The Menzingers, who are touring behind a new album (After the Party, released in February), are back in the Bay area. This time it's a show at The State Theatre in St. Petersburg alongside Jeff Rosenstock and Rozwell Kid.
Guitarist Tom May, took a few moments before a Denver show to check in with CL and talk about a slew of topics including that new album, taping Last Call with Carson Daly and the state of the country as seen through a band that's been no stranger to mixing it up at the local pub after a show.
We also dished on who Julie from "Lookers" may or may not be, when it's okay to get really personal in songs and why they make time for friends in nearly every city they visit.
Check out the full Q&A below, and get more information on the show via local.cltampa.com.
You guys in Denver?
We’re traveling to Denver right now.
How were the basketball games yesterday?
Good. I actually didn’t go, but some of the other guys did while we were in Salt Lake City.
So what’d you do instead?
Just typical day off. Gym, did a bunch of shit I was supposed to be beforehand but didn’t do.
Gym? So you are getting old. I wanna gonna make the point that your 30s really aren’t that old, but if you’re going to the gym…
I’ve always been into it, on and off over the years, but definitely more so since turning 30 I’ll tell you that.
Are there doctors appointments mixed in there? Are you scared for you health or is it just general growing up?
Nah, just general growing up. I also started doing some martial arts training a while back, but it’s not easy to do on tour, so you fall off and just start going to the gym instead.
Well damn. I was gonna mention that you can still do a lot of fucking up in your 30’s, but maybe you guys won’t. Maybe the hype is real.
I’m gonna knock on this piece of wood. I’m sure there’s plenty more that could go wrong.
I wanted to ask you about L.A. Tell me about the Carson Daly taping you just did.
You would never know that there was 11 different cameras filming. It was wild.
No added pressure?
Well, yeah, there was a bunch of added pressure because you’re gonna be on TV, so it’s like alright you can’t get to too drunk, can’t fuck it up, you know? It was one of the tightest shows we played, and at the very end it was one of the biggest releases of pressure.
So there was a different “three beer rule” at that one?
Yeah, everyone, kind of self-imposed take it easy kind of thing.
You still allow yourself to hang with friends and hit local bars though. I had a reader reach out on Facebook and mention that she had a conversation with you at Boneyard in Ybor about your appreciation for educators since your mom and sister are teachers — it made an impact on her.
Oh that’s awesome.
Yeah, so you are obviously in the bars and out with the people. Your band has a natural connection to middle America already, but you’re in bars all over the place with your friends. How does that affect the understanding you have about the other parts of the country?
That’s an incredible question. I think it’s a very, very true thing. I think we have a very unique look at how people in our similiar position live — at least around the country. You know, middle class, 20 to 40 year olds in different professions. You see regional differences, and you see differences in local economies, you know, which industries are going up and which ones are going down. You see it in the neighborhoods that we play in. Which cities are blasting condos up as quickly as they can. You know there are neighborhoods we used to play in where it used to be really cheap, so that’s where the punk bars were. The most interesting part has been seeing the change in all these places over the last ten years. The push and pull of everything.
As far as people go, I think on the local climate people were really scared for a minute and rightfully so. There should be some concern, but for the most part people are kind of doing what they've always been doing. No matter where you're from , it doesn’t matter. Your age or race, you really do see a certain aspect of humanity after being so many different bars in different towns.
I think I know the answer to this, but I was wondering how do you get over the fear of wondering what someone is going to think when/if they realize their experience with you made it into a song? I know you and Greg have said that things like that kind of just come with the territory and that if it’s good for the gander, then so be it more or less…
You know it’s usually just vague enough to where I think most of the time people wouldn’t say anything and just let it exist. There have been times where people knew, or you told them or talked about it beforehand. There is definitely a fear that the person would feel, not necessarily exploited...well exploited I guess...like all of these people are having a cathartic moment and this band is telling our most intimate moments into music. For the most part most of it is ambiguous enough to where it wouldn’t be a concern. Although, it’s funny on the other side of the coin there are people that have assumed that things in songs are about them. Then to their embarrassment when they say, “How the fuck could you say those things about me? Blah, blah, blah…” and you’re like, “Well guess what?” It’s like that old song, “You’re So Vain.”
