The men of The Maine—John O’Callaghan (vocals), Patrick Kirch (drums), Garrett Nickelsen (bass), Kennedy Brock (rhythm guitar) and Jared Monaco (lead guitar)—released their fourth album Forever Halloween in 2013, and a year later, they’ve released a deluxe version that includes five new songs. The album can be found online, but physical copies are only being sold on Warped Tour, which the guys haven’t performed at since 2009. With some more shows planned for the rest of the year and a hunger to release a fifth album, The Maine isn’t going away anytime soon.
Cliché: What spurred the re-release of Forever Halloween?
Jared Monaco: We had a considerable amount of extra songs left over from not only the Forever Halloween sessions but also the Pioneer ones. We wanted to bring these songs to life in our new studio at home, so we polished them up to a standard we felt was acceptable to release them.
How were the five new songs picked for the deluxe album?
It’s basically an extension of Forever Halloween, but I feel that the Pioneer songs made it fit really well also. We also added a fan favorite called “Ice Cave,” which up until this point we had only performed in a live setting.
What’s the process like preparing to re-release an album?
It’s all about timing. Forever Halloween had been out for over a year already, and these extra songs were ones I personally couldn’t wait to get out into the public. We just took our time to select which ones would not only fit the vibe of Forever Halloween, but also spent time making sure they sounded the best they possibly could.
What do you love most about Warped Tour?
It was kind of weird to step away from it for half a decade, but I think after the first day or so, we automatically fell back into the groove of waking up and working hard every day. What I love so much about Warped is the advantage it gives every band. If you work hard and pour all of your energy into the day, you can see some amazing results. We’re moving more copies of Forever Halloween than we ever could have on a normal club tour. We also have the ability to reach so many new fans. The opportunity to grow our band out here is stronger than we could have imagined.
What has changed (if anything) since you first started performing at Warped?
A lot has changed for our band. As for the tour, I really feel like it’s almost exactly as it was when we left it in ‘09. We’re constantly striving to push the limits of our own creativity, so it was fun to mold a new set of seven songs specifically for Warped Tour. We had to fit back in while doing our absolute best to stand out.
What is the favorite song to perform?
On this tour, my favorite song has been “Run.” It’s the first song in the set and probably one that the Warped Tour crowd isn’t completely familiar with yet. I like to see the reactions from people who weren’t expecting such an energetic opening to the set.
What does the rest of the year hold?
We’ve got a little over two weeks left out here on Warped, and then we’re home for a while. In October, we’ll be doing more shows in the UK and Amsterdam and then possibly a few scattered shows in the fall to round out the FH cycle. I think we’re all itching to continue writing and eventually record album number five. That could possibly happen at the end of the year. Time will tell.
Photographed by Imani Givertz
The interview with The Maine “The Maine Attraction” was originally published in the Aug/Sept issue of Cliché Magazine
