Last week we went down to the second date of Mayday Parade and The Maine’s UK tour at Bristol Academy, and we had a great chat with The Maine guitarist Jared Monaco, bassist Garrett Nickelsen and drummer Pat Kirch. Warning: they like Aaron Carter, a lot. And they’re quite funny.
Hi guys! So, this is the second date of your UK tour. What can we expect from the shows?
Garrett: This is our first tour in 2016, so last night we were getting back into it, and tonight we’re feeling ready. We’re gonna play for 40 minutes. We’re gonna jam as many songs as we can in the time that we have. It’s our first time over in the UK since we put out the new record so we’re gonna be playing a good amount of that stuff. Some old songs as well.
I love the new album (‘American Candy’) so much. You know when you’re a teenager and you really connect with an album? I had that with this one.
Garrett: That’s awesome! Thank you so much! We’re playing a good amount of new stuff. We’re playing half the album.
Jared: I love when albums do that for me, and take me back to that place where I first heard it.
How do you find playing in the UK?
Garrett: It’s always fun, yeah. It’s one of those things where a lot of the world is the same when it comes to shows. I mean, a show here compared to the States is not that different. They usually have the same feel.
Pat: I think maybe when we started touring we thought there was a big difference but I think we’ve kind of realised that the people that are into our band are the same all over the world, and it’s like our crew of people, and they just happen to look a little different or have an accent.
Jared: We have the accent when we’re over here, man.
After this tour you’re going straight back out in the US, again with Mayday Parade.
Garrett: Oh yeah, we’re gonna see a lot of those guys.
So you get on well?
All: Yeah!
Garrett: Absolutely. We’ve known them for so long.
I guess you guys have been going for about the same time.
Jared: Yeah, they’ve been going a little longer, maybe like a year.
Pat: It’s cool to have a band – like a lot of the bands that we started out playing with aren’t bands anymore, so they’re kind of the exception to that, so we try and do as much as we can with them. it’s just good to be around them, because we’ve been through so much of the same stuff and we’ve been doing it almost as long.
Jared: And they put out cool records and stuff, so it’s good that we enjoy what they do.
Garrett: We can respect them as a band and we think they’re awesome dudes too.
What’s coming next for you after these tours with Mayday Parade?
Jared: We put out a little cover EP before so we’re gonna record Side B of that. We don’t know what the tunes are gonna be yet but they’re gonna be songs from the past couple years. More current, so we’re gonna record that between touring, and then we’ll be on the road.
Which is your favourite cover you’ve done so far?
Jared: I really liked doing the New Radicals one because that was my personal favourite song.
Pat: The Backstreet Boys one was cool because it was so different.
Garrett: They liked it too! They heard it.
Jared: Really? I didn’t know this!
Garrett: Yeah, they tweeted us a couple times. They liked it!
Pat: If you really sit and think about it for a while it’s crazy.
Amazing! Next thing you’ll be hanging out with Nick Carter.
Garrett: Well I have a movie plot based on his brother. It’s called Aaron Oh Aaron. I’ve been working on it. There’s not much singing, but I don’t wanna give too much away. I’m gonna make it and we’ll see what happens.
Jared: Well, we’ve got Nick’s attention now.
Garrett: “Hey, I’m writing this movie about your younger brother, that’s not as successful as you.”
Where is Aaron Carter now?
Garrett: I bet he’s jet skiing.
Jared: He was in Arizona on tour a few months ago. I’m serious. He was drinking a six pack of Smirnoff Ice.
Garrett: Right now I guarantee he’s jet skiing.
Pat: It’s 10:30 in the morning in California.
Garrett: But what else would you be doing if you were Aaron Carter?
Jared: That’s a good guess. Absolutely.
Is it my fault that we’ve somehow got on to the topic of Aaron Carter?
Garrett: No, that was 100% my fault.
Jared: That’s what happens when you let us talk for too long.
Garrett: You’ve never talked about this with anyone else. You see, I have though.
Jared: This is important to us.
I’ve never spoken to anyone who’s been in contact with The Backstreet Boys before.
Jared: You have now!
Pat: Only on Twitter…
Jared: We’ll pass a message on for you.
Garrett: You’ve only just found out about this! You need to be on the band’s Twitter more often I guess, Jared.
Jared: I guess. I feel like you should’ve been notifying everyone about this.
Garrett: It was during the holidays and you were just off being on holiday.
Pat: Band drama is all coming out.
Jared: Spoiler alert: I go on holidays. I wasn’t media-ing on holiday.
Have you guys got anything else you want to cover that’s not Aaron Carter?
Garrett: I think that’s about it. That was the main message we wanted to give. Promote Aaron and his career.
Pat: We don’t really care if people hear our new record or if they just check out Aaron Carter.
I can’t believe it’s been nearly a year since ‘American Candy’ came out.
Pat: Yeah, the very end of March.
Jared: It still feels very new. It’s not a whole lot of time to be on a record cycle.
Garrett: We’re gonna keep on going.
Well, the longer you tour this album, the happier I’ll be, because I love it. Although I’m sure the next one will be just as good, if not better.
Pat: We’re hoping for it to be better.
Garrett: We’re not aiming for it to be worse.
Jared: Hey, let’s make a shittier album.
I’m ready for ‘American Candy x2’.
Garrett: That’s actually what we were gonna call it. ‘American Candy x2’. Bigger and better.
Pat: But it’s gonna be ‘American Candy xTOO’, as in the sequel. Times also.
When that happens I’d like a little copyright on it.
Pat: Well, you just titled it.
Garrett: You can get like 8% of it.
Jared: Or 80, I don’t care.
Garrett: 8 or 80.
I’ll go with 80%. And in the thank yous, I wanna be at the top.
Garrett: I guess you have to write the thank yous.
Jared: You actually have to do 80% of the work now.
Damn! I’ll get Aaron Carter onboard. You could get him in for a collaboration.
Pat: Think about what people would say if our next song featured Aaron Carter.
Garrett: They’d say, “Yes, I’ve been waiting for this for years.”
Pat: People would be so confused.
Garrett: And stoked. The comeback of Aaron.
Jared: Aaron’s back with a vengeance.
Pat: Aaron 2: The Sequel. He’s back.
Jared: I’ve talked too long.
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