Review Fix Exclusive: Ataris Mike Davenport Talks About the Band’s Reunion

January 23, 2014 Patrick Hickey Jr. Music 0

Review Fix chats with the Ataris bassist Mike Davenport, who discusses the band’s reunion tour, in addition to his new album with Versus The World. Known for several hit in the late ‘90s and ‘00s, The Ataris are back and according to Davenport, ready to have some fun.

Review Fix: How does it feel to be back together?

Mike Davenport: Really awesome. We are like brothers so as soon as we see one another it’s like no time has passed. And to make new memories with my brothers is gonna be amazing.

Review Fix: What’s your favorite part about touring with the guys?

Davenport: Being on stage. I have spent the better part of my adult life rocking with these men and after 10 years apart to get a chance to do it one more time is a dream come true.

Review Fix: Any cool tour stories?

Davenport: Well we all like pranking one another and once when I was asleep in my hotel room in Houston, Kris discharged a fire extinguisher under my door into my room and yelled fire. John and I woke thinking the building was on fire and rushed out to the balcony in our underwear to be rescued. But really the joke was on all of us when that got us kicked out of the hotel.

Review Fix: What’s changed in your lives since you were last a band?

Davenport: The one thing that has changed in all 4 of us is that we have all mellowed. The first 10 years we were in The Ataris were very hectic from our early touring days, to our rise as a major label band. It was 300 shows a year go go go. 10 years away has given us all a great appreciation for what we accomplished together and a greater respect for each other.

Review Fix: What are your goals as a band for 2014?

Davenport: To have some fun. We are doing 25 shows across the US and that’s it. This tour is about celebrating what we accomplished 10 years ago. We all have other projects, businesses, and other bands that we do full time. My band Versus The World just finished 2 years of touring around the world on our second album. As soon as The Ataris tour is over I will be recording a new Versus album.

Review Fix: What did you learn about yourself during the band’s hiatus?

Davenport: It’s hard to say aloud but really I learned that me personally, I am not defined by The Ataris. For the first couple years after we went our separate ways that was very hard, I was essentially married to these guys. Spent 10 years with them everyday. I guess that’s why we have flub it impossible not to rock together again. So long identity?

Review Fix: Has the band’s sound changed?

Davenport: Sounds better but the same. We are all better musicians now. That’s the beauty of music unlike sports. We get better. Look at The Rolling Stones. And by the same I mean we are only playing old songs so nothing new just a celebration of our past.

Review Fix: How have fans reacted to the news of the band’s reunion?

Davenport: Incredible. We were not sure if anyone would care u know that always creeps in but tickets are selling fast and online response has been amazing. Our fans are so great and dedicated I love them all.

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About Patrick Hickey Jr. 13906 Articles
Patrick Hickey Jr. is a full-time Assistant Professor of Communication & Performing Arts and Director of the Journalism program at Kingsborough Community College and is the chairman of the City University of New York Journalism Council. He is the Founder and Editor-In-Chief of ReviewFix.com. He's also a former News Editor at NBC Local Integrated Media and National Video Games Writer at Examiner.com where his work was mentioned in National Ad campaigns by Disney, Nintendo and EA Sports. Hickey was also the Editor-In-Chief of two College Newspapers before he received his BA in Journalism from Brooklyn College. Hickey's work has been published in The New York Daily News, The New York Times, Complex, The Hockey Writers, Yahoo!, Broadway World, Examiner, NYSportScene Magazine, ProHockeyNews.com, GothamBaseball.com, The Syracuse Post-Standard, Scout.com and the official sites of the Brooklyn Aces and New York Islanders. His first book, The Minds Behind the Games: Interviews With Cult And Classic Video Game Developers was released in April 2018 and is chock full of interviews with legendary developers. His second book in the series, The Minds Behind Adventures Games, was released in December 2019. His third book, The Minds Behind Sports Games, was released in September 2020. His fourth book, The Minds Behind Shooter Games, was released in March 2021. The Minds Behind Sega Genesis Games and The Minds Behind PlayStation Games were released in 2022 and The Minds Behind PlayStation 2 was published in January 2023. Hickey is also a contracted comic book writer, currently penning his original series, "Condrey," as well as "The Job," "Brooklyn Bleeds" "Dem Gulls" and "KROOM" for Legacy Comix, where he serves as founder, owner and Editor-in-Chief. Hickey Jr. is also a voice actor, having starred in the 2018 indie hit and 2019 Switch, PS4 and Xbox One release, The Padre (also serving as English language Story Editor), from Shotgun With Glitters. The sequel, The Padre: One Shell Straight to Hell was released in February 2021- Hickey also served as a Story Editor and Lead Voiceover performer. He has also done narration and trailers for several other titles including The Kaiju Offensive, Relentless Rex and Roniu’s Tale. Hickey is also the lead voiceover performer on Mega Cat Studios’ upcoming title WrestleQuest, responsible for nearly 90 characters in the game, as well as Skybound's Renfield: Bring Your Own Blood, where he voices both Dracula and Renfield, as well as several other characters. He also stars in Ziggurat Interactive’s World Championship Boxing Manager 2, where he performs the VO of nearly every male character in the game. He also worked on the Atari VCS’s BPM Boy.

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