The harmonies will smash into your head with the intensity of a grade school bully hurling an array of bold-colored Nerf balls at recess. Much like Fatkid Dodgeball’s moniker implies, you won’t be able to escape the catchy hooks or solid rhythms because you’re slow, chubby and a reasonably big target. "The intensity that we bring to the table…," says Fatkid drummer Ryan Eisert, "it’s the one thing that you can find in every song."

Fatkid Dodgeball has performed their energetic sets on stages across the country since 2001 when they started playing the campus bar circuit. Over the years, the band’s fan base grew out farther and farther from the confines of Columbus as their music took them on tour all over the country and to MTV’s The Real Laguna Beach, where their song "Seventeen Forever" played during a major scene. "We won a contest for MTV2’s "Bands on the Rise," says Brian Frank, Fatkid’s lead singer and bass player. "It was crazy hearing that in the background."

Taking a lot of their influences from late ‘90s pop punk bands like Blink 182 and the Foo Fighters and blending it with straight-ahead Guns ‘n’ Roses rock has lead to an interesting and new sound. "We really just call ourselves rock," says Frank. "We don’t like to limit ourselves. We could be playing punk or something more metal. We’re always on the rock side of things though."

The band has grown since its inception, going through more drummers than Spinal Tap, as well as realizing there is more to write about than teenage heartbreak. For that reason, they are taking the songwriting on their new CD, out early next year, in a different direction. "I’ve never been in a band that everything just flows out so freely," says Eisert. "When we get together to write, it just comes out naturally."

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