2015 is by no means over for any of us but if we were to take a look back at this time last year, The Maine are a band that have come incredibly far and once again have a lot to be proud of. 2015 has seen the release of their album American Candy, the incredible Free For All tour and the announcement of their December 8123 Holiday shows with The Technicolors. Those are just a small bunch of a big bunch of achievements. The Free For All tour was an entire tour that gave their fans free entry to all shows which is not something you see every day, so how exactly did The Maine pull this off? Amongst the chaos, The Indiependent were lucky enough to speak to Garrett Nickelsen and find out his favourite American Candy track to play live and what surprises we can expect from their upcoming UK tour with Mayday Parade.
THE INDIEPENDENT: As a band, you all blacked out through the whole of December until early 2015. Was it difficult staying away from social media and were you ever tempted to tweet your progress?
G: Yeah our last show for Forever Halloween was on Halloween and right after that show ended we stopped all the social media stuff for a few months. We just wanted people to have a little break from our band for a few months. We have been so heavily on the internet since the very beginning of the band it felt like a good time to step away from it. Maybe have some people even miss us a little haha. But to answer your question, it was not hard at all. It was actually pretty great. Really let us only focus on making an album. I think Jared had a few tweets he was saving because they were funny but other than that no one was itching to “tweet” or anything.
THE INDIEPENDENT: How did the December blackout help with the recording process of American Candy and would you consider doing it again?
G: You know, it wasn’t some huge change or anything. I’d like to think we aren’t the type of people just sitting around on our phones all day. It did let us only think of the music which was nice but when we are writing we are pretty much only focused on that anyway. I think it was more of a way to get out of our fans faces for a little while.
THE INDIEPENDENT: You’ve just finished a bunch of free shows, was the atmosphere different at the Free For All tour as opposed to regular shows?
G: Yeah it was different. It kinda felt more like a festival vibe. Not everyone knowing who you are. One of our fans dragged their friend along who wouldn’t normally spend the money on seeing us. Or maybe someone just happened to walk by in the mall we were playing. It was tons of fun ‘cause it felt like you had to fight a little harder for the crowd to all be on board but it was nice. A little work makes everything more fun.
THE INDIEPENDENT: What’s the most valuable thing you have taken or has come from the Free For All tour?
G: Before the tour started we really weren’t sure if we could pull it off. As far as I know no other band has really done anything like that before so there were many things we had to figure out just to make the shows happen. Things people normally don’t have to think about. Like getting a PA, lights, security, the stage, etc. but all of that for each show. On top of that we had to book each show ourselves. That’s why each date was something different. Sometimes a mall, next day a venue, day after that a parking lot. It was insane! The thing I think we all learned, and it might sound lame but it’s true… with some hard work, a little help from friends, and good ideas, anything can get done.
THE INDIEPENDENT: Next year you’re touring here in the UK with Mayday Parade and we’re all so excited at The Indiependent! We simply want to know how will this be different from your last UK tour?
G: Well we haven’t played American Candy over in the UK yet so that is a big difference! People seem to be digging the album over there so I can’t wait to feel that energy. We always love playing with the Mayday Parade dudes so I wouldn’t be surprised if we end up jamming together on some song! I think mostly it will be just adding some new tunes to the set.
THE INDIEPENDENT: What’s your favourite American Candy track to play live?
G: It changes kind of a lot but as of right now a song called ‘Am I Pretty’? It has a nice groove to it and people seem to like it whenever we play it. Not sure if we will do that one in the UK but we will see!
THE INDIEPENDENT: What song of yours would you say goes down best with the crowds?
G: Totally depends on the tour. ‘Right Girl’ has always gone over well. Once we started playing ‘English Girls’ people really seem to have a great time in that. There must a trend here… Put “girl” in the title and people like jumping around to it!
THE INDIEPENDENT: And lastly, congrats on the Australian headliner! As 2015 will soon be coming to a close, could you sum up this year for The Maine in three words?
G: Still Having Fun.
Check out The Maine’s album American Candy and make sure to see them at one of their upcoming shows.
Interview conducted by Zara Rowden
Words by Zara Rowden
@zaraannecharlie