'We Wanted A Legacy'

To celebrate, Bayside are embarking on a world tour that kicks off at Soundwave. “Smashing Pumpkins and Soundgarden are bands I’ve been listening to since junior high school, so it’s kind of cool to see my career go to a place where I get to play shows with those guys.”

"We thought we’d reach out to them and see if they’d ever consider doing a branded roast, and they loved the idea. It is its own roast – the Cult blend.”

Realising they have dedicated fans that look up to them in a similar way, Bayside began offering tickets to shows that included a 45-minute hangout with the band in their tour bus. “We learned that usually people don’t know what to say, so it took us a couple of times of sitting there in silence. We try to steer the conversation, and it is fun. We offer everybody drinks, coffee; it’s just like hanging out.”

Not just any coffee: Bayside have a blend crafted after their latest record, Cult. An independent coffee company in Seattle called Anchorhead came to a show, gave them coffee and, after Bayside fell in love with the taste, things began to snowball. “I’ve always wanted to do it but thought it was impossible; it just seemed like the kind of thing that would be pretty hard to make. It’s not like getting a T-shirt printed. We thought we’d reach out to them and see if they’d ever consider doing a branded roast, and they loved the idea. It is its own roast – the Cult blend.”

The longevity of the band stems from their relentless work ethic. Before they signed to a label to release debut album, Sirens And Condolences, back in 2004, they’d already been touring and self-releasing EPs for five years. “I think a lot of bands, when they first sign or make their first record, they feel like they’ve arrived. They get a record deal and feel like it’s the finish line, and for us, we knew we wanted to be around for a long time; we knew we wanted a legacy.

“When we were making our first record we weren’t thinking, ‘’Wow, we’ve made it,’ we were thinking it was the first of many and all that work we did before was just warm up, like, ‘This is where everything starts, and we’re going to be talking about it ten years from now.’ I haven’t accomplished nearly everything I want to, but I’ve seen that I’m doing the things right. I’m proud of who I am, I’m proud of what I’ve done.”