Another reader question, and you might not want to talk about this, and it might be Greg’s lyric, but who is Julie? Is that a literary reference or someone you really met at Asbury Park?
Uh, it’s definitely a Greg line, and you’d definitely have to explore that with him, but it’s probably one of those things where we’d rather maintain a certain aire of not giving away too many tricks. Maybe in a couple of years.
Now that you’ve all kind of most past the days when you treated some women in your life less than stellar (by your own standards), do you feel a need to make it up to them or be more appreciative?
We try and put forth the things we want in the world through our actions, you know like everyday actions like how we treat people, how we run our band, how we run our band as a business, who we hire, you know things like that. We definitely don’t like to get soapboxy preachy, although that’s not necessarily a bad thing. You know, it’s not who we are and we don’t like to be too staunch in our opinions because they always end up changing a couple years later. You know we’re always evolving.
As far as the way we treat women, I’m not sure what you’re saying. Are you saying we’ve treated women poorly…
Not poorly. I guess I could have phrased that part a little better. I’m talking about the way some of your romantic relationships have had to suffer. You’ve expressed some regret about the way you’ve treated some of the loved ones in your life. You know the hardships the relationships have to go through…
Well, yeah, totally. There have been so many times that I’ve treated ex lovers, ex friends, ex coworkers...all those intimate relationships you develop in your life. Whether it’s fear of self, or fear of them, you know, the adolescent idiocy, different substance abuse, maybe you don’t have a handle on your own life. That definitely creates different situations where you just treat people like shit. You don’t call people back, you owe your friend a hundred bucks and you don’t talk until you give it to ‘em. It’s all stupid shit that we went through when we were younger, and then you grow older. I think we’ve only been able to last as a band for song because we’ve grown as people and developed then built relationships across the board.
How often does your real life or the weight you feel inside reflect some of the big, bold hyperbolic riffs and lyrics that show up on your records? How often does the emotional weight you’re carrying in your songs show up in the everyday moments for you?
Without sounding like tortured geniuses or pretentious whatevers, we definitely are very, very passionate people. We definitely, we are attracted to the types of people and things that are challenging and weird and exciting. It gets the adrenaline going. That kind of extremism, so say, in different aspects of life definitely leads to that hyperbolic display of words. You know, it’s not difficult to be home. When I’m home I live with my girlfriend, I go to the grocery store and I cook dinner and stuff, you know. And that’s nice, but there’s always something inside of us that’s just yearning for something a little more exciting or something that is searching for a hard truth that may or may not exist.
You mentioned having a really forward energy after getting this record (After the Party) out. Have you been writing on the road? How much of a break are you going to take before getting the next one ready?
Oh yeah, one thing about this record is that it definitely kickstarted our machine into motion. We are constantly writing and it’s something exciting to feel like you’re accomplishing something and manifesting the hard work. You can practice hard, but then you fall into a lull and that turns into a week off and then everyone is headed all their separate ways, which leads to the prolific aspect of our band dying down. This particular record though, has created a moment where we are just excited for the future. We are just gonna keep playing and writing again, visit new countries and new places — it’s gonna be great.
Would it be alright to talk about “Boy Blue?” There are a few concrete ideas in their (drug use, eternity maybe). How do you know when a song like that is okay to share with the world at large?
So the first question, I think every song is kind of different. I do subscribe to the idea that there are certain things that you just don’t go into. It would be inappropriate or almost cheesy to go into, you know, just going super far down the line where it’s like “holy shit, did they really just talk about that in the song?” Some things should be talked about and made so people can feel better about themselves, but for us there are just certain areas that we do not want to go to. So with that song in particular it just got to the moment where I had to talk to the people who were involved and the events that took place and realized, “fuck it,” it’s a song that feels good to play and if it’s gonna help other people who listen to our band deal with their lives, then it’s totally worth it to kind of put it up.
