This was a little interview (my first) I got to do back in 2009 for Purity Magazine. Although this piece was never published (with the subsequent and sad demise of Purity) I thought I'd haul it out, dust it off and air it out for the first time. There were pictures too, perhaps they'll surface one day when the time is right.
Um, I was kinda heavily into theory of lit' and Jacques Derrida's Deconstruction ('The Critic as Host') at the time of writing this hence my constant reference to these seemingly random things. Moving on...
BAND INTERVIEW: A FEATURE PIECE ON THE ATARIS AND THEIR FIRST SOUTH AFRICAN TOUR.
Being grown up isn’t half as fun as growing up…
…Or touring South Africa!
So now I’m grown up, or at least that’s what my ID states. Having two international bands over the same weekend (The Ataris and Haste the Day), is perhaps indicative of the South African music scene growing up…
After hearing I’d get to interview an international band, the initial excitement subsided as it came to my attention that I only knew two Ataris’ songs, and the commercial ones at that. Guilt aside, I convinced myself that this would be ‘alright’ as it would insure my objectivity and reduce any fan-related bias. This is what I thought at first but after meeting with the boys, or should I say ‘men’ of The Ataris - Kris Roe (vocals, guitar), Chris Swinney (guitar), Brian Nelson (bass) and Jake Dwiggins (drums) - this notion was thoroughly disproved. I caught up with Chris Swinney at the Sunday show at Tempos, the final leg of their South African tour.
Words that come to mind when I think of The Ataris: friendly, down to earth, fun, warm and hospitable. Yes hospitable. To the lurking Critic out there whose brow has just furrowed in protest, I am fully aware of what ‘hospitable’ means, and although these guys may not have been in their own country (so essentially, how can they be ‘hospitable’?), this is exactly what they were. I’ve personally never been a fan of working definitions anyway, so bear with me Critic for the sake of this extended metaphor.
Take some foreigners (cue: The Ataris), place them in deep, dark Africa, and watch as they conduct themselves (unexpectedly) as the perfect, polite hosts. From how they interacted with the media and fans alike, their on-stage personalities, and even how they allowed two complete strangers (dubbed ‘The Jacos’) to come up on stage at Tempos - their figurative home and rightful territory - and let them play a song live (using The Ataris’ guitars and all), is about as accommodating as a band can get! If this wasn’t enough, they nailed a few Misfits covers in true crowd-pleasing zest. This virtually heroic act won over even the most sceptical in the crowd, or at least those old enough to appreciate The Misfits, and subsequently watered down my objectivity to a slight shade of the converse.
I glance down at my Misfits shoelaces and look up at Chris in awe, who chuckles and mentions that the Misfits, along with Iron Maiden, Black Flag, Metallica and Alexisonfire are some of his favourite bands. Not to mention that he is a “huge Bob Marley fan”. This answers my question relating to the music they listen to and if it influences the music they play, which Chris confirms by saying: “If it’s good, I listen to it. There’s no politics, there’s no bullshit. If it’s a good song it’s a good song. You gotta keep expanding to keep growing. If you’re a musician and you’re stuck in a rut, you’re dead”. I nod my head in full agreement. The Jonas Brothers aside, no musician wants to stagnate and commit creative suicide.
Now, for this article’s sake, take the conventional notion of ‘host’ and ‘guest’ and subvert them. The results? A genuinely down to earth attitude where “[They] care about [their] fans and don’t even think of them as fans, they’re friends” says Chris. And if you don’t believe me, “hit [him] up on face book and [he‘ll] keep in touch”. They don’t have a publicist, they do everything themselves. As Chris reiterates: “It takes five seconds to talk to somebody, and bands that don’t do it are stupid”. Talking ‘the talk’ is one thing, but actions speak louder than words and through their choice of playing small, intimate venues and their personal correspondence with fans (or should I say ‘friends’) prior to coming here, resonates rather strongly in their favour.
