Pop/punk rockers Mayday Parade are ending the year on a high note. After releasing their sophomore album, Anywhere But Here, which debuted at #31 on Billboard’s Top 200, they were tapped as co-headliners of Alternative Press’ Fall Ball Tour, playing to many sold-out crowds alongside bands such as The Academy Is… and Set Your Goals, among others. The band took a big hit when Jason Lancaster, former vocalist, guitarist, and lyricist, left in the middle of a tour in 2007, leaving the rest of the band scrambling for a replacement.
I was able to sit down with Derek Sanders, the charismatic lead singer of Mayday Parade, prior to the sold out tour date in Sayreville, New Jersey’s Starland Ballroom. On top of being a top-notch singer, Sanders is an extremely affectionate and friendly person, and sitting down with him to talk about the new album, touring, and other subjects felt like sitting with an old friend. Read the interview after the jump!
How does it feel to be touring again?
It’s the best feeling in the world! It’s what we all love to do, and if I’m at home for longer than like, a week or two, I just get real antsy and bored [and] feel like I should be out doing something, so it’s great. We get to travel, play these shows with awesome bands, awesome people, great kids at the shows. It’s awesome.
How is it touring with The Academy Is, Set Your Goals, You Me At Six, and The Secret Handshake?
It’s an incredible line up. I’ve been a fan of The Academy Is… since before Mayday Parade even started, so it’s really kind of an honor to be out with them, and especially to be co-headlining with them, it’s kind of crazy. The rest of the bands we hadn’t really met before this tour. I’ve been a big fan of Set Your Goals for awhile. I never heard too much of the other bands before this tour, but I love them now. I love You Me At Six, and The Secret Handshake; not just their music, but also the guys in the bands and their personalities.
How did it feel to debut at #31 on Billboard’s Top 200?
That was awesome. None of us really knew what to expect… we had a ballpark of maybe where it would be, but we had no clue what to think about that and expect. We’re definitely satisfied with that.
This was the first album to be released after Jason Lancaster departed from the band. Was the writing process drastically different without him?
I wouldn’t say drastically different. For sure, it was different just because he contributed a lot to the last CD, but I feel like we were a band for so long without him before we had to write this CD. He’d been out of the band for like, over two years. We’d been a band without him longer than we ever were a band with him, so I feel like we’d all moved on and adapted before it came time to write this album, and I feel like we did just fine.
What did you draw your influence from for this album?
Really, what works for us, for me and I think for everyone else, we just try to write the best songs that we can and obviously it’s gonna be similar to the kind of stuff that we listen to. We listen to a lot of the newer pop/punk kind of stuff, Taking Back Sunday, Brand New, The Starting Line, but there’s all kinds of bands; The Foo Fighters, there’s a lot of 90s rock that I’ve been going back and listening to, like Third Eye Blind, Smashing Pumpkins, bands like that, but not to say that you could tell really from the sound of the CD, because I don’t know if that really comes across.
Does the album cover have any special meaning to it?
Not really. We loved the album cover of A Lesson In Romantics and we really liked the idea of keeping the ‘umbrella guy’ around for this time. We had a few calls with the artist that did it and we had talked about maybe keeping that guy and maybe this time, whereas before it was a head on view of what’s behind him, this one could be behind him, where he’s going type thing. We thought it was a cool concept and that’s really all the direction we gave him, and he came up with the artwork and we loved it.
Any personal favorites off of Anywhere But Here?
For me? Track 10, I Swear This Time I Mean It. It’s an acoustic ballad kind of song on the CD; it’s my personal favorite. But there’s a lot that I love, I mean, I love it all, but I Swear This Time I Mean It is for sure my favorite.
What has been your biggest challenge as a band?
I guess I’d have to say having Jason leave the band, mostly just because of the fact that it was in the middle of a tour, so it was like he flew home, and we had to play a show the next day without him, where as he would obviously play the guitar and sang, so it was like we had to figure out who was gonna cover the parts, who was gonna play what, minus that member like that night and play it the next day without practice…
Anything else you would like to add?
Just thank you! Thank you for the support to everyone who has listened to us, or bought a CD, or came to a show. This is our dream job, and it’s awesome to do it, so thanks for the support!
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