Interview: Bayside

Who or what inspired you in the process of making the album?

Our fans have always been our biggest inspiration to make a new album. We always feel like we have something to prove. We’re very happy with what we do, but we always want more. I think that’s a good thing, because it’s what keeps us going. It’s in our nature to always keep improving ourselves. Not just for us, but also for the fans.

What has been the best experience in your career so far?

It’s hard to pinpoint one thing, but a year ago we played Riot Fest in Chicago and there were fifteen thousand people watching us. That was really amazing. Getting signed to Hopeless Records was a good one too, because now we get to come over to Europe more. Our past record labels didn’t really help us with that, but Hopeless does.

And the worst experience?
I just don’t like having bad shows. Unfortunately you have those sometimes. I remember a show we played three years ago when we were in Europe. We were on a tour that we probably shouldn’t have been on and the fans were actually reacting negatively. If you play a show and nobody likes you, that’s fine. But when they don’t like you and they’re letting you know, it’s not fun.

What do you dislike most about the music industry?

That hard work does not always pay off. I sometimes try to explain this to my friends when I’m complaining about something, but they don’t really get it. If they work their ass off at a normal job, they’ll likely get a promotion and a raise. If you work your ass off in the music industry, it doesn’t necessarily mean that you get bigger or make more money. But you can’t ever stop working your ass off, because the second you do, you’ll become a complete nobody.

A long time ago you released a Punk Goes Pop cover. Would you ever consider doing something like that again?

We play covers live all the time, but I don’t think we would ever do a cover for Punk Goes Pop again. I believe we were in between labels at the time and we got offered to do it. We really wanted to put some music out, so we did. It was fun, but if we ever want to release a cover again we would just pick a song and release it ourselves. We don’t record covers too often, except for the EP we released two years ago, but who knows what will happen in the future.

Do you have a goal in mind for the next five years?
Continually getting bigger. The best thing would be to get equally as big in Europe and Australia as in the States. That would significantly change our lives. We would be very happy if we could have these energetic club shows here too. We want to be able to go everywhere in the world, have our own shows and do our thing. Hopefully it doesn’t take five years.