Mayday Parade

Mayday Parade - Derek - Lead Singer
Interviewed by: Allison
 
So how's the tour so far?
Oh its awesome all the bands are great we get to hang out with everybody a pretty good bit and were excited there's another month left. It's a pretty long tour, a lot of time to get to know everyone really well. The shows are great the kids are great its been a lot of fun.

March 22nd is the last date correct?
Um hum.

So you played a few shows in Japan, how was that?
That was awesome, that was one of the coolest experiences of my life. The people are so nice the cultures awesome the food is awesome the cities are great and really clean. We were there with Paramore which was a lot of fun. It was my first time leaving the country it was a really cool experience.

So your Cd's been out for about 7 months now, how have things changed?
You know its pretty cool we didn't know what to expect it was the first full length and its the first CD that we've had released nation wide and in stores and stuff. We didn't know what to expect but right now I think were up to 50,000 copies sold. It's really cool were seeing a lot of growth at the shows. A lot of kids coming out. We've all been touring for years where your lucky to play for 10 20 kids a night and now when there are 100s of kids there and they are following you along everywhere you go you know its just really amazing.

So tell me about your crazy fan experiences?
Uhh, we don't really have any crazy fan experiences, you know we've had some people that have followed the tour, for a long time. There was a guy who lost his job, got fired because he just never went back. Nothing too bad other that, I'm sure I'm missing something.

What is your favorite song to perform live?
My favorite is probably either "Take this to heart" or "Jamie all over". One of those two. Or you know what " If you wanted a song written about you all you had to do was ask". One of those three.

What would you be doing if you weren't doing music?
I don't know, honestly. I'd probably still be trying to do something in the music industry. I don't know, its the only thing I've been interested in or really any good at. I didn't do much in High School and never went to College.

How long have you guys been together?
Its been about 2 1/2 years.

Do you ever get approached when your out and about?
Sometimes, definitely a lot more at home now. I get approached a lot. Usually its more around the shows, if I'm down the street walking around or something. There has been a few instances when we've stopped to eat somewhere and people will know who we are, which is pretty cool.

Is this all a pretty humbling experience for you then?
Absolutely, yeah. The guitar player Brooks and I have been in this band since 7th grade. So its been 8 or 9 years since we've been doing bands together. We've only talked about how amazing it would be to be at this level. To be signed playing shows every night with a lot of kids, people singing along its all we've dreamed of so its pretty unreal.

Have you played with any of these bands before?
Actually we have we did a tour with As Cities Burn, in August September and yeah we love those guys.

SO whats next for 08?
Well we have it planned until summer. We finish this tour March 22nd. Then we go out headlining with (as of now) My American Heart, The Graduate and some others. Then we are heading to the UK doing some festivals over there with Paramore and The Plain White T's. Then we are back and we have some time off before Warped Tour.
We look forward to hearing a lot from you guys.

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For more info, show updates and music
check out Mayday Parade on Myspace.com
www.myspace.com/maydayparade