Last time we caught
up with rock five-piece, The Maine, they were over in the UK with We Are The Ocean. The boys are back on
British shores with Deaf Havana and
are storming up and down the country.
We headed down to the
magnificent Clapham Grand to catch up with the band and watch them perform at
the iconic venue. Click below to read the interview and live review…
Last time we saw you, you were over here
with We Are The Ocean- are you glad to be
back?
PAT [Kirch, drums]- We’re excited to be
here again. This has been my personal favourite time; the weather’s been
awesome and the shows have been great.
GARRETT [Nickelsen, bass]- I know, I
didn’t realise you guys got good weather over here [laughing].
You spend so much time over here; is the UK
your second home?
PAT- Yeah, definitely.
GARRETT- Yeah, it’s weird going down a
street and knowing where you are; not knowing anything else but knowing the
street and “Oh, I’ve been in that Wagamamas ten times” [laughing].
Is Wagamamas your favourite food over here?
Loads of bands that come over seem to love that or Nandos
PAT- I’ll take Nandos
GARRETT- I’ll take Wagamamas,
definitely
You’re on tour with Deaf Havana- did you know those guys before?
PAT- We did four dates with them like
two years ago. We hadn’t hung out very much but it’s been great this time
around.
And most of the shows are sell-outs is it
great playing to big, packed out venues?
PAT- It’s great yeah
GARRET- And it’s weird; I feel like
it’s a lot of kids that don’t know us which is good.
Yeah, I was going to ask; being the support
band you can be playing to people who haven’t heard of you. Does that put the
pressure on, or do you enjoy that challenge?
GARRETT- I like it; we haven’t done it
for a while.
PAT- Yeah, I love it.
GARRET- We definitely embrace it.
PAT- I feel like we’re an okay enough
band [laughing].
You do have such a big following over here;
we’ve seen quite a few The Maine tattoos…
PAT- Yeah, it’s wild.
GARRETT- It’s crazy how a song can mean
more to that person than maybe even us
PAT- When we first started, we didn’t
even know you could tour outside of America
GARRETT- Yeah, so tattoos was a
different universe [laughing].
You have great interaction with the fans
and are always hosting online Q&As- do you think that’s important?
PAT- I feel like that’s one of the only
reasons that we can still do this; we’ve done it since the beginning and I feel
like it’s made us who we are. I think it’s awesome.
And you’ve played at Hit The Deck Festival
whilst you’ve been over and you are regulars on the Warped tour circuit; what’s
your favourite festival?
PAT- I love Soundwave in Australia; the
venues are awesome and it’s beautiful over there.
GARRETT- Yeah, it’s like heaven, it’s
pretty crazy.
You’ve released an acoustic EP, ‘Imaginary
Numbers’ which shows a different side to the band…
PAT- Yeah, it’s great not to have any
pressure to make a certain sound; you don’t have to be concerned about having
an up tempo song or a loud rock song.
You guys have switched your sound up quite
a bit and have been sure not to be pigeon holed into one genre
GARRETT- Yeah, definitely, we want to
be open to lots of sounds.
And you’re releasing a DVD of the acoustic
tour you did in the States
PAT- Yeah, it’s the one from our
hometown show which was awesome.
GARRETT- We only played like twelve
shows, so we thought it would be cool to release something so people could see
it and see a different side to the band.
You guys always have so many different
things going on; are there any other projects you really want to get involved
in?
PAT- We’ve been doing a lot [laughing]
as a band and individual projects. We just recorded our buddy Nick Santino who
was in A Rocket To The Moon; we
recorded his new record. That was something I’ve always wanted to do, to record
something that I haven’t been involved in. It was cool and we’re always on the
move and having new ideas.
So what else have you got coming up?
PAT- We go to Brazil after here and
we’re going to put out some new old songs; just some songs that haven’t made it
on the past couple of records. Then the acoustic DVD and then we’re going to be
on the road a lot. We are also planning another trip over to the UK too.
GARRETT- If people want us back
[laughing].
The Maine just can’t keep away from the
UK and take to the epic Clapham Grand supporting British rockers, Deaf Havana. The five piece take to the
stage in a modest fashion, but their performance is far from understated. ‘Run’
soars out into the iconic venue and the crowd, bursting at the seams, is
ecstatic. The band admitted that they’re playing to many people who have never
heard them, but the audience here tonight is immediately receptive. The Maine is a perfect example of a band
that haven’t been afraid to evolve their sound, push boundaries and forever
find ways to redefine what their music is. Yet at the heart of it all, and
indeed their live performance, is passion. They get lost in the music but the
passion is engulfing and, as they blast through infectious hits such as ‘Right
Girl’ and ‘Misery’, you can’t help but be pulled in. Now having adapted to a
new vintage sound, The Maine is
effortless; front man John O’Callaghan bounds around the stage whilst bassist
Garrett Nickelsen is a ball of energy.
As well as
huge hits, the band also throw in a couple of older tracks and fan favourites.
Rounding the set off with ‘Like We Did (Windows Down)’ The Maine send off their part of the night in style. Upbeat pop
choruses and blended with huge riffs and rock hooks; the audience is left
wanting more. The Maine can’t keep away from the UK and the UK can’t get enough
of them. 8/10
An Acoustic Evening With The Maine - the live concert and documentary is available now at:
www.81twentythree.com
www.81twentythree.com
