{"id":28885,"date":"2015-11-26T22:12:17","date_gmt":"2015-11-26T11:12:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/maytherockbewithyou.com\/mtrbwy\/?p=28885"},"modified":"2016-03-05T12:36:16","modified_gmt":"2016-03-05T01:36:16","slug":"john-o%e2%80%99callaghan-of-the-maine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/maytherockbewithyou.com\/mtrbwy\/2015\/11\/john-o%e2%80%99callaghan-of-the-maine\/","title":{"rendered":"John O\u2019Callaghan of The Maine"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\n<\/a>\u201cI think that our love for music has just substantially grown, exponentially it\u2019s grown and at this point it\u2019s really, really special that people are still allowing us the opportunity to make records and giving us the chance to see where it goes and I think that\u2019s something that we certainly don\u2019t take for granted.\u201d<\/p>\n

From Release: THE MAINE, Arizona’s alternative pop punk darlings are not afraid to redefine their sound and continue to push the boundaries delivering unique music and push their sound to new dimensions. They return to Australia this November and December for their first headlining tour. Earlier this year, they released their highly anticipated follow up to 2014\u2019s Forever Halloween, with their fifth studio record titled American Candy. The album debuted in the Top 40 on Billboard, and #3 Independent Albums.<\/p>\n

In my first ever Skype video chat, front man John called in to fill us in on the upcoming Australian tour from The Maine, their newest album, evolution within the band, and much more\u2026<\/p>\n

You’re heading back to Australia but this time for your first headlining shows, in being here a few times before what can fans expect this time around at a headline show?<\/strong>
\nYou know what\u2019s great well first and foremost the opportunity to play in a headlining kind of instance, I think that when you\u2019re on a support tour you have to condense the set and you have to keep things brief but exciting the whole time and I don\u2019t think that you get as much of a liberty to kind of play maybe something that appeases your interest and the people coming to the show. So just knowing that the folks are buying tickets just to go see us it just excites us that we\u2019re gonna be able to play a substantially longer set first and foremost and a heavy balance of old and new because not ever headlining over there it\u2019s now the opportunity to make up for lost time and to hopefully satisfy the people that are paying for the show. We\u2019re just excited to get out there and to be doing it for the first time is really sweet.<\/p>\n

Do you have a favourite memory of a previous your down here you can share with us?<\/strong>
\nOh man, I think just the obviously the first time visiting I think it can be overwhelming but in a place like Australia it has a similar coastal feeling to that of maybe California or something like that, to then kind of submerge yourself in the culture and just try to pick up on the cuisine or the night life or the slang or what have you, I think that experience is something we\u2019ll never forget. We had the pleasure of doing Soundwave a couple of years back and I just remember that being kind of overwhelming because there were bands that we really look up to that we were playing next to and I think Third Eye Blind were on the year we were on so it was really special for us because I got to go see them in a really small club, like a three hundred cap club on one of the off nights. It\u2019s just a beautiful place and we\u2019re super hyped to be revisiting.<\/p>\n

I saw you here on your last run with Anberlin, you guys have so much energy on stage, what is it about the live show that you thrive on?<\/strong>
\nYou know I think it gives us the opportunity to realise our tunes may be a little bit beyond what we even did in the studio, kind of maybe bring about some new or nuances to the tunes, maybe reimagine some of the tunes. I think after touring after almost nine years now we view it as an opportunity to get better and to try and broaden our musical horizons as a dynamic, as a band, so it\u2019s really an opportunity that we try to make the most of because we don\u2019t get to do it that often. I mean we do for all intents but I think what\u2019s really important is that we try to put on and exude the same amount of energy regardless of where we\u2019re playing, I think we have to be very cognisant in knowing that somebody in Australia obviously hasn\u2019t seen our headlining set before so we can\u2019t fall into the monotony of saying routine things or kind of falling into the routine ok let\u2019s run through the motions of things, we feel like it\u2019s an obligation to deliver the same energy every night and try to really leave it all out there I guess.<\/p>\n

You’re of course heading back in support of your newest album ‘American Candy’, which is a great album by the way, in the two years since ‘Forever Halloween’ what helped shape the songs that became ‘American Candy’?<\/strong>
\nI think just the passing of time obviously, every time you\u2019re allowed to see another day I think that\u2019s just a chance to correct maybe a mistake you made in the past. I think for us as a band it allotted us the opportunity to maybe where we felt like we faltered and to really expand on where we felt we did well from \u2018Forever Halloween\u2019. I think the mindset going into \u2018American Candy\u2019 was just creating some sort of record that sonically felt more optimistic than \u2018Forever Halloween\u2019 we didn\u2019t really want to promote messages of despair and helplessness and I think that was a really huge topic of emphasis on this album. Other than that just again being 26 at the time and making the music that felt right in the moment and I think that\u2019s really important.<\/p>\n

