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Picture by Keaton Coblentz
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The fantastic Mayday Parade have just finished a UK tour with Madina Lake and We Are The Ocean. We were lucky enough to catch up with Derek and Jeremy from the band shortly before they went on stage in Manchester.
Glasswerk: How are you?
Derek: Very good thanks, how’re you?
GW: Great thanks, how’s tour?
D: Great!
Jeremy: Awesome!
GW: How long have you been on tour now?
D: Five days? I *think* this is the fifth show.
J: Yep!
GW: And how do the fans here compare to the fans back home?
D: I love the crowds here, even if they don’t know the music they get involved. In the States if the kids don’t know the music, they don’t move around, they just stand there.
GW: So what’s been the best city so far?
D: The second night... Nottingham. The crowd reaction was amazing, that’s what really makes a show... you feed off that energy.
J: If I had the choice of playing for 100 kids who moved around and 1000 kids who just stood there, I’d take the 100.
GW: How long have you been a band now?
D: Five years. Well, five years in November, so four and half.
J: Five! Five sounds better.
D: OK, five.
GW: That’s a long time and you’ve been through a lot together. Are you friends first and a band second?
D: Well, we’ve always been friend so, friends first.
J: Being in the band just made us better friends.
GW: And where did the name originate from? Does it mean anything?
D: It’s just a name. Jake liked the word Mayday, Alex thought of Parade.
GW: So you don’t think it’s important for a band to have a name that means something?
D: It’s kinda cool, but it’s not necessary. Look at The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus, there are a lot of strange band names out there!
GW: So how do you all know each other?
D: Mostly from school... I’ve known Brooks since the seventh grade and we all know each other through mutual friends.
GW: What are your plans for the rest of 2010? Will you be recording anything new?
D: Probably not, we’ll be touring through summer and fall. In 2011 we’ll consider a new cd.
GW: Will that touring include another trip to the UK?
J: We’d love to come back in November/December, after The Warped Tour.
D: Yeah, it’s been two years since we were last here. We don’t want it to be that long again.
GW: Speaking of touring, who’s the most influential band you’ve shared a stage with?
D: It’s really hard to say, there’s been so many... I think Paramore’s one we could all say. We learn a lot from all the bands we play with.
GW: Who would you like to play with in the future?
D: Brand New!
J: Yeah and Taking Back Sunday. We looked up to Paramore, even though they’re younger than us, because they’ve had a lot of success, but those two bands have actually influenced our music.
GW: Do you have any bizarre rituals you do before going on stage?
D: I wouldn’t call it bizarre but we gather in a circle, put our hands in and say some inspirational things to get us pumped, and then we all say “Bang-a-rang”.
GW: You say what?
D: “Bang-a-rang”. It’s from Hook. I don’t know how it started, but we’ve said it every single show.
GW: Finally, can you lend us a fiver?
D: A five pound note? Do you really want one? (panics)
GW: No, it’s ok.... but thanks!
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