All Time Low are at possibly the biggest point in their young careers with the release of their new album, Dirty Work. It’s the band’s first major label release and could possibly be the next step into full blown stardom. I asked Jack Barakat a few questions about the band’s upcoming album, tours and future plans. Check it out below.
First off, how are you?
I’m great man! We are currently touring the UK with Young Guns and Yellowcard. Both bands have a phenomenal live set and kids are crazy the entire show. Couldn’t ask for a better show. UK has been our fastest growing market in the world, so there are definitely good vibes all around. We are doing 2 nights in London (10,000 people total) which is a big milestone for us. Needless to say, moral is great!
You just got done with your tour in Brazil where you played to your biggest crowd ever, how was that?
Yeah! It actually wasn’t actually the biggest crowd we’ve played for. That honor can be credited to supporting Blink 182 on their European festival run last year. Those dudes draw like crazy everywhere in the world. Anyways, back to the subject at hand…Our show in Sao Paulo was huge for us, as it was the largest headlining crowd we have ever played to. It was our first time in Brazil and the entire country treated us like their own. Pretty eye opening experience.
You just released “Time Bomb” and the general reception was positive. Although a lot of people said it sounded kind of like a Boys Like Girls song. Will the new album have more songs in this vein or do you have some faster pop punk songs?
They say it reminds them of a Boyz 2 Men song? That’s weird, I don’t hear it. Haha, just playing, I love the Boys Like Girls dudes. Time Bomb isn’t an indicator of how the entire album sounds. We thought it was the perfect song to bridge the gap between our transition from Nothing Personal to Dirty Work. It’s not a single, just a track to get fans pumped on the album. There is a good mix of faster type typical ATL songs and also some slow ballad type songs.
Speaking of new material, can we get an exact track-listing now to put the rumors to rest?
We will hopefully be releasing the track-listing shortly, maybe even with clips of every song. Depends on how crazy we are feeling…Or how much Scotch has been consumed that day.
I also know that you planned on having “I Feel Like Dancing” as the lead single, is that still the plan?
As of now, We (Band, Management, Interscope) haven’t picked a single. “I Feel Like Dancing” is in the running and will most likely be released as a single at some point, we’re just not sure if it will be the first one. It’s a great song that we actually had the honor to write with Rivers Cuomo. It has a cool Weezer/All Time Low/party hybrid-vibe to it. Definitely the perfect type of song to lose your virginity to.
Can you give us an official release date for Dirty Work yet?
Unfortunately, I can’t. I’m surprised that wasn’t the first question you asked. Everyone wants to know…including us, haha! The truth is, being on a major label is a completely new experience for us. There are many more people involved with our record making process this time. Definitely makes everything take a little more time, but in the long run everyone will be super prepared to make this release as impactful as possible.
Since you are gunning to expand your audience was it hard to tap into your older style of music while recording?
Actually it wasn’t. This is an All Time Low album on steroids in my opinion. We still have guitar riffs, solos, and songs with varied tempos. I believe the key to appealing to the masses is to have simple songs with catchy vocal melodies and hooks. Everything else on top is just icing on the cake. There is definitely something for everyone on Dirty Work.
With this being your first major label release do you see this as the band’s most crucial release to date?
Yes. We are trying to please people who are fans of our older records while also appealing to our growing audience. Definitely not an easy task. Also during such a transitional period in the music industry, there is little room for error. We’ve always said that if an actor makes a shitty movie, he can come back and make an amazing movie and that shitty movie is instantly forgotten (ex. Will Ferrell “Bewitched” —- “Step Brothers”). If a band makes a “shitty” album, it’s very hard to bounce back.
We’re on the brink of your US tour with Yellowcard, how excited are you for that tour? Do you think that will open you and Yellowcard up to new fans since they have been gone for awhile?
I think this is a great experience for both us and Yellowcard. We are being opened up to a whole new audience of older fans and they are gaining younger fans. For a lot of the kids at the shows, this is their first time seeing Yellowcard live. They should be prepared to have their minds blown by explosive pop punk with a hint of violin. I remember all of us being front row at Yellowcard shows when we were younger.
What are your plans after that tour? Can we expect a few Warped Tour dates or are you going to headline another tour?
We will not be doing any of Warped Tour this year. We had a streak where we played Warped four years in a row, and now we are taking a quick break. That being said, all of us would definitely like to do it again at some point. We are going to head overseas this summer and do a lot of the big European festivals. It will be our first time opening up for the likes of the Foo Fighters, Linkin Park, My Chemical Romance ect. Needless to say, it’s going to be incredible. Later this year we plan on doing Australia, Japan, Canada and probably another US and UK stint.
Non-stop touring, that’s our motto.
Do you plan on doing another tour in the vein of the Small Package tour? That was a huge hit with fans and seemed like it was the most fun kids have had in awhile.
No plans yet, but that was a great tour decision in our minds. It felt great to get back into the tiny sweaty rooms that we got our start in. Our US tours this year will be in bigger rooms, with bigger production than we’ve ever done. Then again, we always mix
things up so who knows what could happen.
Thanks for reading, and hope to see you at the shows! Stay tuned for more Dirty Work updates. Eat shit Keagan!
