Taking Back Sunday

August 26, 2003. In this exclusive interview, we chat with Taking Back Sunday about their recent changes and future plans.

LAPunk: So tell me about the new Taking Back Sunday line-up:

Eddie: The new line up is Eddie, Mark, Adam, Fred Mascherino on guitar and vocals and Matt Rubano on Bass. Fred was in a band called Breaking Pangaea, he’s an old friend of ours for many years and Matt has known Mark for his entire life.

Adam: Matt also has skills, he recorded with Lauren Hill on that album that won all the Grammys, and some other people much more talented than us.

(laughs all around)

LAPunk: How were the Warped Shows? Were you scared about how the crowd would react? Was reality different from your expectations?

Eddie: I felt alive again.

Adam: We didn’t know what to expect really with the new line-up. We knew we had confidence in the line-up but we didn’t know how people would react. Obviously we were overwhelmed.

Matt: As one of the new members, I for one was extremely surprised and excited with the way people responded. It was unbelievable.

Fred: I’m a lucky bastard. It was literally a sea of people watching us… People blew us away. It was ridiculous… We were surrounded… People on the left, people on the right, people behind us. Singing all the words.

Mark: Coming back from not playing for so long and being so upset about it, then going back and playing for 10,000 people lifted mine and everyone else’s spirits so much. It was the most people we ever played in front of and it brought me back to a different mind frame. It was incredibly fun.

LAPunk: How were those few months off not knowing if there would be a TBS?

Mark: I just kept thinking about how this is my life and all I ever wanted – I always had this feeling it was going too well and something would happen.. I kept thinking about the Eminem song “Lose Yourself,” you get your chance. I kept thinking I can’t let this go. We worked too hard. The way me, Eddie and Adam came together was too crazy in the first place. If I left I knew it would end bad for me.

Eddie: It was a lot of food network and a lot of thinking on the couch. Made me realize that the kids mean more to me than anything else, I worked so hard for that for so many years that I wasn’t going to let other people decide if it should continue. It’s the only thing I know and knew all my life is to play music and be in a band with these guys. It’s my life, whatever path it takes – the band and the music and the friendships is all I know and I don’t want to give up on it. Anything worth having is hard.

Adam: It was absolutely miserable. It was just like a huge part of our lives for so long suddenly wasn’t there. Not doing it was absurd. I spent a lot of time in my room. Once we started to get back in the swing of things, the feeling that we were missing something finally went away - it actually felt like we got it back. Like losing your car keys then realizing they were on your belt the whole time.

LAPunk: What was the thing that made you decide to keep it going?

Eddie: Every day I would go to the library to use the computer and read e-mails from thousands of kids expressing their sadness at the thought of the band going away. We are where we are because of the kids, not because of a certain way of songwriting or the friends we hang out with. We’re here because of our fans, we wouldn’t be anything without them. I love playing for them and these songs, the fact that it’s so important to them, I just couldn’t let that go.

Mark: Eddie was calling every day yelling at me! Seriously he was. I feel like since I was 18 and joined the band, I wouldn’t have had that chance if it wasn’t for Eddie – we wouldn’t be where we are now if it wasn’t for him. It’s just a great thing, I love the music we write and I didn’t want to leave that.

Adam: The whole time going into the band for me was to help someone out. Do what my favorite bands did for me. We were at a point where we were doing that, so I couldn’t think of not being able to do it. I owe a lot to these musicians who made me want to be in a band and play music and live like a nomad. To stop doing that is just dumb. To keep it Taking Back Sunday – we worked so hard for so long – this is our lives. To just shrug it off because people’s heads are in different spaces, that shouldn’t be a reason to sacrifice all of that. People left the band; the band never broke up. WE never left the band.

LAPunk: Tell us what’s different now with Fred and Matt?

Adam: For a while when we were working on new songs we weren’t too enthusiastic, now we’ve been spending so much time working on it, it’s a wonderful and annoying excitement that we haven’t had for a while.

Mark: It’s fun again. The complaining has stopped, we’re all getting along and its fun again. We’re rocking harder than we’ve ever rocked. The songwriting is incomparable. Watch out.

Eddie: For me the differences are that the live show is more fun, more alive, the music is tighter, the writing is what I’ve always wanted it to be like. Fred and Matt just flow with us, I feel complete now being in a band with them.

LAPunk: Hey new guys, tell us what it’s like to be able to add to the mix:

Fred: It’s always really struck me, the way that these guys connect with the crowd and I’ve seen them play many times before I was in the band. I felt that the way the energy was, I could totally relate to it because of the music I wrote in the past. The energy is comparable to the bands I’ve always been in. I’m really happy to be a part of it, I think Matt and I can bring something new to the band without losing the great sound that made me want to be here in the first place.

