Tag Archives: jared monaco

Confessions From… The Maine

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One of the highlights of my summer was definitely meeting and interviewing one of my favorite bands The Maine. They blew up in 2008 with their album Can’t Stop, Won’t Stop and Everything I Ask For was the anthem of my youth-pop-rock-loving days. They’ve developed and changed their sound a lot during the last two albums and thanks to Faze Magazine and Jessica, I had the chance to sit down with Jared Monaco, Patrick Kirch and Kennedy Brock in their tour bus while they were in Toronto for their 8123 tour. (Stepping into a band’s tour bus is always pretty damn cool.) The full article can be found in the back-to-school issue of Faze and below I’ve included a few questions from our interview for this week’s Confessions From…

Picture 88

Out of the 12 tracks on the album, Forever Halloween, do you have a favourite? Is there one that’s more meaningful to you?
Jared: It’s been kind of changing a lot because it’s only been out for a few weeks
Pat: It’s hard to pick your favourite especially with all the songs so new.
Jared: Yeah and we haven’t been able to play everything live yet. But I think I feel like sad songs right now, that’s my jam of the record.
Pat: I can’t pick.
Kennedy: It’s hard to pick. I’m happy with all the songs.
Jared: Good, so Kennedy’s favourite song is Happy.
Pat: And I hate it.

You’ve been on tour with so many bands, from Lydia to Taking Back Sunday and Mayday Parade, but is there one artist or group that you haven’t toured with that you really want to?
Kennedy: Oh there’s a bunch. There’s a lot.
Jared: The Replacements are back together which is cool.
Pat: If The Foo Fighters would like to go on the road with us that’d be nice. I’d go on tour with a lot of people.
Kennedy: The Killers!
Pat: If there was going to be one last Rolling Stones tour, if they don’t die, I mean yeah if they wanna take us, sure.

Most important thing for you when it comes to creating music?
 Pat: I think we just enjoy the process of it all, it’s really fun to write songs and extremely fun to be in a recording studio for a month and a half and just be like a little kid doing whatever you want. I think at that point we do it more for ourselves when we’re writing and then it’s really awesome to go and share with other people and see how they experience it and perceive the songs.
Jared: Yeah it’s a werid translation to if we like a song we wrote a lot, we don’t always necessarily know if our fans are going to like it. I think Forever Halloween was a success in that aspect. The response from fans has been awesome so we feel even better about the songs that we wrote.

What else are you guys planning?
Kennedy: First of all, a whole lot of touring, we are going to do a lot to support this record, we’ve got a lot of things planned.
Pat: Yeah we’re going to be on the road for a while, we’re always doing something new, that kidn of stuff just comes out of the blue, you get inspired and some idea to record, some EP, or make a book, or make a DVD.
Kennedy: Yeah it’s inevitable we’ll be doing something along those lines.
Pat: You know the goal, maybe, hopefully by the end of 2014 by the time we make the next record, just make The Maine’s own recording studio. Like maybe something we’re beginning to talk about. Big project in the distance.

Ultimate career goal?
Pat: The goal is just to be able to put ourselves in the position to be able to make as much music as possible. So that’s the goal for the band for the rest of year.

Be sure to check out The Maine’s newest music video for Love & Drugs:

–@Naomi_ML

The Maine’s Pioneer World Tour

Posted in Confessions of a Concertgoer by

Those passing by Sherbourne Street at around 6PM on Wednesday, May 9 were probably shocked, alarmed, curious or all of the above when they saw the huge line-up of people going down the street. The large group, of mostly teenage girls, were all waiting (some since 11:00 that morning) for the American rock band, hailing from Tempe Arizona, The Maine.

Standing in line, in the the pouring rain, however was comfortable compared to what was to come when actually inside The Phoenix Concert Theatre during the concert. But what can you expect, it can’t be a rock concert without a mosh pit! And if you don’t see the association between a rock concert and mosh pit, well then the general admission tickets should have given it away.

Finally 7PM came and the doors opened with security waiting to check bags and IDs (for those 19 and older who were given a bright yellow wristband so they could drink freely).

As soon as you entered the venue, coat check greeted you and took your baggage for a small price of $2.50. Then you could move on to the merch room where t-shirts sold for $25-$30 along with other awesome goodies like bracelets, posters and the bands CD for only $5! Also for sale were opening act Lydia’s band merch!

Members of The Maine Kennedy Brock and Jared Monaco came on stage with their good friend to play a few acoustic songs before Lydiaan indie rock band also from Arizona took over the stage. Notably missing was Canadian band Arkells who tweeted that they would not be playing in the Toronto and Montreal shows of the Pioneer tour. (Probably getting in some family/friends time while in their home country?)

Lydia did an awesome job pumping up the crowd. Both those who knew of them before and those who have never heard their music couldn’t help but fall in love. Lead singer Leighton Antelman’s voice is such a unique one.

As the band left the stage to make way for the act everyone was waiting for, the crowd grew more intense. Many pushes, shoves, and even some [hair] pulls occurred as die-hard fans were ready to fight till the finish to get as close to the stage as possible.

Of course once the band began to play, the last thing that was going through fans’ minds was how hot, sweaty, squished and claustrophobic they felt. With old favourites such as Into Your Arms to fresh hits off their new album (It isn’t called the Pioneer tour for no reason folks) like My Heroine and Misery, hands couldn’t help but pump up and feet couldn’t resist jumping up and down. Pat Kirch andGarrett Nickelsen‘s head banging was contagious. (And I’m sure I’m not the only one who wants to know the brand of shampoo they use for their long luscious locks of hair!)

One of the best things the fans were treated to was a cover of The Beatles song “With A Little Help from my Friends” in which Lydia was also brought on stage. The bands showed off their dance moves and limbo skills. (We’re sure you’ve all been wondering how low they can go).

This is the second time that The Maine has stepped into the Phoenix Concert Theatre for a show, and like the year before, lead singer John O’ Callaghan performed the same stunt (that sure put a worried look on the tough and buff security guards’ faces) as he climbed up onto a ledge during Inside of You.

He even jumped into the crowed and passed along Chlamydia (as he jokingly said) to those who touched him against his request.

The Maine ended their awesome set list with Don’t Give Up On Us bringing the concert to a close at around 11:15PM.

The overall concert was one that lived up to it’s rock and roll standards. Though fans risked loosing a body part and left with at least one bruise, many if not all would say it was worth it. The band itself appreciated all that we stuck through, with John O repeatedly saying “thank you” and telling the crowd that Toronto was one of the best concerts thus far.

Don’t believe me?
Check out the band’s tweets that they posted right after the show, tweets that I might add have not been said about other tour stops.

It’s safe to say that The Maine’s stop in Toronto for their 2012 Pioneer tour is one that both the fans and the band will forever remember…or at least won’t easily forget.