Drei Jahre mussten wir uns gedulden, doch jetzt gibt es Nachschub aus dem Hause Mayday Parade. „What It Means To Fall Apart“ so heißt ihr neues Album. Unsere Redakteurin Pia hat mit Gitarrist Jeremy Lenzo gesprochen. Er erzählt, was der Albumtitel bedeutet, wie es ist das erste mal Vater zu sein und gibt uns ganz persönliche Einblicke ins Bandleben und den Geschichten hinter den 12 Tracks auf dem neuen Album.

Frontstage Magazine: Hey Jeremy, first of all thank you for your time! Since November 19th your new album „What It Means To Fall Apart“ is available. How did you celebrate the release?

Jeremy Lenzo:  I was very excited to be putting new music out, making music was one of the few things we could do while stuck inside due to Covid. I celebrated the release by chatting with fans online with the rest of the band, and poured myself some whiskey to commemorate album number seven. 

Frontstage Magazine: Please explain the title „What It Means To Fall Apart“ – what exactly does it mean? 

Jeremy Lenzo: The title came from something Derek said about being stuck inside over 2020, we tweaked it a little because we thought it would make a nice album title. Most of the songs on the record deal with falling apart in some way or another, so it seemed an appropriate fit for the record. 

Frontstage Magazine: What is your advice to not fall part during these days or to not fall apart at all? 

Jeremy Lenzo: I think we are all bound to fall apart at some point, the important thing is to get back up and pull yourself together. We try and put those reminders in our music, there’s always a silver lining. I don’t have any advice that differs from the cliche “surround yourself with positive people, let go of things holding you down” point of view. I think its cliche for a reason, because its true to many people. 

Frontstage Magzine: I’ve noticed while listening to “What It Means To Fall Apart” there are some songs very calm that makes the listener think about the lyrics and then there are just some songs where you’d like to get up start dancing and mosh a little. What I’d like to say it’s a very good mixture. Do you had kind of a special concept for the album or was it more kind of a process while working on it? 

Jeremy Lenzo: There was no particular concept, but If I had to guess why the album is so eclectic is because all of us in the band write individually and each of our writings styles are slightly different, so you end up with an album with a variety of song structures. I think that’s one of the things that I have come to really appreciate with our band. 

 Frontstage Magazine: Over the years you remained true to your musical style. I think that’s a great thing, but was it easy for you to continue the Pop-Punk genre over all that time or did you ever consider to try something completely different? 

Jeremy Lenzo: We did try something a little different with our album “black lines”, its still kind of in the pop-punk genre, but leans way more towards 90s alternative rock. For us that was a fun record to make, and I really love how it turned out, but our audience didn’t connect with it like our other albums, so we decided that its probably more advantageous to stay with what people expect. We do try and add some songs on every album that are different, but still sit within the pop-punk genre. 

Frontstage Magazine: So let’s jump over to take a closer look at the album’s setlist. There are 12 songs found on the album. Which one was the first you’ve written and which one was the last? Tell me a little bit more about the two songs! 

Jeremy Lenzo: That’s a hard question to answer, like I mentioned earlier we all write individually, so its hard to know what was finished first or last. I think Jake maybe sent over the first song “kids of summer” to kick off our email chain. I can’t remember what the last song would have been, but I think maybe it was “If my ghost don’t play, I don’t play”. To tell you a little more about those two songs, Kids Of Summer is about looking back on the days of Warped Tour, and remembering all the fun we had. While If My Ghost Don’t Play, I Don’t Play is about letting our community who may be going through a hard time know that us and our music will always be there for them.  

Frontstage Magazine: “Golden Days” – that’s the title of the second song on the album. Please tell us what is a golden day for you? 

Jeremy Lenzo: A golden day for me is waking up early and drinking a cup of coffee before everyone else starts getting up, and then playing with my new born and seeing what exciting things he will learn today. I’m a first time father so it’s been really fun to watch him gravitate towards certain things, and see his mind trying to work out the things going on around him.  

Frontstage Magazine: You made a very nice music video for the song “Kids of summer” showing you as a band having a blast. Tell me more about the story behind the song and the idea for the video! 

Jeremy Lenzo: Yeah, so the song is about Warped Tour and our time being a part of the Warped Tour. That tour has always been a big part of our bands career and kind of where we got our start. The idea of the music video came when we realized we couldn’t shoot anything like normal because of Covid, so we tried to figure out how we can do something fun on a budget, so we all got together at my house and just made a trip out of it, we contacted local places and got permission to shoot at a bunch of different attractions around the area. It was a really fun weekend. 

Frontstage Magazine: Did you change in some way as a band or as humans during the process of writing the songs for the new album and during producing the album? 

Jeremy Lenzo: I’m sure we all changed in some way. I mentioned before but I’m a first time father with a 4 month old now, so when we were writing the album that wasn’t even on my radar. My priorities and mind set are a lot different now then they were when we first started writing for the album. 

Frontstage Magazine: Which song on “What It Means To Fall Apart” is the most important to you andwhy? 

Jeremy Lenzo: I don’t really know, I think they are all important to me because it’s all one body of work. I guess if I had to choose I would say maybe Bad At Love or If My Ghost Dont Play just because I wrote those two, but I really think all the songs are special and bring something unique to the table. 

Frontstage Magazine: In 2022 a little tour starts for you. As well in Europe. What can your fansexpect from the upcoming tour and what do you expect? 

Jeremy Lenzo: We will be doing a 10 year celebration of our self titled album, and I think most people who are a fan of our band are really excited about that, since that album is one of the fan favorites. You can expect a energy performance, and just generally to have a lot of fun,. 

Frontstage Magazine: I really look forward to that! Until now there a two concert dates released for your german fans. One at the Hurricane Festival and the other at the Southside Festival. What do you like the most about playing gigs in Germany?

Jeremy Lenzo: I like the people! We have made a lot of friends over the years playing Germany, so it will be exciting to get back and see everyone again, as well as meet new people for the first time.  

Tourdates:
31.05.2022 – Nottingham – Rock City

01.07.2022 – Bristol – SWX
02.07.2022 – Leeds – Leeds Beckett University

03.07.2022 – London – Troxy

05.07.2022 – Glasgow – SWG3 Studio Warehouse

06.07.2022 – Birmingham – The O2 Institute

07.07.2022 – Manchester – O2 Ritz Manchester

08.07.2022 – Newcastle – Boiler Shop

10.07.2022 – Köln – Stollwerck

11.07.2022 – Interlaken – Greenfield Festival

12.07.2022 – Mailand – Legend Club

14.07.2022 – Eindhoven – Dynamo

16.07.2022 – Hradec Kralove – Rock For People

17.07.2022 – Scheeßel – Hurricane Festival

18.07.2022 – Neuhausen ob Eck – Southside Festival

Fotocredit: Guadalupe Bustos