I honestly felt I did. Between getting the chance to chill with Vendetta Red in their dressing room and watching the show from the stage, to heading back to the Atari's tour bus. I got the chance to sit down with the Atari's bass player, Mike Davenport, and slip in a quick interview before he had to hit the stage.

MSM: How did you get hooked up with the Atari's?

MD: Kris, Chris, and myself - my singer, my drummer, and myself- met in Santa Barbara, CA, seven years ago, November 1st…it's almost our anniversary. Kris had given the Vandals a demo tape: he'd lived in Indiana - in the middle of nowhere- and the Vandals came to play Indianapolis, and he drove down from where he lived about an hour away. And he gave them a demo tape. And they went on the rest or their tour and went back to California, listened to all the tapes because they were starting a record label. And they said, ` Wow, this band is awesome.' And so they called the number on it, which was Kris's number, and they said `bring your band to California, we're going to sign you to a record contract.' And Kris…didn't have a band: he said that in his bedroom with him and a drum machine. They said `come to California and we'll hook you up with a band.' So he came to California; they sent him to Santa Barbara because they knew a drummer that lived there that used to be in the band Lagwagon. The drummer was having a hard time, got kicked out of Lagwagon, was trying to turn it around. Him and Kris didn't click so well, but Kris met me and Kid - the other Chris is Kid- he met me and Kid when he was there and we started the band then. So, almost seven years ago; since then we've been making records, about one every year- we have four full lengths, and two EP's- and, you know, touring the world.

MSM: Sounds pretty fairytale…

MD: It's not…it's been a lot of hard work, man. We've played Concord…we haven't been up here for probably about three years since we really started getting big…then they kinda keep you away from here. But in the van days, we played Concord like three times when, you know, we slept in the van, and we had nothing. We worked hard, and it's been a long time. So, we feel like it's not as fairytale as people think…but it sounds pretty good. And you know what: every dream that we've ever gone after, or goal we set, we attained because we work really hard. And we've had problems with our guitar players - we're on our fourth guitar player- but John's been with us for two and a half years, and so, I think it's not going to ever change…but we always say that. He's got the fairytale: he was our roadie, and then he got to be our guitar player.

MSM: What do you think about the fact that all-of-a-sudden MTV, and more corporate interests, are picking up on this new punk, emo, indie craze, yet a lot of the bands they've taken interest in have been around a while, and are only now becoming popular?

MD: I think it's cool, `cuz it's a lot better than it was about five years ago, when it was all Backstreet Boys, N'SYNC and all that crap. And so, I'm telling you right now, that as long as they get into bands like us, then we educate these new kids that come in, and say `look: we're not a new band. And this is where we come from. And these are the bands we like. And this is the scene we come from. And there is Fat Wreck Cords, and there is Epitaph, and there is Kung Fu.' And I think it's great, `cuz all my friends are getting famous…so that's cool too.

MSM: Now to ask a cliché question…what bands did you grow up listening to?

MD: I grew in Southern California, so I grew up listening to a lot of the Southern California punk. That was Circle Jerks, Descendents, Black Flag…and then being from Santa Barbara, all the bands that came from that: NOFX are from Santa Barbara, Lagwagon are from Santa Barbara. And then there was our generation which is like Sugarcult, Mad Caddies, the Ataris- we all came up together. So Santa Barabara is just really great at always being one the first places in California into punk rock and being great for punk rock bands.

MSM: So what about the guys that you're on tour with right now?

MD: Vendetta Red are a band that we really dig ... we're headed in the more rock `n roll direction, away from punk rock. Not on purpose, just `cause that's where we've grown up to. I think our band, we just write how we feel, and this is where we're going. So, we want to be associated more with rock bands, and not so much Good Charlotte anymore, or Blink. Not that they're not my friends - they're all my good friends and they're all great guys and I love their bands. We want to be more like Foo Fighters, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Strokes, White Stripes…it's really cool to us.

MSM: Your first major hit on the radio is `Boys of Summer'. How do you feel about your first hit being a cover?

MD: Well, `In This Diary' went to number eleven for a month, in all fairness. So, that was pretty good, it did really good. I like to think that `Boys of Summer' is the second hit - in America anyway. You have a good question because in a lot of countries - say Germany, UK, where we've been to for years and years on tour, big in the punk world - it is our first hit on the radio. So, I know what you're trying to say. It's really hard. If we went out of our way to really push that, then I might feel worse about it. But I will tell you that we fought it every step of the way, even though we love the song and we do it well. We really fought ourselves on that. I always like to say that that song picked us, we didn't pick it. Kris and I were in a gas station, really late at night, on our way...South By Southwest music fest in Texas. We were going to play there for the big wigs a couple years ago. We heard the song over the loud speaker and we had a couple of warm up shows before it, and the next day we started playing it in sound check. And we played it - we thought it would be fun…and the executives arresting us going `oh my God, you have to put that on the record!' We're like `Oh God, no. What did we do.' And we thought `no', but they said `Record it, we'll just put it on a movie soundtrack…something special.' We thought `that would be really great.' So we recorded it - the whole time denying how could the song fit us too- we recorded it, wow , it sounded great. And they come to us ` you really need to put this on the record guys. It's really good, it won't be a single…I promise.' Ok, let's do that. And then `Diary' came out, did really good, they totally did what we wanted them to do. But then summertime started to role around and KROQ, in New York and LA, just started to play `Boys of Summer' right off the album. The label didn't ever push it as a single or anything. And it's just one of those things where you have to make a decision- it's going crazy, like forty stations have picked it up- do we make a video for this song and do we back it, or do we turn our back on this song, which would be really stupid. And it's a way to get our music out there. But yes, we have problems with it- it amazes us every night it, how we play it, and how people react to it and everything- it's just one of those things you have to go for.

But, do we fight with it? Yeah, all the time. We even had a little deal with Don Henley over it because he liked it a lot, and then Kris wore this shirt that said `Who The F&*% Is Don Henley?' And it got put in Rolling Stone. And Rolling Stone changed the whole thing around, they said the Ataris are anti-Henley. After that we were supposed to play the major league baseball All-Star game, and we were playing `Boys of Summer'' in the middle of second base in front of a full stadium. And Henley's management said `You can't play that song, because you're anti-Henley, because of the Rolling Stone article.' So we had to call Henley and beg him…and we had to explain how it's hard for Kris to be told `cause kids come up to him and say `That's the best song you ever wrote.' And he didn't write that song. And it hurts Kris, `cuz he's wrote so many great songs... Yeah, we struggle with it every day.

MSM: Do you have anything that you want UNH to know?

MD: The girl that put this whole tour together - her name is Marin- is a graduate of UNH. And she made the tour come here. She works for Clear Channel, who owns every radio station in America, and it's a very good job, `cause your program is so good.