In the just under nine years you’ve been a band, what for you has been the most notable evolution you’ve seen take place within The Maine?<\/strong>
\nI really feel like it\u2019s just been our passion for music I suppose, I know that sounds weird and I don\u2019t mean we weren\u2019t passionate about music from the get go but I think that our focus is much more concentrated at this point, I think that our love for music has just substantially grown, exponentially it\u2019s grown and at this point it\u2019s really, really special that people are still allowing us the opportunity to make records and giving us the chance to see where it goes and I think that\u2019s something that we certainly don\u2019t take for granted.<\/p>\n

So let\u2019s check the opposite of that. What for you has been the most constant thing that has been maintained in your time together?<\/strong>
\nI think it\u2019s just the camaraderie I think we try to surround ourselves with like-minded people and I think that just keeps you grounded. I feel like there have been so many opportunities for us to develop egos or stray from what the point of what we\u2019re all doing is and I think at first I guess the point of what we\u2019re doing is supposed to be just making music and feeling good about the things we\u2019re doing and being true and creating earnest material. Authenticity has definitely been at the backbone of this thing even at the very beginning, so I think that surrounding ourselves with great support systems and being there for others along the way has been kind of the constant that has held it all together.<\/p>\n

I was introduced to you back in 2008 on a trip to the States, and have been a fan since, looking back, what are some of your best memories of releasing ‘Can’t Stop Won’t Stop’?<\/strong>
\nYou know that I think it was all happening so quickly, especially for me, this is the first band I\u2019ve ever been in so I think that it was all happening at once so rapidly that it\u2019s kind of hard in retrospect to I guess understand it all, but I just remember, I vividly remember even before the record came out, some of my fondest memories are those of the real struggle of it all, being in a Suburban and touring the country and playing shows that we set up ourselves and playing for nobody and being in rooms where nobody cared. I have some of my most fond memories from those early days because that\u2019s when things were most pure and most innocent I guess like there was just the notion that we\u2019re just doing this because it\u2019s summer and we don\u2019t have school and this is like fucking incredible you know\u2026 It\u2019s really cool because I feel like we\u2019re reverting to that now and that kind of spark is coming back within and we\u2019re breathing that back into what we\u2019re doing and it feels really, really great so I\u2019m excited.<\/p>\n

Lastly let’s look ahead to the future, so finish this sentence for me. In 2016, The Maine will…<\/strong>
\nBe on the road *laughs* it\u2019s usually our mantra and I guess I\u2019m not really a fortune teller and I can\u2019t really predict the future but we have enough tours planned out to where I kind of can *laughs* and I know we\u2019re gonna be on the road, so I kind of cheated on that one\u2026<\/p>\n

So before we go, I do have a request, any chance you can play \u2018You Left Me\u2019 from the debut album in Sydney, it would be much appreciated but I\u2019m not sure if you do it or not\u2026<\/strong>
\n*laughs* We\u00a0 could maybe do that\u2026 we actually kind of reinvented that one for a n acoustic run that we did. Actually that song is if you asked probably all of us, that might be up there for one of the ones that we like the least but the version that we played I actually kind of dig. So I\u2019ll throw it in the hat, we start rehearsal on Thursday so I\u2019ll make sure I throw it in there\u2026<\/p>\n

If only for Sydney, I don\u2019t care about the other shows *laughs*<\/strong>
\n*laughs* OK, cool *laughs*<\/p>\n

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DESTROY ALL LINES AND CHUGG ENTERTAINMENT PRESENT LIVE IN AUSTRALIA <\/strong><\/p>\n

THE MAINE PLUS SPECIAL GUESTS WITH CONFIDENCE<\/p>\n

MONDAY 30 NOVEMBER<\/strong> – THE BRIGHTSIDE, BRISBANE (18+)<\/p>\n

TUESDAY 1 DECEMBER<\/strong> – THE FACTORY THEATRE, SYDNEY (LICENSED ALL AGES)<\/p>\n

WEDNESDAY 2 DECEMBER<\/strong> – THE CORNER HOTEL, MELBOURNE (18+)<\/p>\n

TICKETS ON SALE NOW<\/p>\n

Tickets from www.tickets.destroyalllines.com<\/a><\/p>\n

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Essential Information<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

From:<\/strong>\u00a0Tempe, Arizona, USA<\/p>\n

Band members:<\/strong>\u00a0John O’Callaghan \u2013 Vocals, Garrett Nickelsen \u2013 Bass, Pat Kirch \u2013 Drums, Kennedy Brock – Guitar, Vocals, Jared Monaco – Guitar<\/p>\n

Website:<\/strong>\u00a0http:\/\/www.wearethemaine.net<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Latest release:<\/strong>\u00a0American Candy (Out Now)<\/p>\n

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