Hours before playing their biggest UK headline show yet, Arizona natives The Maine are holed up in their dressing room above a busy Camden high street. Touring with hometown friends The Technicolors contributes to an air of familiarity backstage as band members move freely between each others dressing rooms swapping conversation.
“We’re in tune with how we wanted to tour and how we wanted to be treated when we were starting out. We’re fans too, we’re huge fans of The Technicolors and that makes it fun. It makes it fun to go out with your friends and if you like their music it’s just a huge bonus,” explains vocalist John O’Callaghan on the current tour dynamic. “You’re cheering them on. You’re watching them and seeing people reacting and feeling just as excited as they are,” bassist Garrett Nickelsen adds.
Touring with hometown friends is a direct result of how The Maine have lived during their 10 year career as a band, consistently portraying themselves as good people and not forgetting their roots. This is particularly evident with their 8123 Collective, an endeavour that came from not wanting to be a part of the traditional music industry and as a way to be closer to their fans.
This collective was a big part of celebrating the band’s 10-year anniversary, putting on the ‘8123 Festival’ in Arizona. “When they opened the gates for it, seeing thousands of people come pouring in, that was just cool. It felt like it was finally real after imagining what it would be like for so long. We’d never played in front of that many of just ‘our’ fans before, and you can’t really beat that feeling” drummer Pat Kirch describes as one of the best moments of the entire event. It was a momentous occasion, bringing together fans, family and friends from all over the world. “We’d just casually talked about it, and had the idea for how we’d do it. I guess it just took actually just deciding to do it, to say ‘this is the date, we’re doing it'” he further muses on how the event came together.
Putting together an entire festival is no small undertaking, and The Maine were involved in every step, from booking the performers to setting up staging. Will it happen again in 2018? “We’re talking about maybe doing it every other year. It takes a long time to plan and we have so many other things going on that it puts a lot of other things on pause just to focus on it,” says Pat with a nervous laugh, illustrating just how busy the band must have been over the past year.
With all this going on, it’s astounding that The Maine managed to find time to release an album in 2017 at all. Renting out an Airbnb in Gualala, California overlooking the ocean, they made sure to record in a place with stunning scenery. “Being in a cool location helps to recharge yourself. Everyday there’s something cool to look at as opposed to being in the middle of a downtown area in a crappy studio.” Pat describes of the beautiful setting that ‘Lovely, Little, Lonely’, the bands sixth album was recorded in. “We didn’t make an ocean record though,” John is quick to add. “I don’t think a lot of it seeps in. It’s more for the vibration in the room– walking outside and being able to see it.”
In fact, the album is a cohesive slab of infectious pop rock. It makes you feel nostalgic for moments you haven’t experienced and a part of something special. There’s no cheesy references to where they recorded or self indulgent tracks showing off their history of writing together, it’s just a great record, and people are responding to that. “People are more feverish than they have been in some time, which is really neat. Even coming here, this is our biggest headliner that we’ve done over here,” reflects John on the response to their most recent album.
“People have been really receptive to the newer stuff. Not that they’re not digging older tunes, but it’s just empowering for us to know that we can put something out this far down the road and people be stoked on it,” he further ponders on how the album’s been received. This is evident when they perform later this evening, with a rabid crowd wrapped around their little finger. As well as the new songs, fans especially love the track ‘English Girls’ from their previous album, with some fans even holding up signs saying ‘we are English girls’.
“At first I was nervous to play it, but people seem to be digging it. I feel like harder than they ever have, which is weird because I feel like they might not have been as receptive at first, but they warmed up to it.”
Discussing the writing process itself, Garrett places the second single ‘Black Butterflies & Déjà Vu’ as the most difficult one to write. “We had four or five different versions of it. It had a reggae thing for a second. It had moments of what it ended up being but it took lots of forms, it definitely took the longest to get right.” Having pieced the album together on a computer before recording, the approach was very different to any of their previous albums. “It was definitely a unique experience, and not one I’m going to try to repeat,” John states with a laugh. “If the canvas is already full of colour then it’s really hard to imagine any more colour or any more shape. It’s important to still have a bunch of breathing room.”
Roughly halfway through a UK tour, one of many in their 10 year career, they are clearly still enthusiastic and grateful to be doing what they’re doing full time. “Yesterday we had a day off in Bristol which was nice, we got to see some of the city. We’ve had like four days of sun so it’s been crazy. In 10 years I don’t think we’ve ever had four days of sun in a row,” says John with a laugh, still charmed by the English weather. It’s not just the travelling which is a perk of the job, but getting to see their fan-base expand whilst still meeting familiar faces. “Somebody yesterday told Jared they saw us at Slam Dunk and were into that and wanted to check us out, but also I saw a girl yesterday who was at her 26th show and she’s from over here,” he recounts, calling it bizarre and neat in the same breath.
It’s obvious from speaking to them, watching them perform and the reaction they get, that everyone is welcome to join the 8123 family. “We’re very humbled by the whole thing. For it to be a fire that’s been re-lit not only within our dynamic but within our following too has us very hopeful,” states John, and maybe this is the fire that will ensure they make it to 20 years.