The Maine

The Maine are just about to release their fourth album 'Forever Halloween,' recorded live to tape with Brendan Benson behind the control board. Killyourstereo.com had a chat to the band about the new material and their plans for the rest of the year.

What can you tell us about the forthcoming album ‘Forever Halloween’?

It is a record we recorded back in February of 2013 with producer Brendan Benson. It has 12 rock n roll tunes on it. We recorded everything live to tape, which was a huge change for us. It is more of a raw sound then our last records but also has a lot more emotion in it.

Now that it is finished would you say it is what you expected? What were your plans for this album?

I'm not really sure what we were expecting this time around, but we couldn't be more happy with the finished product. The biggest goal was just to make a album that both us and Brendan were really excited about. I think we accomplished that goal. 

This record seemed to come quite quickly considering when the last one was released, what inspired this creative flow of music so rapidly?

We are a band that really loves writing new music and being in the studio. People keep saying it seemed like a quick turn around from the last record but the creative juices never stop flowing and when they do maybe thats when we will have a longer gap between records. If the ideas are there we want to put them out to world as quickly as possible. At this point in our bands career it has just seemed the most natural.

Considering this is your fourth record, has anything changed in both the writing and recording process? If so, was it a conscious change or do you prefer to stick to the formula that works?

A lot has changed since our first couple albums, but since 'Pioneer' not a whole lot has changed. We just set up in a room together and try to put the perfect mood to the ideas from John's brain. Music is all I think about these days. When I'm jamming my favorite records I'm picking apart songs trying to figure why I love a certain song so much. Then when we get in a room together I try and help by using some of these tricks I've learned by listening. On previous records that wasn't so much the case. 

What made you pick ‘Happy’ and ‘Love And Drugs’ as the record’s lead singles over some of the other songs?

Those two songs seemed to be songs we thought our fans would really enjoy while at the same time showing growth. Happy is kind of a new vibe compared to some of our older stuff but still fits well with what we were doing of previous records. I feel like Love and Drugs is a lot like what we were trying to do on our last record but this time we totally nailed it.

Are you planning to tour Australia any time soon as a headline act?

Yes, we are in the talks right now actually! Nothing 100% confirmed so I don't want to say too much but hopefully this fall.

Can fans expect anything different in respect to the live show as you tour this new album?

We are always trying to put on a fun show with both new and old songs and I don't think that will change anytime soon. Well, unless this records does real well maybe we will play a few more new than old but time will tell. (laughs).

What is the actual state of rock n’ roll in your opinion, did Fall Out Boy need to save it or is it doing ok?

I wish I knew. Rock and roll is still around but it is for sure in a weird funk. There are definitely great rock bands out right now just the numbers are dropping pretty quickly. I think rock n roll is just part of human DNA now. It will always be here but there will be moments of ups and downs. There will always be kids in garage bands playing some form of rock n roll until the earth ends. 

You recently covered Cyndi Lauper’s ‘Girls Just Wanna Have Fun’ with Adam Lazarra, it was easily the best cover on the compilation, how did that come about and what made you re-work it in that way?

Fearless records asked if we wanted to be part of the Punk Goes Pop compilation and we always love reworking songs so it was an easy yes. We wanted to take a huge pop hit and make it a completely  different vibe, a dark/ sad vibe. Once we knew what song we were doing it came together really quick. We had a lot of fun messing around with it.

What does the rest of the year and 2014 hold for The Maine?

TOUR TOUR TOUR!!!