Matt: I’m probably the newest into this whole thing. Without knowing too much about the past, joining the band now is like getting a huge present and it’s not your birthday. Getting to go out on stage and play in front of so many fans night after night is a total dream that tons of people have and because of my friendship with Mark, got it offered to me. As far as writing – I think whether we try to or not it’s going to be different but we’ll still deliver great songs to the audience. It’ll be different in the way that all bands mature and progress. It’s a strange excitement to try and make something better, it’s a huge responsibility to make a record with these guys so we’re gonna do the best that we can and stay true to what brought us here in the first place. Most of all it’s a whole lot of fun.

LAPunk: Well, you’ve already answered the next question, but we’ll ask anyway: how do the new songs feel? Will they be similar to the old songs?

Adam: We’ve been sticking to the format, but naturally it’s going to be a progression. Each new song is a huge step from Tell All Your Friends in that exciting ‘next record’ kind of way. We’ve been playing a few of them live now and the response has been better than we ever could have hoped.

Matt: The energy is there, it’s blasting through the roof, the melodies are there. We’re definitely gonna bring it.

LAPunk: Tell us about your shows out here. One with Blink-182 in a really small place and one at an even smaller place, The Roxy, with Piebald and The Jealous Sound, then back at the Palladium with Saves the Day:

Adam: With the Blink-182 show, one that’s amazing because it’s Blink in a small place, two it’s for a really good cause. [ed note: This is a benefit show for surfer Jason Bogle who has been diagnosed with cancer and has no insurance.) I can only imagine if I had friends that would help me out in that position how it would make me feel. To know we can be a part of that is amazing. Then the Roxy – we’ve had to cancel a lot and living in New York we’ve had the chance to play smaller shows to say to the kids who are into it “our bad - we haven’t had a way to say we’re sorry but you’re always on our minds.” We had a day or two off between the San Diego show and Jimmy Kimmel Live, so this was a show that we only advertised to our mailing list in the area, put two amazing bands on the bill and put tickets on sale for $8 – just to cover expenses. We’re always gonna find a way to do stuff like that.

Eddie: Blink -182 and genius bands like Jealous Sound and Piebald, it’s such an honor, that alone makes it wonderful to be able to do what we do. To tour with Saves the Day for two months around the US, again, it’s an honor and is going to be an experience that I hope I never forget. Playing with bands that we know our fans like and giving it our all night after night, that’s what it’s all about. It was so unfortunate that we had to miss the Warped Tour so we took the time we needed to regroup but now we’re ready to come back around, play with great bands and hang out with the fans. We’re anxious to get new music out too, but we want to introduce everyone to Matt and Fred.

What’s your biggest hope for the future of the band?

Adam: First off, SAVE THE DRAMA FOR YOUR MAMA. (all laugh) Seriously, I hope that things keep moving forward, truly and I hope that everyone can accept the changes because we’re stoked about them. Time to leave the past in the past, time to move forward.. bigger, better, stronger, faster.

Mark: I want to keep on progressing -our music has, our heart is still in it, it’s even more in it and I know it’s gonna keep getting better and better. I can’t wait for our next album to come out.

Eddie: To keep doing what we’re doing, to keep having the best time of our life with the fans, to keep playing with bands I look up to. I just want to keep playing and I’m so thankful that it’s fun again.

Fred: A lot of my goals have already been achieved with the great acceptance we’re already received at the shows. The welcoming into the Taking Back Sunday family has been amazing and fans have really responded well to us. It gives me more hope that it’s gonna continue.

Matt: I’m really interested in keeping true to what the fans want, and they want to keep hearing songs from Tell All Your Friends and so do we. My hope is to keep giving them 1,000%.

LAPunk: Any message to go out to the fans?

Mark: Being 16 and seeing bands and going to shows all the time and supporting them, I never thought I would be in the same boat. It’s the most amazing feeling in the world. I never expected it. We’re just regular guys who like punk rock music and we’re very excited that you are enjoying it.

Eddie: I just want to mention that everyone is in the same game for the same reason: to make music. Thank you for making my dreams come true, thanks for being there with us all the way, I know we have a lot more to come ahead of us. Let’s enjoy all of this together.

Adam: A huge thank you to everyone who stuck with us and for not giving in to all of the crappy rumors, we’re just dudes like everyone else and it’s good to know that people have our back. If you want a soap opera turn on the TV, we play shows and write songs.

Fred: Thank you.

Matt: Thank you! I’d like to extend a huge cordial invitation to come out and see the band cause we’ll be doing it every night, screaming, spitting, bleeding, you name it.

-Interview by Mike Kaminsky