Interview: Mayday Parade

Mayday Parade

What are your names and your role in Mayday Parade?

Jeremy: My names Jeremy, and I play bass guitar and vocals.

Alex: Alex Garcia and I play guitar.

Derek: My name is Derek and I am the singer of Mayday Parade.

What are you guys located right now?

Jeremy: Located right now? That would be San Antonio, TX.

Alex: San Antonio Texas.

Derek: We’re in San Antonio Texas, one of my favorite cities!

What is your favorite and least favorite thing about being in a band?

Jeremy: Favorite thing being in a band is being with people I love, playing music I love. Least favorite would be leaving my family.
Alex: My favorite thing about being in a band is that I get to do what I love and follow my dreams while so many other people gave up on what they wanted to do in life and just accepted the normal way of life. My least favorite thing is waking up in the van miserable from the hot sun.

Derek: That’s really hard to say, because there are so many amazing things and so few negative things. It is by far the greatest job in the world as far as I’m concerned. I guess being able to see the world and meet so many amazing people is my favorite thing. My least favorite thing is that sometimes I feel like in the grand scheme of things I’m not really doing anything to make the world a better place. My brother is going to med school to become a doctor, and sometimes that makes me feel like I should be doing my part to help people, but in a way I know that music can definitely help people. Perhaps not quite in such a tremendous way as saving someone’s life, but it can still make a difference.

Do you feel that the loss of Jason has affected the band in any way? Why or why not?

Jeremy: When Jason left it sucked, he was a good friend, but I don’t feel like it has held us back. After he left we went home and practiced for a month, and came right back out. Jake and me cover his vocal parts now, and brooks and Alex cover whatever significant guitar parts he played.

Alex: Musically I think the guitars sound more clear and there is not any clutter, vocally we have had to work hard to figure out who should sing what part but I feel that Jake and cabbage have it under control, Jason was a strong force in the band but I feel like we can make up for the loss and more.

Derek: It has definitely affected me personally, because he was a good friend and it’s hard to see someone go like that. As far as the band goes, I believe that it did change some things, but I don’t believe it was a good or bad change, just change. Of course we’ve had to do things a little different now that he’s gone, but I feel like we’re handling it pretty well and we’re going to keep on trucking no matter what.

Do you feel your music is “the next big thing?” For example, when Cartel released Chroma, many people felt they would eventually break into the mainstream. Do you guys feel you’re on the cusp of attaining that kind of popularity?

Jeremy: I don’t know if our music will be the next big thing or not, if we happen to be though, you wont hear me complaining.

Alex: I think most pop rock bands feel that way, its sort of a fact of life telling yourself that you have that new edge on the scene, so I feel like we have something going but I’m too scared to think of the alternative.

Derek: You know…maybe I should go back and list this as the worst part of being in a band. The uncertainty is really what kills me. If somebody could tell me where we will be in 2 years, whether we’re huge or whether we’re still trying to make it, I would be ok with it either way. I hate not knowing, and I try not to make any assumptions about it because I don’t want to be let down. So whatever happens, and I know that I will never regret spending my time in this band no matter what the outcome.

How will the new CD sound compared to Tales Told by Dead Friends?

Jeremy: The new CD, in my opinion, will be better than our EP. It is better produced and recorded, and we put a lot of time into these songs, so all in all, it should be great.

Alex: I think it sounds better. It’s more put together, the EP was just 6 different songs thrown together but I feel like the album was more organized. I also feel like we could develop or sound more and write better songs. It’s not as raw but I think that’s just something that happens when you record in a bigger studio.

Derek: I’d like to think that’s it compares pretty well to TTBDF. I feel like its still just as catchy and the same style of music, and if I had to say one thing about it, I would say it’s more powerful. Lyrically and musically, listening to it I just feel like it’s more powerful than anything I’ve even done before. We’ll see if people feel the same way.

Are there any concepts behind the record?

Jeremy: A lot of this record was written on the road while following warped. The majority of it has to do with how hard it is to keep a relationship going while on the road, and problems that occur while on the road.

Alex: No the only common theme is love but that is about it.

Derek: Not really. When we were writing the album we didn’t try and write it about anything pre-determined or planned, we just wrote about what was going on in our lives at the time. A lot of it happened to be relationship issues while we were on the road, trying to have a girlfriend and not really being able to be there to deal with things, so a lot of the songs came out about that.

What are your favorite tracks off of the new record?

Jeremy: Some of my favorites are “Jersey,” “Take This to Heart,” and “Fell to Pieces.” Those are just a couple, but honestly I really love the whole album.

Alex: I like “Black Cat,” “I’d Hate to Be You,” “Walk on Water,” and “Take This to Heart.”

Derek: “Miserable at Best,” “You Be the Wings,” “Jamie All Over,” and “Take This To Heart” are some of my favorites. I actually love them all though, there isn’t a single one I’m unhappy with.

