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The Maine is a five member group formed in 2007 in Tempe, Arizona. While they have only been involved in the music scene for two years they have already toured with some big name bands such as Boys Like Girls, Good Charlotte, The Academy is…, 3OH!3 and Paramore. They have released one studio album as well as 3 EP’s including a Christmas one.
On their July 11th Vans Warped Tour date in Montreal drummer Pat Kirsch and guitarist Kennedy Brock joined me in the small media tent to discuss. Kennedy showed up barefoot which was very smart because several times during the interview we had to stop and help dump tons of rain water off the roof of the tent. Despite the horrible downpour the guys of The Maine joked around and left me with an amazing first impression of the band.
KENNEDY: Do you speak French?
CONFRONT: I do!
KENNEDY: Salut! Ca va? That’s all I know.
CONFRONT: Oui! Toi?
KENNEDY: Oui!
CONFRONT: Have you been working on your French skills since you arrived in Montreal?
KENNEDY: *laughs* Yes!
CONFRONT: Is this your first time on Warped Tour?
KENNEDY: It’s not our first time but this is our first whole tour. We did ten days last year and now we’re on the full thing.
CONFRONT: What’s the experience been like so far?
KENNEDY: It’s just been crazy! Today is very insane because it’s the first real day of rain so far on the tour.
CONFRONT: Really?
KENNEDY: Yeah the weathers been great for the other shows! It’s been awesome because there have been so many kids coming out and everything has just been perfect. I seriously could not have asked for it to be better.
CONFRONT: Have you had a favorite stop so far?
KENNEDY: Favorite stop? What’s your favorite been Pat?
PAT: Toronto yesterday was pretty awesome.
CONFRONT: Is there a reason Toronto stood out for you guys?
PAT: It’s just cool to be in a different country and still have so many kids come out to see us play.
CONFRONT: How has the fan reaction been so far?
PAT: It’s been awesome!
KENNEDY: Yeah! It’s been really good.
CONFRONT: Warped Tour attracts thousands of people every single day. What do you guys do to draw in new fans?
PAT: In the mornings we walk around with signs promoting our band and our CD and stuff. We try to interact with as many fans as possible and spread the word. We like to be where the fans are.
KENNEDY: We really try to make it a bit more personable you know? The fans are the reason we’re here and we really like going out and talking to everyone. We make it a point that either before or after our set we’re at our tent hanging out and meeting new people.
CONFRONT: Is there one thing you guys had to bring on tour with you?
KENNEDY: There’s one thing I did not bring that I now really want and that’s a bike.
CONFRONT: Really? Why’s that?
KENNEDY: Everything is so far away! It would be a lot easier.
CONFRONT: You don’t get one of those golf carts that brings you guys places?
KENNEDY: *laughs* No! I wish.
CONFRONT: What do you to stay entertained on the road?
PAT: On Warped Tour there really isn’t much down time. We’re always busy doing something. We just all hang out together a lot and discover new bands.
CONFRONT: Who are some that you’ve discovered so far?
PAT: There’s this band from Arizona called This Century that we all really like.
CONFRONT: Were there any bands that you guys knew about before joining the tour that you were excited to see?
PAT: Lights!
KENNEDY: Yeah Lights. We’ve actually toured with a good amount of bands that are on the tour now like Hit the Lights, A Rocket to the Moon and 3Oh!3 so it’s really cool to get the chance to just hang out with them every day.
CONFRONT: So you’ve had the chance to share the stage with a bunch of bands that you know on this tour?
KENNEDY: Yeah! We get to hang out with a bunch of our best friends on this combined tour. It’s just so cool.
CONFRONT: You’re releasing a deluxe version of your album “Can’t Stop, Won’t Stop”…
KENNEDY: Yes we are! It comes out on Tuesday
CONFRONT: How does it differ from your first release of that same album back in 2008?
KENNEDY: Basically it includes some bonus tracks and a 30 minute documentary called “In Person” which features the story of the first day we started the band.
CONFRONT: Since we’ve never interviewed you guys before can you just give me a brief history of how the band was formed?
PAT: Sure! Well me & Garrett, our bass player, played in a band together for awhile and then we needed a singer so John came over to my house and played a cover song for us and he played it and we loved it and he joined the band. Then our guitarist quit so we got Kennedy and our other guitarist left so we got Jared and that was it and then we started to go on tour.
CONFRONT: How many years have you been together?
KENNEDY: Two years.
CONFRONT: Do you guys have a favorite song to cover or one you’d like to cover?
KENNEDY: We actually just started covering Def Leppards “Pour some sugar on me” and we’ve been having a lot of fun with that. I think we’ve got it down and now we’re having fun with it.
CONFRONT: So in your two year careers you’ve had the opportunity to tour with so many bands. What would your dream lineup be? Who would you love to tour with?
PAT: Dream lineup? Us, Third Eye Blind, The Starting Line and Britney Spears!
CONFRONT: Oh I wasn’t expecting that!
*Everyone laughs*
PAT: Yeah well…*laughs*
CONFRONT: The magazine has five questions that they ask every band. So what was the first and last album you guys bought?
KENNEDY: The first album I bought was Third Eye Blind’s “Blue”
CONFRONT: I think you’re the third person I’ve spoken with today who’ve mentioned Third Eye Blind as their first album.
KENNEDY: Really! They’re awesome. The last album I bought was This Century’s EP!
*We take a break from the interview to dump water off the roof of the media tent so that it doesn’t collapse on us*
KENNEDY: It’s so rainy!!
CONFRONT: You haven’t seen weather like this yet?
KENNEDY: No! Not at all! It’s been so sunny and hot. We’re from Arizona so we’re not used to seeing this *laughs*
CONFRONT: Have you ever been to Montreal?
PAT: Yeah! We played last summer with Boys Like Girls and Good Charlotte.
*It starts to downpour again and Kennedy, whose back was to the rain, turns and shows us his drenched shirt*
KENNEDY: This is crazy! Oh and someone dropped an umbrella!
*Kennedy bends down to pick it up*
CONFRONT: Oh that’s mine! Don’t worry about it. It’s not going to get any wetter at this point.
*We stop to dump the water again*
CONFRONT: Alright! Ready?
KENNEDY: Yup! Let’s do this. This rain doesn’t scare me.
CONFRONT: Finish the sentence: I would never….
PAT: Eat chocolate. I hate chocolate.
KENNEDY: I would never eat the same piece of chocolate that he ate after he ate it.
CONFRONT: I have never…
KENNEDY: I have never done a front flip standing on the ground!
PAT: I’ve never seen this much rain ever in my entire life.
CONFRONT: Do you guys have any preshow rituals?
KENNEDY: We do this thing that we call “partying”. We get in a circle and we changed it up tour from tour but we all chant “We like to party”.
CONFRONT: Good way to get yourselves pumped up before a show!
KENNEDY: Oh yeah definitely!
CONFRONT: What are your plans once Warped Tour wraps up?
PAT: We’re going on tour this fall.
CONFRONT: With who?
PAT: We can’t say yet!
CONFRONT: Oh so people are just going to have to keep checking your myspace…
KENNEDY: Exactly!
PAT: But we will be on tour!
CONFRONT: Finally, what do you guys want your legacy to be as a band or as an individual?
KENNEDY: I hope that we consistently toured. Hopefully we’ll have a positive influence on our fans and they’ll remember us in the best way possible!
CONFRONT: Thanks so much guys!
KENNEDY: Thank you!
PAT: Thanks!
CONFRONT: Good luck getting back to your bus.
KENNEDY: Oh I’m running back! *laughs*
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