How do the characters in that song, how does that family, move on from something like you’re writing about there? How does life go on?
Maybe, in that song, and this is totally hypothetical, maybe there is a positive spin at the end where they accept your fate, the events that unfolded and the way you have to deal with them. It was meant to represent the disappearance of certain magic when you become an adult. Maybe it’s akin to finding out that Santa Claus isn’t real or maybe the western notion of romantic love isn’t real. Maybe the very strong foundation of the nuclear family isn’t meant to be in line with human instinct, you know? Kinda things that blow up in your face. You know that idea of finding what you like to do and being happy. Not all cultures feel that way, that you should be happy all the time. So maybe they would’ve been left in an awkward and weird place.
Can you talk about what Will Yip did on this record that The Menzingers haven’t been able to do to date? It had to be more than the equipment. Why was he able to tap into some things you were feeling a lot better than previous collaborators?
I think he did a really good job...damn it’s windy out.
Yeah Denver is one of those cities you were talking about that has condos coming out of everywhere.
Yeah, I’m standing next to one right now and it wasn’t here the last time we were in town. Will Yip, what he did for us was that he was able to create a social environment where putting for ideas or things wasn’t gonna make you feel like you are stupid, if that makes any sense. You’re always kind of bruising your own ego when you’re coming up with something or thinking out of the box. Sometimes you worry someone might laugh at your or whatever, but you know, we’re really good to each other as a band, we don’t terrorize each other, but Will was able to blow that open. While we were recording he made it like a musical brainstorming, like, okay everyone let’s figure this out. So besides the laser focus, his ability to just master the use of the equipment, he created a social environment where you weren’t afraid to try new stuff. And he made you believe in yourself, too. Even if what you were doing sucked he had a really great way of removing his and your ego from the equation. He just created a really beautiful and efficient working environment.
Are there any songs or riffs on the record that might have sucked and not made it on the record had Will not been there to help?
Uh, maybe, maybe the guitar line in “Bad Catholics.” We’d been working on that a bunch of times and was an old guitar line that I ripped off an old Scranton band, but it, yeah, I was like “I don’t know about this,” but we just worked through it. That’s just an example that popped into my head, but there are countless others. Backup vocals, harmonies that we put in, percussion in the background, just so much shit.
Can we talk about being on tour with Jeff Rosenstock and Rozwell Kid? How often are you coming out of the green room early to watch these sets?
Oh as often as I can. I have a bunch of warm up vocals that I do at the end of Jeff Rosentock’s set, so I have not seen the end of their set during the entire tour, but he and Rozwell Kid are some of the best players — and some of the most hilarious people that — that I have seen on stage. Jeff Rosenstock’s fans are just so full on an honest energy and fun that you don’t see very often. Everyone is so lively. The fan response to him, they are just so passionate about him — it is such a treat to see that every day.
Are there any of your friends around the country who just let you relax when you hit their town?
Definitely. Any of our friends who we’ve seen for the last ten years are all ten years older now, too, so they get it when it’s a Tuesday in San Francisco. Like we were out there and some friends from Philly joined friends out there, and we just totally chilled, made a lot of dad jokes. Then there are some nights that you know. Like if we have a show in Portland I just know the next day is like “Sorry Seattle, or wherever we are the next day,” is gonna be like 90 percent instead of a hundred percent because there are some really old friends that I need to see.
This last one if from the Internet, too. You’ve been called a punk band’s punk band, and that sentiment was echoed by a St. Petersburg band called Wolf-Face who wondered if you were going to be playing fest because their singer would love to sing “Thick As Thieves” with you (he called it song of the year).
Well, thank you. We’re locking in all our Fest plans now, we don’t have them yet, so we’ll have to see what’s going on. I legitimately don’t know.
Any last words for anyone before you get here?
Nah man, I can’t wait to get to Ybor City — it’s gonna be great.
Well you’ll have to drive because you’re playing in St. Pete.
I know, we have plans to make the trip down and see some friends.
