Interview: Yellowcard

joe zorzi takes a breathe of southern air…

Most of my middle school hears revolved around pop punk music. My life was dedicated to music by bands like Sum 41, Taking Back Sunday, New Found Glory. But one that stood out was Yellowcard. I always loved their music and rocking out to tracks like “Way Away” and “Ocean Avenue” with my friends. The fact that they added a violin into their songs was something that no one else was doing with the genre, giving them a certain edge that other bands didn’t have.

Fast forward about ten years later and Yellowcard has just released their eighth full length studio album, Southern Air. Their newest offering really shows they’re still able to bust out some great music. And it’s almost impossible to get their first single “Here I Am Alive” out of my head. After all these years of jamming to Yellowcard, it’s crazy to think I had the opportunity of speaking with their violinist Sean Mackin at the Warped Tour. We went in depth on topics like living the Warped Tour life, how Sean got into playing in bands, Yellowcard’s writing process and what it’s like being in a band in this day and age.

Pop-Break: How’s the Warped Tour going?

Sean Mackin: Dude, Warped Tour is so good for Yellowcard, it’s unbelievable. And this year, I mean I know we’re forging forward into the future – you know, we’re gonna release Southern Air on August 14th. But it feels so much like the old days of Warped Tour. I mean, we’re missing like Bad Religion or Me First and the Gimme Gimmes. I think that’s really the only thing. [Kevin] Lyman has put together such a great lineup this year. Taking Back Sunday, I mean the Used was on a majority of it, we’re out with our friends All Time Low. There’s a lot of new music. There’s some reggae stuff, there’s some hip-hop stuff, he always puts in some good stuff. Lot of metal bands which are also doing really well. But we had some metal bands back in our day as well, like in the form of a juggernaut called Avenged Sevenfold. So, there’s always something for everyone.

This year it just feels really special. Especially for us, our first stint was in 2002 so this is ten years for us on the Warped Tour. And a lot of people don’t know this but when we were growing up, we were just playing shows. I mean, I didn’t know I’d be in a band, play violin, do my thing or whatever. But we just wanted to tour with our friends and be on the Warped Tour. And I mean in 2002 we got it and we got it again ten years later and we’ve done five stints total so it’s just an awesome opportunity for Yellowcard.

PB: I was going to mention, it literally seems like the lineup from ten years ago. The Used, Taking Back Sunday, like you were saying…

SM: Yeah most specifically like ‘04 really. Like, when I look around I just see so many faces, it just feels like 2004. I’m missing my friends in Story of the Year, I’m missing Me First and the Gimme Gimmes, but it’s already shaping up to be one of the best summers of my life so…

PB: That’s awesome, and how’s the crowd different from say around ‘04 and now? Have you noticed a difference in the crowds?

SM: You know, it’s still great Yellowcard crowds are singing our songs. So many familiar faces that we’ve kind of grown up with over the years coming to all our shows and everything. But we have like this new following of listeners that we kind of gained over last year. We toured with All Time Low who have become really good friends of ours and they have younger fans and a lot of those fans have followed our band as well. And you know, there’s not a lot that we can ask for in Yellowcard that we get. And having the best fans in the world, we definitely don’t have to ask for more or less of one or the… I mean there’s a nice age group you know from young to older with a lot of parents that come up to us like “Hey, I hate going to concerts but I really like going to see you guys play with my kids just ‘cause the music speaks for itself” and it’s very flattering.

PB: And you guys had your little break in ‘08. Was it hard to rebuild the momentum once you took that break or did you find it easier?

SM: When we came back musically it was comfortable. Took us a couple shows but we found that sort of cruise control button where you just ride in that pocket of “Hey I remember how to do this. I know how to sing, I know how to play my instrument.” The hard part is, I mean the music industry is still kind of like figuring out where its stride is. The economy all over the world is still very difficult and music’s still for free. So it’s really hard to have an artist to get paid. And everyone has this image of, you know “you guys were on TV, you have to have a Lamborghini and two Ferraris and the biggest house and everything.” And out of respect for a lot of musicians, it’s very hard. I mean, Yellowcard, we’ve done very well for ourselves but it’s really hard to make sure that we can pay for the things… like we’re not 22 years.

We’re 30, 33, and I have a family and I have a house. And those are things, those are luxuries that I was able to afford when I wasn’t in the band. I had a normal job and everything paid for itself and it was great. But now it’s like, we have to be very careful about the things that we do. And we can’t just throw caution in the wind and follow our dreams.

So figuring out where to be comfortable and where to artistically follow what was best for the band. That was difficult. Trying to navigate in unknown sort of economic state in the world. That’s also very difficult. But I mean, we’re not complaining. We just want to make sure… like, the last thing I want is to be out on the road and get a call from LP ‘cause he’s having troubles, or we can’t pay our rent or whatever. I mean, that’s the last thing you want to deal with, so as long as we can deal with that which we have been very fortunate, we can kind of get by, everything else has been really easy.

We put out When You’re Through Thinking, Say Yes on Hopeless Records, we went to 32 different countries, you know it was just like a blitzkrieg of ten months last year. And then Kevin Lyman’s like “Hey I want you guys on the Warped Tour next year” we’re like “Oh, we just did ten months. If we go another eight months we will have to write a record in the fall. And that’s like the busy time of the year. So we put our heads together, we came up with some songs and really it was just with the momentum and the excitement of last year with our friend Neal Avron in what will eventually become Southern Air.

PB: Creatively, the writing process and everything. Has that changed a lot over the years? Is it similar to the ways you’ve been doing it in the past?

