Derek Sanders - Mayday Parade 'Living For the Golden Days'

Florida five-piece Mayday Parade have built themselves quite the loyal fanbase across the world with unforgettable emotional anthems like 'Miserable At Best', 'Kids in Love' and 'Oh Well, Oh Well'. Let's not forget the OG Warped Tour throwback, 'Jamie's All Over' either. It's actually pretty nuts to see a band like Mayday Parade still sparking new inspiration in the next generation and for a band who have just released their seventh record, What It Means To Fall Apart (our review here), frontman Derek Sanders is amazed too at their ongoing impact on the scene:

"It's insane. We've been a band for 16 years at this point and it's kind of just flown by. We're super grateful to still be here, making music, playing music. It's an honour, a privilege and we're happy to do it."

What It Means To Fall Apart follows 2018's release, Sunnyland and began back in June with the summer alt/rock anthem, 'Kids of Summer'. The song picks up where the band left us and threw us huge feelings of nostalgia of the good ol' days. Even social media platform TikTok is celebrating our elder emo phase with recreating our lowkey Mayday favourites. Like many of us, they send us down a huge wormhole on the app, and even Derek has fallen victim to it himself:

"I have a little bit, I don't spend a lot of time browsing around TikTok, but I have maybe three or four times, gone through and seen what's out there and there's some really cool stuff. It's such an interesting platform, and it's kind of amazing what it has become. We've kind of dipped our toes into doing some of the TikTok stuff ourselves, and I imagine we will continue to do some more of that. Like, we don't want to be doing dances and stuff, but whatever makes sense for our band and just have fun with it."

On their seventh record, the band writes songs during a time of change that was happening all around them, and in particular their fans. But What It Means To Fall Apart is here to remind us all that it's completely normal and okay to show true vulnerability. Even during a global pandemic:

"I feel like a lot of what I write is influenced by whatever is happening in my life, and whatever I'm going through. Obviously the last two years have been pretty difficult for everybody, and I think a lot of that has certainly found its way into the songs, whether consciously or not."

Writing an album in the midst of a lockdown can sure have its challenges, and would certainly have you dreaming of better days. Nevertheless, they've still made plenty of room for tracks that will keep us holding on through the dark times. 'Golden Days' was written during a time where Sanders chose to remain hopeful for the better days that are inevitably lying ahead:

"We were well into eight months or so into the pandemic and it was such a weird thing for it to become normal. It's about going through that and the stress of that. But one of the things I love about 'Golden Days' is that I think it is kind of a happier song in general. It has kind of a hopeful outlook towards the future. I guess the idea is that there are better days ahead for all of us."

In more ways than one, the titles What It Means To Fall Apart came about rather sporadically but it's super reflective of what we, as a collective experienced during the last two years. The band are hoping that fans will hear that on the record and resonate with its content as much as they have with their older hits:

"I feel like it's something that people can relate to right now, and it just kind of felt right for the time. We had thrown around a few ideas, but I think it spurred from an interview we did and I mentioned something offhand about being in the studio when the world fell apart. After that, we just sort of brainstormed on that and came up with What It Means To Fall Apart."

Like the emotional 'Miserable At Best', no Mayday Parade record is ever complete without that heartfelt ballad, just waiting for a sing along. A track that'll resonate with many longtime listeners is the heartfelt 'Angels Die Too' and it kinda completes the album in a way:

"Thinking about friends in the past that I've lost, that we've lost, and just kind of not wanting to go through that again. That song is pretty much about seeing a friend of mine struggling, and worrying about them. It's a very powerful song."

Following What It Means To Fall Apart being released, Derek and the boys are gearing up for a heavy touring schedule in 2022. Just last month, they announced that, alongside Real Friends, they're one of the first international bands to tour Australia in 2022, and the band could not be any more excited for the overseas travelling to return:

"If we could do it sooner, I would. We have next year mapped out pretty well and with the new album, and the 11 year anniversary of our self-titled album. It's just a lot of exciting things. Australia is such a wonderful country, and it's always so much fun when we go over there. The shows have been selling incredibly fast. I think they're all going to be sold out and it's just going to be a blast."

So while most bands would prefer to celebrate a decade of an album, Mayday Parade are branching out and flourishing with the 11th anniversary of their acclaimed self-titled album. Come next April, alongside their newest material, Australian fans will have the opportunity to experience songs like 'A Shot Across the Bow' and 'I'd Rather Make Mistakes Than Nothing At All' for the first time ever as well as Derek's personal favourite 'Priceless':

"'Priceless' is one of my favourites that we used to play back when we were touring that album, and we have not played in such a long time, so that's one that I'm definitely really excited about. 'Without The Bitter The Sweet Isn't As Sweet' is one of my favourite songs of ours of all time. The self-titled is my favourite Mayday Parade album so far. So I definitely am super pumped to play the whole thing. It's going to be a great time."

Interview By Tamara May@citylightstam

Get your tickets to Mayday Parade's 2022 Australian Tour
with Real Friends & Those Who Dream here

Mayday Parade dropped What It Means To Fall Apart via Rise Records.
Stream here

Mayday Parade – What It Means To Fall Apart tracklisting:

1. Kids Of Summer
2. Golden Days
3. Think Of You
4. If My Ghosts Don’t Play, I Don’t Play
5. Sideways
6. One For The Rocks And One For The Scary
7. Bad At Love
8. Notice
9. Heaven
10. Angels Die Too
11. You Not Me
12. I Can’t Do This Anymore

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