It is not even past noon and yet the hot sun is already torturing the hundreds of cars parked outside of the Warped Tour gates in Denver. The seemingly endless line is just about inside which means only one thing for the Tallahassee, Florida based quintet known as Mayday Parade: about ten hours of absolutely nothing to do but wait. They already spent the last few hours walking up and down the line of kids at the entrance making new friends, and more importantly new fans. When the show finally ends later that evening the boys will once again strap on their book bags full of cds and talk to anyone and everyone they can find. "The hardest part was the waiting. Most of the time our van would be blocked in and there was nowhere to go," says guitarist Brooks Betts. "It was too hot to sleep and except for a couple of times, we couldn't even get into the show." Their patience was certainly rewarded. By the conclusion of the 2006 Vans Warped Tour Mayday Parade made 10,000 new fans without playing a single show.
The band formed in the winter of 2005 when two local Tallahassee bands, Defining Moment and Kid Named Chicago, decided to merge. The still unnamed collection of Derek Sanders, Alex Garcia, Jake Bundrick, Jeremy Lenzo, and Brooks Betts entered the studio with producer Lee Dyess and took under a week to finish their debut EP, "Tales Told by Dead Friends." While in the studio the band settled on the name Mayday Parade. As a band they would spend a lot of time climbing onto the rooftops in Tallahassee, especially when the winter parade was going on downtown. Alex, who was a fan of the word Mayday, made the suggestion that they name the band Mayday Parade in an effort to remember their time spent watching the hometown parades together from the rooftops. Everyone loved the idea and the name stuck.
It became clear that more touring was on the horizon for Mayday Parade after finishing the EP and selling over 10,000 copies while following the 2006 Vans Warped Tour. "Following Warped taught us so much about touring," says singer Derek Sanders, "and now we are traveling to places we have never even played and there are kids singing songs that we wrote. It’s a pretty great feeling." In September 2006, Mayday Parade embarked on their first full U.S. tour with Brandston and Melee, followed by a second U.S. tour with Plain White T's. This summer they will be co-headlining with Bedlight For Blue Eyes and appearing at the 2007 Vans Warped Tour; this time on stage.
Their hard work and dedication was finally rewarded in the fall of 2006 when Mayday Parade signed with California based Fearless Records. "The dream had finally come true," remembers Brooks. "It was like reaching the final step at the top of a very long set of stairs. And Fearless believed in us and admired what we had accomplished on our own."
Now at the point of selling over 20,000 copies of the EP, Mayday was ready to get back into the studio. In January and February of 2007 the band entered the studio with producers Zack Odom and Kenneth Mount (Cartel, All Time Low) and the tracks were mixed by Mark Needham (My Chemical Romance, The Academy Is). The new record, entitled "A Lesson in Romantics," showcases the bands maturity and growth. The songs are much deeper and more powerful than those on the EP but still have that irresistible catchiness that made thousands of people fall in love with the band to begin with. Look for the record on its release date July 10, 2007 and also keep an eye out for some of their songs on the new Hot Topic / MySpace sampler and Punk Goes Acoustic 2.
When meeting Mayday Parade for the first time there is one undeniable truth: the band does everything for each other. "My favorite part of being in Mayday Parade is the people I'm playing music with," says bassist Jeremy Lenzo. “The dedication is always there.” The boys are always having fun, never taking anything too seriously and this positive energy shines in their live show. One finds it nearly impossible not to smile while watching Mayday Parade perform their always flawless set.
Mayday Parade will not leave your stereo. Once the honesty of their lyrics and the power of their music enters your head, not only will it be stuck there for days, but you will find yourself making strides to keep it there intentionally.
"It was Brooks' birthday the night that we flipped our brand new trailer heading from Wisconsin to Minnesota," remembers drummer Jake Bundrick. "The girl who was driving for us almost a hit a deer and lost control. All I remember is looking out the window and seeing the trailer next to the van instead of behind it. Our cds were all over the highway...but that didn't stop us." If countless hours in the boiling sun, sleeping in the van, overnight drives, and five day camping stints on the side of the highway could not stop them, it seems pretty easy to see why the deer had no better luck.
Let Mayday Parade’s hard work and dedication ring true in an industry where so many bands expect to have everything handed to them: and do yourself the favor of catching them on the 2007 Vans Warped Tour. It’s safe to say that they have earned your attention.
From Lastfm:Why get up in the morning to work at Taco Bell when you could be traveling the continental US pushing your bands fresh new sound to people near and far? Precisely the philosophy of five guys from Tallahassee, FL. Derek, Jeremy, Alex, Brooks and Jake all decided to quit their jobs thinking outside of the bun and started to think about performing in a parade
Mayday Parade was born when two popular Tallahassee bands, Kid Named Chicago and Defining Moment, decided to merge and form one group. Both bands had been friends for a long time but they each seemed to have different kind of holdups. They pooled their resources, booted out the undedicated members and decided to take the good from each band and move forward. Armed with a dynamic lead singer Derek Sanders of Defining Moment, Mayday Parade explodes with energy and personality. Fans of both bands came together in support of the Parade and it wasn't long until thousands of other new fans got into the action. Mayday Parade knew they'd have to start at the grassroots level and began to work themselves to the top. Through their catchy tunes and fun attitude, they have hooked fans at their shows and online with an interactive MySpace selling 10,000 EPs without label support.
With the work hard, play hard, do whatever it takes to spread your music philosophy that most young bands need to have these days, the band took to the road and started winning over kids not just in Florida, but across the country. Mayday Parade was consistently in the top 30 unsigned artists on MySpace. They've consolidated over 50,000 friends and growing and have totaled over 2.4 Million plays. With labels hot on their tail, Mayday Parade decided that Fearless Records was the one for them and signed at the end of the summer 2006.
They then released their first professional record, A Lesson In Romantics in 2007. Shortly after, one of the lead singers/guitarists Jason Lancaster (he was the lead guitarist and singer of Kid Named Chicago) left the band over a songwriting dispute. He then started his own band, Go Radio. There are no hard feelings between the two bands, although Lancaster later commented, "I wish it could have gone down differently."
In 2009, the band released their second album and first without Lancaster, Anywhere But Here.
Mayday Parades live show also conveys their personality through a show that is intensely full of life. The band knows how to put on an engaging show with five energetic members there's no escaping the energy that Mayday Parade brings. Theyre all over the stage making sure the audience goes home happy and wanting more.They love to get the crowd engaged!
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From Wikipedia:Mayday Parade is a pop punk band from Tallahassee, Florida. They formed when members of Kid Named Chicago and Defining Moment converged in 2006. Their debut EP Tales Told by Dead Friends was released in 2006 and sold over 20,000 copies without support. On July 10, 2007, Mayday Parade released their debut album A Lesson in Romantics. After signing to Fearless Records in 2006, the band changed labels to Atlantic Records in 2009. Their second studio album, Anywhere but Here was released on October 6, 2009.