From The Straits Times    |

Bands having on-stage meltdowns is just part of the whole rock ‘n’ roll lifestyle.

So says Kristopher Roe, guitarist and frontman of American pop-punk band The Ataris in defence of his own meltdown.

The Ataris back after onstage meltdown
Members of The Ataris (from far left) Thomas Holst, Rob Felicetti (who has since left the band), founder Kristopher Roe and Bryan Nelson. — PHOTO: SNOWBIRD PRODUCTIONS

Last October, he had what he dubbed a “chaotic drum freakout” mid-concert at Asbury Park, New Jersey, throwing his guitar at drummer Rob Felicetti before proceeding to tear the drum set apart and throwing it to the back of the stage.

Roe later claimed in an online video to fans that Felicetti had been drinking six hours straight before their set and gave a sub-par performance, which frustrated him, guitarist Thomas Holst and bassist Bryan Nelson. News and videos of the embarrassing incident went viral online and Felicetti quit the band.

But The Ataris look to be soldiering on well without him.

The remaining members – along with a new touring drummer, Erik Perkins – are performing for the first time in Singapore at the Boiler Room tomorrow.

Speaking to Life! in a telephone interview from his hometown Phoenix, Arizona, where the band have been practising daily for their Asia tour, bassist Nelson says he is looking forward to touring with Perkins and maybe even welcoming him on board permanently.

The 31-year-old bachelor says of Perkins: “We’re really glad to have him… he’s toured with a band called Far From Finished, who were out on a tour with us and that’s how we met him. So he’s been with us on tour, but never toured with us – we’re kind of testing the waters.”

But he adds: “Erik is a positive person… and it’s really nice to have that sort of personality around (on tour).”

Perkins is not an official member of the band, but Nelson says he is quite positive about him being a permanent addition if the tour goes well.

As for their former drummer, Nelson says they remain on “friendly” terms, with the two having a chat just three weeks ago.

Nelson says: “I’m sure there was probably some kind of awkwardness between us and him but I talked to him and we just had a normal conversation, probably about something really stupid.

“You know that kind of stuff happens and you can’t change it… but it seems like everything gets fine, people mellow out and it’s no big deal.”

The change of drummers is also probably not a big deal for a band that have undergone several changes to their line-up in the 18 years they have been around.

Frontman Roe is the only founding member of the band that remains. Nelson joined in 2008 and Holst joined in 2011.

The Ataris, which formed in 1995, have put out five studio albums to date, with their sophomore effort, Blue Skies Broken Hearts… Next 12 Exits (1999), and fourth album, So Long, Astoria (2003), being their most memorable works.

Those two albums gave the hit songs Your Boyfriend Sucks, The Saddest Song, The Boys Of Summer and My Reply, their highest-charting song to date, reaching No. 20 on Billboard Hot 100.

The Ataris are poised to release a new studio album, titled The Graveyard Of The Atlantic, some time this year.

Nelson says the band are in the midst of recording vocals for the final few tracks and calls the album “the missing link” between their last two albums – So Long, Astoria (2003) and Welcome The Night (2007).

He says: “We’re going back to these rock songs that everyone’s familiar with – they’ve got the same formula like on So Long, Astoria and the big, ambient, raw rock on Welcome The Night… it’s a really good mix of the two.”