Alternative rock legends Mayday Parade are gearing up to tour Down Under early next month, opening for All Time Low’s highly anticipated tour. I had the immense pleasure of chatting with bassist Jeremy Lenzo about life on the road, family and new music!
You guys have had a really busy year! You’ve played a bunch of live shows, put out a few singles and you’re set to come to Australia really soon. How are you all feeling at the moment?
It’s definitely been very tiring, at the beginning of this year we had planned to make this year more of a relaxed year for us, but we just kept getting so many offers that we couldn’t really turn down. What we had planned to be a very relaxed year ended up being a very full year.
The last album you guys released was 2021, since then you’ve put out five singles, three were released just this year- are there any plans to put these onto an album or are they intended to be stand alone singles?
These were more stand alone singles, we had originally intended to go in and maybe record an album, but we just didn’t have the time to do that so we decided to go the single route and see how that pans out. I think we will be getting into the studio around March to start working on a full length album.
Awesome! That’s so exciting to hear. What’s the reason behind releasing multiple stand alone singles vs. just putting them all into an album?
You know, from our time growing up listening to CDs and having a full 12 songs to listen to, I feel like most of the audience never really gets to the back half of the record. You don’t really show those songs as much love as say, the first six… so for us it made more sense to be like, “let’s try make every song special, and have meaning and be impactful and really push each song individually”, and I think it plays out better that way. I’ve noticed these songs, and maybe some of them would have been on the back half of the record, are doing better numbers-wise as far as listens and views, so I think it does make a difference.
Yeah, that makes a lot of sense! So, you’re coming to Australia really soon to play with All Time Low, you were also here just last year for the tenth anniversary tour of your self titled album. Is there anything you’re most looking forward to doing when you come here?
What’s the weather like there right now?
Pretty good! I mean, I’m in Melbourne so it can be pretty hit and miss here, but you’ll surely have some good weather, it’s warming up.
Is it swimming weather? If it’s swimming weather I might try and do some swimming. It’s a little cold here right now so that would be nice… If not, I don’t know, maybe just go to a pub, chat with people… Because of the way Australia is routed we have to fly to each major city, so after each show it’s back to the hotel and then fly out the next day. You don’t get much time to properly explore each city.
I mentioned that you guys were here last year for the tenth anniversary tour of your self titled album, you played the whole album from start to finish- was it a challenge re-learning those tracks? Did any songs stick out to you in particular?
I don’t think it was that difficult, there’s something about writing a song and recording it, it goes through so many iterations that subconsciously you kind of know the song… you only need to play it two or three times until it is re-engrained in your memory. But, as far as the shows, I don’t think there was a song that stood out but the overall album I’ve come to really appreciate. It’s probably my favourite album that we’ve ever done so getting to do the tour and play the album in full for me was really impactful and special.
What can we expect from your upcoming set, opening for All Time Low?
Well, when we come we bring a lot of energy, All Time Low does as well. It’s gonna be a really fun show, bigger rooms than we’ve played in Australia before so we’re really excited about that. I don’t know, I think it’s just gonna be a good time. That’s what we try to bring to every show- positive energy. We’re going to play to the best of our abilities and I hope people enjoy it!
Amazing, we’re so excited! Will you guys be playing of your newer singles?
Yeah, we will probably will be playing one, maybe two!
Now, you’re a dad, you have a beautiful family. How do you balance touring with having a family?
It’s really hard. I’m a relatively new dad, my son’s only two, so this is a new experience for me. As he gets older it gets harder and harder because I just want to be there for him, as a parent and just a source of love and entertainment for him. Not being home, not being able to see him like I want to, it’s very difficult. Like I said, at the start of this year, because most of have kids now, we were going to make it a more relaxed schedule but it did not go that way. We’ve probably toured harder than we have in the past six years in this particular year. But, he’s still young, I think there’s still time. Maybe next year I’ll get to spend a little bit more time with him.
Well, speaking of next year- you’ve already got quite a few things lined up at the start of the year! You’re playing the Emo’s Not Dead Cruise, I Wanna Be Tour, and then you’re opening for Simple Plan on their EU/UK tour. Is there anything you’re looking forward to in particular?
Yeah, it’s not off to a very relaxing start! And then we’re supposed to start recording in March too, so a lot of time will be taken up. I’m probably most looking forward to the Simple Plan tour. We’ve toured Europe quite a lot and we’ve always headlined our own tours over there, we’re not as big in Europe as we are in the states and usually we play smaller venues. So it’ll be exciting paying with Simple Plan and playing some larger venues. The cruise will be really fun as well. This will be our third cruise we’ve done. Every time we do them I like them a little bit more. I didn’t think I was a cruise person, but I tend to enjoy it a little bit more each time.
You can catch Mayday Parade opening for All Time Low in Australia from November 1st, for more info and tickets click HERE.