Why did you guys choose to re-record “When I Get Home…” for the album and also to redo The Old Kid Named Chicago song “Jamie All Over” for the album?

Jeremy: We chose to re-do “When I Get Home” and “Jamie All Over” because we thought those were great songs, that a lot of people might miss out on. “Jamie All Over” was never on a CD, and we wanted people to hear it. “When I Get Home” was on our EP, but we thought it might reach more ears being on our full length.

Alex: When I get home was a song that got a great response from people all over the country so we decided to have that on the album so that kids could rock out to a new version. Jamie all over was a song that everybody liked so we decided that we should just use it again.

Derek: We wanted to re-do When “I Get Home” because we love playing that song, it’s so energetic and a crowd favorite and we didn’t want to stop playing it when the new CD came out. “Jamie All Over” was kind of a tough one to choose because we had so many new songs, so going back and doing an old one seemed kind of inappropriate at first, but in the end I feel pretty happy with the decision.

Why is the last song on the album’s title takes longer to say than the length of the actual song?

Jeremy: I don’t really know why the name of the last song is so long. I am partial to short song names, like using the hook from the song, or a keyword in the song, things like that. I didn’t write that title, but I think it fits well with the song.

Alex: That’s us trying to be poetic.

Derek: Haha, that’s pretty funny. Well when we were titling the songs, we tried not to set any rules or limits and just the name the songs whatever we felt like naming them. I like the name a lot, it’s fun to say and I think it gives a pretty good feeling for the song.

Do you feel that following last summer’s Warped Tour selling your CD is a huge reason you are where you are today? And what prompt you guys to do that?

Jeremy: I definitely feel like selling CDs at Warped helped get us where we are today. Brooks, Derek, and me did it in our old band and it worked great, so when we started this band we knew we had to do it. Its a good way to get you music out there, if you can do it, but if you hate 100+ temperatures, no showers, long drives and no sleep, then it’s probably not for you.

Alex: Yes, I think that gave us exposure all over the country, Derek’s old band did it the year before and they sold a ton of CDs so we were hoping to do the same as kind of a jump start on our career.

Derek: I definitely feel like doing the Warped Tour jump-started everything for us, and probably have a lot to do with why we are where we are. I honestly am not sure how the idea originally came about, but we in the band all have the attitude that we have to work as hard as we can to make this happen.

What would you say has been your greatest benefit from pursuing a career in music?

Jeremy: Greatest benefit being in a band would probably be getting to travel and see the world, not to mention getting paid to do what you love.

Alex: The memories I have and the ability to say that I have toured the country.

Derek: I absolutely love my life right now. I get to travel the country with my 4 best friends and meet all kinds of amazing people. My job is to sing for people I’ve never met, and often times they’re screaming the words right back at me, and that’s such an amazing feeling. Even if I never make a dollar out of our music, I’m still having the time of my life and that’s more than a lot of people can say.

What cool or not so cool things have happened so far on your tour with Bedlight for Blue Eyes?

Jeremy: So far on the bed light tour, nothing bad has happened to us. Unfortunately, Driver Side Impact has been broken in to twice, have what equipment that didn’t get stolen break, and vehicle trouble to top it off. So if you guys feel the need to help out, buy some merch of there’s online, I’m sure it will help.

Alex: We have met some cool dudes in Bedlight, Sick City, and Driver Side Impact.

Derek: Well unfortunately some of the bands are having some terrible luck. Bedlight has broken down, and Driver Side Impact broke down twice and had their van and trailer broken into twice. Aside from that it’s been amazing, I love watching the other bands every night and they’re such
cool people. We want anyone who comes to our shows to know that we’re very friendly people and we absolutely love meeting people and hanging out after the shows.

What’s your ideal tour?

Jeremy: Ideal tour? I never really thought about that surprisingly. I guess it would be The Starting Line, Fall Out Boy, Cartel, and bands that we can enjoy listening to, and whose fans will enjoy listening to us.

Alex: Any tour where we get the most exposure.

Derek: There are so many bands I would love to tour with. Cartel, Paramore, The Starting Line, Jimmy Eat World, any of those bands would be amazing and there are so many more. Now if I could tour with any band ever it would have to be Queen, how amazing would that be?

What are some of the things you would like to accomplish in life?

Jeremy: Things to accomplish in life? I can’t really think of anything I want to accomplish. If you consider owning your own house, and owning some land and accomplishment, then that’s what I want.

Alex: Live on the French Riviera.

Derek: Just to be happy with the life I have lived and the person I am. I try to just have fun and stay positive no matter what.

Do you have any bad habits?

Jeremy: Bad habits would be smoking; I’m trying to quit though. But so is everyone, right?

Alex: I smoke and bite my nails.

Derek: I guess, but they’re just the cliché habits like biting your fingernails and stuff like that. Nothing very interesting really.

Thanks for answering these questions! Good luck on everything!

This article was originally published on AbsolutePunk.net