Mayday Parade Going On Tour With All Time Low
‘The (Australian) fan base is great, traditionally we have done pretty good there. We enjoy going there, we are always welcomed. It’s a fun place to go.’
Alex Garcia, guitarist of American emo kings Mayday Parade explains about the upcoming tour of Australia with some old friends.
‘The significant thing here is All Time Low invited us and asked them to support their tour. Usually we will do headliners in Australia, or do festivals like Good Things and Soundwave when it was around. I don’t think we ever ever supported – that’s not true we supported Yellowcard a decade or so ago – this is a great opportunity for us we seldom get.’
It’s a new world for Mayday Parade since the last album and venture to our shores. Three recently dropped singles More Than A Crash, Get Me All Wrong and Miracle, their own label and a support slot of a major arena tour of Australia is the new pathway forward. But no album, maybe, in a world where consistent content is the new king.
‘You couldn’t have said it better or I couldn’t say it better myself! Thats really the whole thing, we’ve noticed it in the past when we release albums we will spend a year probably writing the songs – recording the songs – getting together a marketing plan, filming videos, getting artwork together for the singles. Really investing so much time while being silent for a year, year and a half, then we’re excited about the record, we release it! It gets traction and buzz for two weeks and then, yeah that’s it. We then get into a touring cycle based on that, so we have our traditional cycle that lasts two years all around this and you’re so right to point out that now content is king. There’s a constant appetite for new things whether it be new music, or TikTok videos, or some sort of promotion, something going on for a buzz and to gain attention. So that’s part of the thinking, if we are in a different landscape , the marketing world and being in a band, let’s try this out with us releasing Independent songs , like standalone singles, maybe they will be an ep or an album? We just wanted to start on that path, experiment and see how it works.’
The reaction to the new songs More Than A Crash and Get Me All Wrong played live on the US summer tour with All Time Low and Yellowcard has shown there is life in this old dog yet.
‘So far so good! ‘More Like A Crash’ was a lot better than I think we would thought it be. Whenever you play something new, doesn’t matter what it is, it’s always pretty difficult when no knows it. When we first released ‘Oh Well, Oh Well’ – which is one of our more popular songs – I remember the first show that we played that in Richmond, Virginia and I remember people had no idea, no one signing along, no movement. It was weird, it’s feeling like you’re really trying to sell something. Convince people this is good, move around have fun!! But that wasn’t the case for ‘More Like A Crash’ or ‘Get Me All Wrong’. Luckily ‘Get Me All Wrong’ has got such a rhythm it’s easy to bop your head too, naturally groove to it.’
We shall leave you with the fact Alex has a love for British rock music and admits he once tried to emulate Led Zeppelin’s Jimmy Page.
‘I tried with the open bow and I could never figure it out. What amazes me is that he can eat up 5 minutes of Led Zeppelin’s running time doing that. I think of that when we build sets and how weird it feels to be on stage doing an experimental movement and find it difficult to navigate. I can’t imagine it! I guess it’s easy though when you’re selling out Madison Square Garden 3 nights in a row to a rapturous audience!’
Interview By Iain McCallum
Catch Mayday Parade on tour with All Time Low, tickets from Destroy All Lines…
