Chances are, if someone so much as breathes the lyric “Katy, don’t cry, I know,” you could recite the rest through tears, eyeliner smudges, and muscle memory alone. But if you’re a local, that’s Mayday Parade, ‘Miserable At Best’ nestled into the sixth place of the 2007 A Lesson In Romantics—a gold-certified album popping off their Three Cheers for 20 Years Tour with supports Microwave, Grayscale, and Like Roses.
Now, math may not be the strong suit of the emotionally distraught, but if A Lesson In Romantics was their debut and we’re toasting two decades, you’d be correct in assuming Mayday Parade has evolved from eyeliner and side-swept bangs to a full-blown emo empire. And just to prove they’re not done making you feel everything at once, they’re diving headfirst into an ambitious three-part album series, beginning with Sweet. Naturally, it’ll be followed by Sad and Sugar—because who doesn’t want their emotional breakdowns surrounding the letter S? The bottom line? They clearly couldn’t stop writing, and we clearly can’t stop listening.
We caught up with bassist and all-around emo oracle Jeremy Lenzo to talk about everything coming up this year—including their newest sonic candy, Sweet.
It feels like Taylor Swift has officially brought back the novella album trend—and we couldn’t be more thrilled that an era no longer ends at just ten tracks. Sweet is the first part of a three-album series. With a standard album, you can cut songs that don’t quite shine, but with a trilogy, you either write more or refine what you already have. Which approach did you take—more writing or more polishing?
We actually decided on doing a three-part album while we were in the studio. Initially, we planned on just doing a traditional album, but we started thinking if there was a way that we could release music consistently throughout the year rather than just all at once, and eventually decided that doing a three-part album would allow us the most freedom of when we release content.
So to answer your question, I think we decided on the route of writing more, and booking multiple studio sessions throughout the year, that way we can really pick and choose which songs we think will help round out the album as a whole once it’s all completed. It’s been a fun process to try and navigate.
This record reunites you with longtime producers Zack Odom and Kenneth Mount, who’ve been with you since your debut (shoutout to ‘Miserable At Best’—still iconic). 18 years together is a lot of history. By now, you’re probably comfortable unpacking your feelings with them, but do they still pull you out of your comfort zone?
Zack and Ken are great producers; they’ve always known how to bring out the best in our music while allowing us to still push ideas we feel strongly about. We’ve been working together so long at this point they have become like a sixth member of the band, and help shape our sound to be consistent across our albums while still finding ways to add new things to separate it from our past work.
Besides the five of you, Zack and Kenneth probably know the band better than anyone. What’s something they understand about your music that no one else does?
I touched on this in the last question, but I would say the shaping of our sound, and what I mean by that is sometimes you can hear a piece of music and know who the artist is just by the music alone. They have done that for us; they have given us a signature sound that you can hear and say, “Oh, that’s Mayday Parade.”
You’ve made it clear you’re a self-championed band, returning to basics with your first self-released album since Tales Told By Dead Friends. It’s proof that your voice doesn’t go through label filters. What would you say to newer artists being pulled in different directions by outside opinions?
It’s tough as a new artist right now, with the rise of streaming platforms, there is never a shortage of music, and it’s hard for new artists to navigate that and really find a way to stand out among their peers. While labels can offer a ton of help, I think it’s really up to the artist to determine who they are musically.
The label might say “oh, you can really open up a lot of doors if you make your music faster, and more punk”, but is that really who you are as an artist? Is that where you envision yourself? If the answer is no, then I think you stick to your guns. The worst thing you can do is be unhappy with your music, because you’re going to have to perform those songs every night, and when you’re playing music that you identify with and really feel passionate about, it resonates so much more.
The opening track, ‘By The Way,’ is the perfect way to kick off your return after some time away. If you had to start a sentence with “By the way…” to spotlight something from this new era—like, “By the way, [insert track] absolutely rips”—what would you highlight?
This might be me taking an easy way out, but I would just use the original lyric from the song “By the way, I’m still the same”, but I would use it in the sense that you know what you’re getting from this album. This is Mayday Parade, this is what you want to hear when you think of Mayday Parade.
One of our favorite moments is the guitar riff on ‘Who’s Laughing Now’—it’s a fun early-2000s nod to the haters. What’s your favorite sonic moment where you mixed classic 2000s vibes with a modern twist that could still hook a teenager today?
There is a part at the end of ‘Letting Anything Go’ that has these gang “NA NA NA” vocals that feel very 2000s Blink. I would say that’s one of my favorite sonic moments that celebrates the classic 2000s sound.
The ‘This Personified’ interlude, with those slinky piano keys, melted us on the first listen. It immediately gave us the image of a hushed crowd swaying in the calm before the next big moment. What visual do you see when you hear those notes?
The visual I see is Jake in the band room playing it on the piano at night, because that’s a memory I have from being in the studio. There are a lot of parts I hear from our songs that I associate with what was going on at the time we were recording it, little flashes of being back in the studio tracking bass, or hearing Derek sing a part, etc. etc.
Speaking of tours, your Three Cheers for 20 Years Tour is coming up! If you could mash up a song from your debut with one from the new album to create the ultimate 20-year time capsule, which would you pick?
Ohh, that’s a tough one, considering we haven’t finished recording the album yet, I’m not sure what my answer would be. As far as something from our debut album, I would probably pick ‘Jersey’ just because I can see how I can mesh that into another song pretty easily. Now, what song I would pair with that one, I’m not sure, so you’ll have to come back to me for my answer once the album is completed!
Like the opener, the outro track ‘Pretty Good To Feel Something’ perfectly ends the party. Can you take us through a moment when the music fades after a huge climax, like when confetti settles after one of your shows and everything slows down?
If you’re asking how I’m feeling after a big moment in our set, I would say if I executed my part perfectly, then I’m probably thinking “hell yeah, I killed that,” and watching the faces of the crowd to see how they felt about the song.
If I messed up and didn’t execute perfectly, then I’m probably running over that part in my head and wondering if anyone caught the slip up, and looking to my band to see if any of them caught it, lol. Either way, though, when you have a really big moment, as long as the crowd is stoked, it’s hard not to be happy.
Finally, a fun one to throw it back to 2007: What’s your favorite lyric from this album that you’d totally plaster all over your Myspace page?
If we’re talking something from the first part of the album, then maybe “I’m smiling in the afternoon, I’ve got a lot to do, and it’s a beautiful day.” I think that just resonates with where I am in life right now, and how I want to perceive the world around me.
Like the first sugary prize, you dig out of your Halloween haul—what’s the Sweet track you’re hoarding on repeat? Tell us your favorite over on Twitter, Instagram, or Facebook (bonus points if you defend it with the passion of a kid trading full-size candy bars).
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