August 13th, 2008 
James Shotwell Last week, James met up with Jared Monaco of The Maine. They discussed touring, the new album, and just what has been going on in his life. Read the contents of that conversation below and be sure to check out the band’s new album, Can’t Stop, Won’t Stop which is in stores now!
J: You guys have been on this tour [The Soundtrack of Your Summer Tour] for awhile now and it’s not over just yet. How’s everything been going?
TM: Dude, it’s been awesome. Every show has been sold out or close to it which is something we’re not use to so that’s really awesome.
J: Well with this tour coming to an end in the upcoming weeks, I’m sure people are already wondering what you have going on next. Can you let us into the falls plans of The Maine?
TM: We get a week and a half off to go home then it’s off to the UK with The Academy Is… and We The Kings. Then two more weeks off. Then we’re going out with All Time Low, Mayday Parade, and Every Avenue for a US tour.
J: Since you guys are still a relatively new band in terms of existence. Can you give us the short history of The Maine?
TM: I’m not even an original member, but it started when Pat and Garrett’s former band broke up. Then Tim, our manager, new John really well and had him come in to jam with Pat and Garrett and they hit it off. They had 2 other guitar players then, but they didn’t really want to tour so they got rid of them and then Kennedy joined and I followed. We did a small East coast tour and things just took off. So the band’s been around for about a year and a half total and I’ve been in the band for about 9 months.
J: There’s this reoccurring event in the industry where a band releases an amazing EP and gets everyone excited for the full length, but then fail to deliver. You guys however, have managed to avoid that letdown and you did it without bringing back all the old songs. Was this just how the songs came out or something you guys really focused on to make sure you didn’t do?
TM: We just thought back to how when we were young, we hated bands recycling songs. We didn’t want to bore people with a record half full of songs they’d heard. We thought we were capable of writing in the same style and keeping things fresh. We did bring back a song from our original, digital only EP, but we added a bridge and changed a lot of it so that it wasn’t just the same song again.
J: Did you approach working on the full length any different than the EP? Was there an evolution there or maybe just some things you learned from the EP process that you then applied later?
TM: It was actually totally different for us because when we did the EP, we had just finished our first tou and our songs were just floating around. We were able to afford 4 days and we just banged out 3 of them really well and ran with it. Then we met up with Matt Squire and had a lot more time to really work on things and focus our writing and playing. We learned a lot from Matt Squire.
J: Now that the full length is out there, have you been seeing a growth in fan interaction on this tour and a general growth in your fanbase overall?
TM: Yea dude, the album actually came out the day this tour started and we’re seeing more and more kids singing along every night. It’s really cool.
J: A lot of people found out about your band from the cover you did of Akon’s “I Want To Love You.” Is it weird for you to have kids tell you they love you because of a cover song?
TM: Really? We’re super grateful for that song. I mean, any way kids can find out about us or what we’re doing is awesome and if it’s that cover, then so be it. We actually still play it love because we know how many people love it.
J: Speaking of new music, how do you find out about new music?
TM: It’s a lot different now because we’re so busy. People we know from home and such will send us links or tell us to check out bands and that’s generally how I find new acts. Also, when we do spot dates we get to meet a lot of great unsigned or small label talent. We played one show with a band called Barcelona who amazed me. We have their cd now and we rock it all the time.
J: With the changing industry, the internet is becoming more and more a part of the music world. How do you guys keep your band relevant with all the change?
TM: We spend a lot of time keeping up on our Myspace. We try to keep track of our own personal ones more now because everything has gotten so crazy for the main one, but kids can write and we’ll do our best to reply. We’re actually working on opening up a fan community site in response to the new album and everything to get more in touch with our fans, but that’s a bit further down the road. The kids are the reason we’re doing what we’re doing, so we want to make sure to talk to them.
J: Things are really taking off for your guys today, let’s flash back 9 months to when you joined the band, did you think you’d be where you are now?
TM: I was working at Best Buy. Seriously, I was checking people out at our local Best Buy. I had no idea, but luckily John-O talked to me and we got things going. I had been in college, but I had no idea what I wanted to be, so I was a business major because that seemed general enough. So I didn’t mind leaving that.
J: What do you want us to take away from the album?
TM: I know what I want people to take away is…well, everyone has those albums that never get old to them that they discover as teens and I want people to feel like that about this record. We try to give a message [just look at the title] about not giving up on your dreams and chasing them.
J: We don’t really do final questions on UTG because it never seems to be a good enough closer. So instead, we give you an open platform to make a closing remark about anything you choose [but you cannot plug the album]. So, the mic is yours, any last thoughts?
TM: Well, there was a funny tale with John-O I’d love to share. Last night we were chilling outside in the dark after the show and we were at this amphitheater with these large steps in the amphitheater. John-O thought it would be a good idea to run away from our tour Manager theater while joking around with him and runs face first into this tiny tree, like doesn’t try to avoid it, just plows into it, and rolls off it, trips and lands face first on the cement steps. I see this and he’s not moving and I’m like, “crap, he’s dead.” So I run over and he’s alive and well, but he knocked out part of his tooth and has a bunch of cuts and such…and that’s the tale I want to leave you with.
J: On behalf of Under The Gun Review I just want to thank you and Fearless for taking the time to work with us and I can’t wait to see what you guys do next.
TM: Yea dude, Thank You.
*Written By: James Shotwell*
- 2015’s Most Underrated Films - December 29, 2015
- Passing The Torch: The End Of An Era For UTG - December 1, 2015
- UTG PREMIERE: Before The Streetlights – “Private Browser” - November 26, 2015
Posted in 
Tags: 