Mayday Parade play Memphis, love Beale Street

Photos by Mark Schreck

 It’s been nearly a decade since Mayday Parade released their debut full-length album “A Lesson In Romantics,” but members of the Floridian alt-rock outfit say that romance is only one of many subjects they’ve had to study over the years.

The group toured through Memphis with The Maine on March 11 at the New Daisy Theatre on Beale Street in support of their fifth installment “Black Lines,” which debuted at No. 1 on Billboard's rock albums chart and No. 1 on the alternative albums chart in October 2015.

Bassist and co-songwriter Jeremy Lenzo said he has fond memories of Beale Street from playing at The New Daisy in the past.

“We always go down and walk around the street at night,” Lenzo said. “There’s tons of bars there so we go hoppin’ around at different bars. There’s a nice barbecue place up the road. We all liked listening to jam bands, so if there’s a good band playing we’ll pop in and watch whatever band is playing.”

However, Lenzo said this doesn’t mean fans should get their hopes up for a blues album from the pop-punk quintet just yet.  

“It’d be fun to do that,” Lenzo said. “I don’t think we’d be able get away with it, but it’d be fun to try and write one.” 
Though Parade doesn’t literally play “the blues,” the band has definitely earned a reputation for writing songs about sad subjects.

“We have learned from our mistakes,” Lenzo said. “It’s human nature. We definitely have always written about romantic type stuff,  the loss of romance, but that’s because it’s a universal thing. Everyone has been in love or felt betrayed so it just comes natural.”

One of about 850 people who saw Mayday perform at the New Daisy, 19-year-old Ashley Stafford, said that the group has been her favorite band since high school and that almost every song speaks to her on an emotional level.

“I went through a bad relationship and it definitely left some scars,” Stafford said.

Her current boyfriend, Birmingham resident Kyle Cavender, was also in attendance. “He’s here to see me happy.”   

Cavender, also 19, said that he’s more so a fan of EDM but didn’t mind accompanying Stafford to see pop-punkers Mayday Parade perform.

“I like Mayday Parade,” Cavender said. “I like that it helped her.”

Alli Carlile, a 21-year-old University of Memphis psychology student, said seeing Mayday Parade perform was her “middle school dream.”

“I was kind of a ‘scenie-weenie’ or whatever,” Carlile said. That’s what my husband calls it- an ‘emo’ type kid where I liked to listen to the music and wear the skinny jeans and all that. It just kind of fit my image in middle school.”  

However, Carlile was at The New Daisy mostly to witness The Maine’s performance.

“I feel like Mayday Parade kind of drifted from what they were,” Carlile said. “But I feel like The Maine has been the same since they started.”

Lenzo admitted that on Black Lines the band attempted to write about relationships in a less “upfront” or “noticeable” way.

“We’ve definitely been on a big 90’s rock kick,” Lenzo said. “I think we tried to add a little bit of a 90’s rock vibe on our last record. We might do it again. Who knows what’s going to be on our mind when we’re writing the next record.”

The bassist said that even recently, during the two and a half week period between Mayday Parade’s European tour and the start of the American tour, he was working on new material in his his home studio and recording one new demo every day.   

“I would just sit down in the morning and whatever I came up with I would just record it and just make an idea out of it,” Lenzo said. “Verse, pre-chorus, chorus, outro - just kinda come up with a rough idea. I’m always trying to keep the brain fresh. I think the more you write, whether it’s writing for your band or not, the better writer you’ll become.”

Lenzo said that although most fans assume new Mayday Parade songs are written about romantic relationships, often times they are surprised to learn that other topics inspire the group as well.

“Most of the heartbreak stuff doesn’t necessarily have to be heartbreak about a girl,” Lenzo said. “It could be heartbreak with just relationships in general- friends or family that you fall away from. A lot of the songs are definitely about relationships with a significant other, but there are some we have that are just about when you lose a friend through fighting.”

Friends the band are certainly not fighting with are their tour-mates, The Maine.

“I feel like we’re a very down to earth band,” Lenzo said. “Very rarely do we meet other bands that we feel as comfortable around as we do The Maine. They just feel like if we had a brother-band The Maine would be our brothers.”

As Parade pushes almost 10 years since the release of their first full-length album, Lenzo said the band doesn’t get nearly as nervous as they used to before a performance.

“We still try to rock out even though we’re getting older,” Lenzo said. “We still try to do guitar swings and run around and just have a good time. I feel like it just comes naturally now. I don’t have to try and do a move or do something with the audience. I just feel comfortable on stage and it portrays itself through being on stage.”

About Jeremy Lenzo of Mayday Parade

Instrument: Bass, currently learning Banjo

Favorite music to listen to on the road: Bluegrass & 90’s hip-hop

Favorite 90’s hip-hop artist: Nas

Reading material: Image Comics, particularly Saga and East of West, “a good post-apocalyptic series.”  

Avengers Civil War: Team Iron Man or Captain America?

“Iron man. I’m not a really big Captain America fan ... but probably Deadpool over either of those.”

Video Games:

“Derek (vocals) has a PS4 that we brought on the bus and we bring it in the venue and play it in the green rooms. We just downloaded the Tom Clancy: The division, but we haven’t played it yet so.. Apparently it’s only online. It didn’t say that when we bought it.”

Did someone in the band actually “dream about Las Vegas?” Have you all “gone back to Georgia?” ...And are you still “by the ocean just waiting for sunsets and silhouette dreams?”

Actually did dream about las vegas. We have gone back to Georgia, numerous times so I guess we cheated that one. We weren’t supposed to go back but we did. [The band even visits Georgia regularly and records at Earthsound studios in Valdosta, Georgia to record their cover songs for Fearless Records’ Punk Goes Pop series.]

And y’know we’re all from Florida so we’re beach people so we’ve definitely spent a lot of sunsets at the beach ….but we’re not waiting around forever on the beach.