SM: It’s very similar. I think we’re a little more efficient. We used to sit in a room and jam, which is a great way to write songs, I love doing that. However, it’s not as easy on the time-frame and we’re a little bit more spread out. So we took advantage of some of the technology that’s now available and we would demo songs and ideas, email them over, work on more ideas or arrange them and then when we got together we were more versed, we were more put together. So we used the technology to our advantage to do the same formula and use the Yellowcard template that we’ve done and write songs. So I like that idea that it’s more focused. And with Southern Air especially, we really wanted to focus on the strengths of Yellowcard. Maybe a little edgier, a little deeper here or there. But we were all pretty comfortable in our skin and I think you can hear the excitement and the comfort and maybe a little bit more polished playing ability. Neal Avron took advantage of all of that and kind of made us look good. That’s what I like about Neal.

PB: Is it hard to balance what you want to do in your heart musically and what your fans are expecting? Do you think about that when you’re recording?

SM: No, we took some risks. We wanted to do some different things on our records and I think that sort of musical growth showed us, not a boundary but like an idea of how far we can kind of go with one another. And I think whenever you get [lead singer] Ryan Key, and myself and LP [drummer Longineu Parsons III] and [guitarist] Ryan Mendez in a room and we’re writing songs you’re gonna come up with something that is going to sound like the Yellowcard sound, you know what I mean? We all have the same love for rock music and punk roots and pop and you know, heavy stuff sprinkled in here and there. But really and truly I think that that’s just our sound together. I mean, whenever we want to do something different, it’s like a total off the wall idea and then it usually kind of snowballs back into a Yellowcard-type vein.

So I mean it’s like… we don’t want to… you know, I think that we try new things and we sprinkle in ideas. But it’s just like cooking you know. You want it to be subtle. You use too much garlic, you’re definitely gonna know. So, that’s kind of what we’re doing with Yellowcard songs and you know there have been little growths here and there. But I think with this one specifically we wanted to make sure that it was the best that we had to offer and we put in some new elements, but we basically just combined all of the Yellowcard sounds and I think that’s why we’re most excited about it. It’s the first time in a long time that we have a complete album where we all were focused in the same direction.

PB: You play an instrument that’s not seen a lot in this genre at all.

SM: No…

PB: What was the point where you thought, “I’m gonna play violin in a rock band. How did that come about?”

SM: Well I mean it was really just about the friends. Like we were playing acoustic songs, you know campfire drinking beers with your buddies. Like 16, 17, 18 years old or whatever. You know, these guys kind of showed me a side of music that I wasn’t sort of aware of. And I do these violin lessons through BandHappy. They’re out here on the Warped Tour.

PB: What’s that?

SM: They’re called BandHappy. They hook fans or artists that are interested in taking lessons from a certain band or certain musicians. They hook them up with a music lesson. So I’ve been doing that as often as possible. My schedule today was just totally booked. I couldn’t make it out.

PB: So all through the tour you’re going with fans and teaching them?

SM: Yup, I’ve done easily fifteen to twenty lessons over the course of Warped Tour already. So, but what I try and pass along is these violin players, they’re like, “How do you do this? I play classical music, what’s the thing?”. And I love classical music. It sort of opened my ear and my mind and shaped me into something, but writing songs with the guys in Yellowcard made me look at music in a different way. Because when you’re growing up being taught how to play music, in a certain genre type, the ideas, you know you have to focus on technique, you have to focus on this and that. And it’s your interpretation of the song but no one actually really shows you that. You just kind of find it on your own.

And so it wasn’t until I started writing songs with Yellowcard that I was like “I love playing music”. Because it was just me, it wasn’t like “Am I doing this right or wrong?”. Good bad or indifferent, writing music just kind of your interpretation of your emotion and where you’re at in your life. And so I fell in love with music doing that. So I try and pay that forward through these lessons but it was that moment right when we were learning how to write songs, I was like “I want to do that”. So it’s not just that I got to play violin, I got to write songs you know? Numerous parts throughout our records that I’ve had a major part in writing. It’s very, very exciting. Not just performing it, but just having that idea, that concept and bouncing it off back and forth with your buddies and it comes into something.

And today we’ll have an opportunity for like ten thousand people to sing it back at us and you can’t explain that feeling.

PB: It’s gotta be the best feeling in the world.

SM: It’s pretty amazing.

PB: Warped Tour compared to other tours. Is there a big difference?

SM: I mean, every tour is good, every tour is awesome. The difference with Warped Tour is it truly is like a summer camp. This type of circus environment… and I don’t mean circus in a bad way, it’s very positive. But there’s easily a hundred tour buses, ten person in a bus. Just so many people all traveling together, you never get an opportunity to play with all these bands. Since ‘04 we have never had an opportunity, other than maybe a festival here or there in Europe, to play with the guys in Taking Back Sunday. And like, I’m huge fans of their band, they’re great musicians. But just as people they’re such sweethearts like to see them everyday.

We were so lucky to tour a lot with All Time Low last year and they’re such young, smart musicians and it’s so good to see them. So I was thinking like maybe this year we wouldn’t spend a lot of time with them ‘cause we toured a lot last year. Wrong. We’re on the Warped Tour together. We’re with all these people. So, there’s an opportunity to have some really big parties and hang out with some people that you wouldn’t normally hang out with. But it’s really just like… I mean, Warped Tour has helped me fall in love with music again. There’s numerous bands that you would never hear of ever, ever, ever unless you’re in this setting. And it’s just like, you’re totally in a musical culture and you’re hanging out, you’re having dinner with all these different, wonderful people. And it just doesn’t happen everyday. So, it’s pretty good.