The Ataris, although not in their home country, possess a ‘how can we help you’ modus operandi, and before the aforementioned Critic’s eyes light up, this must not be confused with arrogance. These boys did their research on our country and still assumed the role of the ‘guest’ by partaking in some ‘touristy’ activities. They saw lion cubs in Lanseria, penguins and seals in Cape Town, great whites in Durban, and maybe even a rock spider here and there. They even knew a thing or two about South Africa’s very own J-Z. Chris adds: “For a band like us to be at this level, and be able to come to a country like South Africa, we wana talk to everybody, we wana meet everybody, that’s why we’re walking around. We’re not gonna hide in the dressing room, and it’s a nice dressing room [laughs], but I don’t wana use it because I’m not gonna see everybody for a long time probably, and I wana make sure that I’m talking and taking pictures and doing whatever anybody wants to do”. Chris adds nostalgically: “We have done pretty much everything [we] wanted to do which is insane, because we’ve only been here for a week. It feels like a big dream”.
The interview felt more like a conversation and it flowed. We chatted like old friends, we shared some jokes, and I was as comfortable as if stretched out on a couch, toasting marshmallows by the fire place. In reality, I was sitting on a rickety chair in a dark, greasy corner of Tempos with the sound of pool cues scraping nearby tables. Regardless, I felt like a well looked-after guest. But scepticism quietly crept into my thoughts and this warm, fuzzy feeling evaporated slightly - where does the line end between enjoying yourself and overstaying your welcome? The guest who doesn’t know when to leave takes on the role of the parasite. What a nasty term, and if my high school biology serves my memory correct, a tapeworm or tick is not what I wanted to be, nor how I wanted South Africa to be seen.
South Africa, along with many other countries who don’t have easy access to international music, have to download instead, and this could be seen as parasitic. In response to this, Chris smiles wryly and says “nobody except Metallica or Elton John make money off their albums. So for us, if you want our album bad enough you’re going to steal it? We want you to have it. We want you to enjoy it.” He later adds with a touch of irony, “Coming from where you guys come from, the internet we’ve had here has been a little slow, but if that’s the only way you can get it other than waiting months to mail order it, then go for it. Steal all our stuff, we’re totally into it”. So, my fellow parasites, we can breathe a sigh of relief and raise our downcast, shifty eyes because ‘stealing’ music is done out of necessity! Sharing music IS a matter of survival. Darwinian thought will not contest this - it is survival of the fittest! With that in mind, The Ataris’ new album is set to be released in July.
I don’t want you to get the impression of the apron-wearing, oven glove-wielding host either. These boys have a colourful array of tattoos emblazoned on their skin, especially Chris. I can’t help but glance down at my stark, somewhat monochromatic skin, and think how nice it must be to have a day-job like theirs, a job they “feel blessed and honoured” to have. After SA they head back to the States for the Warped Tour, and then they’re off to South America and the UK. With all the countries they get to see, and acting as ‘host’ at their shows, “If we’re gonna treat the people who like the band like crap, we’re stupid because they’re the ones that made us what we are, they’re the ones that let us come here” says Chris, the grateful guest incarnate.
The Ataris: guests in a country but acting as hosts at their shows - confusing? Yes. So to restore ‘host’ and ‘guest’ to their natural order, I am proud to report that The Ataris have “not met one person who has not been perfectly nice to [them]” in SA, their host country. With 2010 looming, this is a refreshing piece of information.
I know that I am not grown up yet and neither is South Africa. If the DIY-ethics of The Ataris are anything to model our own ‘scene’ on - in the sense that they are currently not signed to a label and, according to Chris, are recording and “spen[ding] all [their] own money on [the new album]” - then we’ll ‘grow up’ sooner then we expect and will be able to host many more international bands in the not too distant future. And in turn, I have no reason to doubt that our talented local bands, our friends, our ‘familia’, will be ushered in as guests overseas. To sheepishly quote one of the two Ataris’ songs I know: “The only thing that matters is just following your heart” (In This Diary); and to add my brand of clichéd sentiment; home is definitely where the heart is.
