The Atomic Forces

by Jim Catalano<br><br>The Atomic Forces have long been some of Ithaca’s most raucous performers, cranking out frontman Park Doing’s to-the-point songs with the fire of the best garage rock and punk bands.<br><br>With the Forces’ new CD, “Stars Don’t Fade,” has its expected quota of rockers, Doing also showcases his soft and sensitive side on a few songs. “The was the first time I had my own recording gear set up at home,” Doing says in a noon conversation on the Commons. “So I worked alone a lot, and I would try different stuff because I felt less inhibited. That way, each song could grow into its own thing<br><br>“Some songs got soft and breathy, while others were beat oriented and groovier, and some got just trashy and rocked out,” he continues. “I really enjoyed being able to explore those different modes.” He cites the ballad “New Rock Candle 2” as a perfect example of a quieter song.<br><br>Doing credits his bandmates—drummer Alan Pauling, guitarist John Harrison, bassist Ami Ben-Yaacov—for the CD’s final results. “They’re my songs, but they made the record what it is,” he says.<br><br>Agrees Johnny Dowd, who wanders by halfway through the interview and served as the CD’s executive producer: “He finally got a band that can play his music.”<br><br>A native of Dayton, Ohio, Doing grew up hanging out with a circle of fellow punk-rock loving friends, including future Guided By Voices members Bob Pollard and Greg Demos. “I didn’t play any instruments back then, but I had a van, so I ended up managing Greg’s band the New Creatures,” Doing remembers. (The Atomic Forces cover a Creatures song, “Ain’t Allright,” on the new CD)<br><br>Doing came to Ithaca in 1984 to study engineering at Cornell; around the same time, he started picking up a guitar. But it wasn’t until he spent a year in Paris after graduation that he started writing songs and playing out in public with a friend.<br><br>“We had to win over people and capture their attention,” Doing says. “From that experience, I learned to see live performing as a matter of making it worthwhile for the audience.” <br><br>When he returned to Ithaca in 1989, he wandered by a memorable show at the Nines featuring Dowd’s band Neon Baptist. “Just to walk in on that without any introduction blew me away,” he says. “So I sent Johnny a tape of my songs, and when he left a message saying that he liked it, I felt like I had it made right then.” <br><br>As executive producer on the new CD, Dowd’s duties basically comprised listening to Doing’s song demos. “I’d take them to his office and play them for him,” Doing says. “I would watch his face, and if it bored him, you could tell right away. But if it caught his attention, he cocked his head to the side . So I could tell when I struck a nerve.” <br><br>Jokes Dowd, “If I liked it, it would make me mad, because it was better than me. So when I started getting angry, he knew he had a good cut.”<br><br>Last month, Doing finished his Ph.D. in Science and Technology Studies at Cornell; his dissertation was an anthropology of the particle physics lab where he worked for several years. And he’ll be sticking around Ithaca, as he’s landed a post-doc teaching position in the engineering school this fall. <br><br>With both the CD and Doing’s dissertation now completed, the band hopes to start playing more gigs around the state. “We’re looking into Rochester, Buffalo and Syracuse,” Doing says. “My dream is to open for Guided By Voices on a tour swing. I want to get the band and songs up to that level, so when we show up for them, we can deliver.”<br> - The Ithaca Journal