FIUSM and the Maine talk about ‘Forever Halloween’s’ re-release

By Claudio Zelaya / Staff Writer

This past July at the Vans Warped Tour in West Palm Beach, I was able to sit down with the drummer of The Maine, Pat Kirch. The Maine hails from Tempe, Arizona and just finished its set on the Warheads stage when we sat down with its members. They released their fourth album, “Forever Halloween,” on June 4, 2013. However, they recently re-released a deluxe edition with new songs to satiate their fans’ thirst for music until the next full length album. After a whole summer with the Vans Warped Tour, The Maine will be headed out on tour in Europe in support of the re-release.

You guys are from Tempe, Arizona. What’s the biggest difference between there and Miami?

Pat: The biggest thing is that, each day, we wake up early and make a sign that says what time we’re going to play. It was the most humid day of my entire life. I was just dripping with sweat. Phoenix is really hot, but it’s not very humid. You walk off the bus and instantly sweat!

You guys are releasing a new album?

Pat: Yeah, we just did a couple weeks ago at the beginning of the tour. We put out a deluxe edition of “Forever Halloween,” our most recent record, with a bunch of extra tunes.

You guys recorded this differently than most bands using a live tape. How was that experience?

Pat: Yeah, well basically it felt like playing a concert. It was the five of us in a room just playing. It was weird! It was like, generally, we record the drums and then the guitars, the bass and then the vocals and you’re just sitting there concentrating on your individual part. It ends up sounding more of like a perfect song and there isn’t much energy to it because you’re not playing at the exact same time. It just gave a vibe to the record that we couldn’t get it if we did it how we did our old albums.

What are the main differences with the new songs that didn’t make it to the original release?

Pat: Some are just really old that we just didn’t put on other records or were songs that we’ve been playing in concerts all the time and there are some that are completely new. So, it was just a mixture of songs that we thought people would want to hear.

How was the decision making in re-releasing your album as opposed to releasing a separate EP?

Pat: The main reason we wanted to do it was being on the Warped Tour because we patched it through and sold it for five bucks. So, you get 17 songs for five bucks as opposed to asking people if they wanted to buy our new record or our new EP. We just put it all together for five bucks if someone hears us for the first time on Warped Tour and for people who already have the record it’s only five bucks for the new songs.

What has been your experience on Warped Tour this year?

Pat: We haven’t been on Warped Tour since 2009. It’s been great! We really weren’t sure what to expect because we’ve been kind of away from this for so long so we weren’t sure if the people who come to Warped Tour would remember our band or care. I’ve been blown away every day by how many people come and watch us and sing along. It couldn’t have been a better time.

What are some bands that you go out of your way to see?

Pat: Finch. They’re not on it anymore but I watched them a lot the first half. There are tons of bands that we could never tour with because the sound doesn’t work on a club tour. That’s the coolest part is hanging out with bands we can’t tour with.

What band would you like to tour with that you can’t normally tour with?

Pat: The Word Alive. They’re good buddies of ours from back home. We used to be in other bands together in high school. It’s a little weird.

For you, what song from the deluxe CD hit home the most?

Pat: It was a song called “Ice Cave.” That’s the one we’ve played in concert for four years but we never recorded it. It just became a favorite a fans and they’d like bootleg versions of it. To have it finally recorded is a cool thing for me.

What’s next for The Maine?

Pat: We’re playing a couple dates in fall and then we’re going to go out in the desert and figure out what happens. We’re just going to go out there for like two months and get lost!

Claudio.Zelaya@fiusm.com

 

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