The alternative rock band will be returning to Singapore on 23 June
Photos: The Maine
By staying true to their alternative rock roots, The Maine has managed to garner a huge base of loyal fans from all over the world.
Originally formed thanks to a drunk call, they eventually became one of the biggest alternative bands in Arizona.
The members were all initially involved in the music scene individually, but it was when vocalist John O’Callaghan called Pat Kirch at 2am, drunk out of his mind, that the band came into existence.
John and Pat recorded a demo the very next day and eventually recruited lead guitarist Jared Monaco, rhythm guitarist Kennedy Brock bassist Garrett Nickelsen to form who we now know as The Maine.
This year marks a decade for the band and their sixth studio album, Lovely, Little Lonely.
Despite having been to Singapore just last year, The Maine will be returning for another show on the 23 Jun — to the delight of their local fans.
We speak to drummer Pat Kirch to find out what they’ve been up to on their latest tour.
What have you been up to lately?
We have been on tour straight for the past two months since the album came out. Not much time for anything else right now, it’s been pretty constant, which is a good thing. It feels good to go out and play our new songs!
Congrats on making it to your 10 year anniversary together as a band! How does it feel to make this milestone together?
Thank you! It’s pretty surreal honestly — when we started I never thought we would make so many albums because no bands I listened to in high school made it that long. Even though it’s been 10 years, things feel just as fresh as ever and we feel like we have a lot we want to do musically.
Is there a secret as to why you guys have stayed together for so long?
We only do things we want to. I think bands break up when they are not having fun and it really is that simple.
We do the things that we have fun doing and don’t do anything else. We tour when and how we want, and we make the records we want to make how we want to. I don’t think much else goes into us being together so long internally. Outside of that, we have an amazing family of people that listen to our music and are up for going on this wild ride with us!
How has the music industry changed ever since you guys started playing music?
The music industry is always evolving and changing every day but for us. I don’t know how much has changed because I don’t feel like we are in the music industry. We are in The Maine industry I guess. We try to not pay too much attention to what else is happening and just think about treating our fans the best we can. If we were listening to what other people were wanting us to do our fans would be charged a lot of money to take a picture with us and that will never happen.
We heard you describe your latest album as ‘the most important yet’. Tell us more about the significance of Lovely, Little, Lonely.
Lovely, Little, Lonely is the culmination of everything we have done so far as a band. We found the balance of trying to do something ambitious for us and have the pop songs we love to write. We really wanted to make a record that flowed from song 1 till the end and felt like one single thought. I think we were able to do that for the first time and the album has a mood to it that is different than any other album of ours.
If you guys had to choose one song from the album to be the highlight?
I think Black Butterflies and Déjà Vu pretty well sums up the different moods of the album really well and goes in a brand new direction for us!
Tell us more about the touring life. Is it as glamorous as it seems?
We get to visit so many amazing places and do things we would never do if we didn’t play music. That being said, it is hard work and not all that glamorous at all, but we have a blast and wouldn’t want to do anything else.
What’s the best thing to happen on your current tour so far?
Nothing too crazy besides the shows themselves but we have been having tons of fun along the way. We were just in Australia the other day and rode bikes along the coast for a few hours. Can’t complain!
For 2017, what do you guys hope to achieve personally and musically?
We want to play the new songs for as many people as possible so we are going to keep touring for as long as possible.
Finally, do you have any last words for your Singapore fans?
The last show we played in Singapore was one of our favorite shows of all time and we talk about it within ourselves still. Let’s make this one even wilder. See you all very soon!
The Maine will be performing in Singapore on 23 Jun
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