The Maine is an alternative band that has never compromised their integrity for album sales. In the six years since the band first began seriously touring The Maine has continued to progress, developing a sound and style all their own while cultivating an ever growing fan base.
Their most recent album “Pioneer’ was released just over a year ago and to celebrate the anniversary, the band released “Anthem for a Dying Breed.” The documentary follows the process of writing, recording as well as the trials and tribulations that The Maine faced to put out “Pioneer.” In an interview with The Pace Press, guitarist Kennedy Brock discussed The Maine, plans for the future and what exactly is “good love.”
Brock along with the rest of his band mates got together on Dec. 6th for Pioneer day, the one year anniversary of the album with the same name. “Well I spent [pioneer day] with the rest of the guys. For most of the day we were…. writing actually. We’ve been grouped together in a little rehearsal spot doing some writing. Most of the day was spent there, then a couple of us went to the office and then we did a Twitter chat.”
The purpose of Pioneer day was to commemorate the album that changed the way The Maine did business. “Well I think we’re a lot more confident being DIY. We hadn’t really gone through the process of releasing a record on our own when we out “Pioneer.” I think we’re just a little more comfortable doing everything ourselves… The whole process was really natural for us. When we sat down and started writing songs for “Pioneer” we didn’t really second-guess anything we just kinda did what we were feeling and pushed that through.”
In the two years The Maine was working on “Pioneer” the band went through countless hardships to release the album. Both the album and the new documentary help fans to understand the band’s change. The documentary follows the band throughout almost the entire recording process. The men of The Maine tried to keep the film as true to life as possible, the good, the bad and the ugly are all on display for fans.
“Well this record was really important to us, there was a lot of things that changed for how we run our band. Basically there was just a lot of important things that happened to our band during the process of the record. Just the recording of it and how to get it out to our fans. We got… basically a bunch of roadblocks just getting the record out. Being able to release it and how we were going to do that whether it was going to be on our own or on a label. All those questions were kinda up in the air for a long and we really changed the way our business runs.”
“We wanted to show people everything that went into making the album and the process it took to get it out and why it’s become so important for us,” Brock explains. “I think the documentary does a really great job at showing that. Garrett and everyone in the band but mostly Garrett had the camera out a lot of times when we were doing things. So it’s very raw and exactly what was going on and what we were thinking at the times when these things were happening. So I think it’s easy to follow the story and I think it is an important one for us.”
The band was looking to create something that fans could not only enjoy but to bring them into the inner workings of The Maine. “…We basically just wanted to explain how everything happens because… when the record came out we released it on our own and there was a lot of just questions asked about what was going on with our band so we wanted to make clear what was happening and what has happened to us in the past year or two years rather. Then as well we did a concert for the DVD, it has a ton of songs I think seventeen songs, from the live show in Brazil, which was one of the craziest shows we’ve ever had. I think it was just a good kinda combination those two things being able to put those two things together for something I think any fan of us will really enjoy.”
The Maine produced more than a documentary out of “Pioneer,” in fact while recording the album the band also created six additional song that were released this Oct. in the form of “The Good Love” EP. The EP acts roughly as the continuation of “Pioneer.” The songs on “The Good Love” fit flawlessly with those of its predecessor. The rhythms and melodies of all the songs flow naturally together, making the two seem as if they have an intrinsic connection.
“We originally just grouped the songs together that we felt fit most closely and that was what ended up being on “Pioneer.” I think the other songs, well the other songs were recorded at the same time and they were all written around the same time as well. It didn’t feel right to release it at a later date with something completely separate we just wanted to group them together. Basically we felt the songs on “Pioneer” fit together closer than the songs on the EP. The EP was kinda the outstretched songs we had.
By taking the time and energy in creating their own work The Maine was able to produce something they could be proud of. Brock describes his love for all the songs on the album and his difficulty in picking a standout. When asked his favorite song on the album or the EP he said, “that’s kinda hard. I mean I enjoy all of them that was kinda the point of doing this record. Doing the songs exactly how I wanted to do them. But I tend to enjoy the last song on the record waiting on my sun to shine. I like playing that song a lot of songs live.”
The songs on “Pioneer” and “The Good Love” are a more mature version of the guys who first gained attention with “The Way We Talk.” A lot of the developed sound can be attributed to the band’s strong lyrics. Brock said, “I think we were just listening to a lot of different things that’s why we wrote so many songs in so many different directions. We just trying to focus on expanding what we do as a band and that’s kinda the goal every time we go to go to record and every time we write a song. It’s to not do something that we’ve done previously.
“[The writing process] basically stems from John (O’callaghan). He’ll come up with a basic idea for a song whatever that might be, it kinda varies from song to song, whether it’s an instrumentation songs or a lyric or a melody. He’ll kinda make edits on his own work and then he’ll bring’ it to the rest of the band. When we have time like right now we sit in a room and hash things out as a full band. And kinda figure out what the songs are gonna turn into when all of us are playing. It kinda goes through a couple steps of process to get the final song out.
For many bands it can be difficult to continue to produce fresh material, often times exhausted by the cylindrical cycle of recording and touring. The Maine however have yet to run into this problem. “I think … we really don’t get worn down by any aspects of this whole circus. At a time when we’re tired of being on the road we get to go and record songs and by the time we’re done sitting in the studio were out on the road so it’s kinda just a back and forth. We get the best of both worlds. We tour with a bunch of great dudes. Everyone in our camp is a good person and we really enjoy hanging out with everybody and we make sure everyone’s attitudes are mutual,” Brock stated.
The band seems to genuinely love what they are doing. Their onstage antics and constant releases reveal The Maine’s true passion for their work. Their plans for next year aren’t quite set yet according to Brock. He said, “I’m not sure exactly [what plans for next year are.] We’re doing some writing now and I guess whenever we finish with that we’ll head in and record a record. I think obviously we enjoy moving a little quicker than everybody else; we like to keep things moving. So I think it will be rather fast but we are definitely going to take our time and make sure we appease ourselves when we make this new record and the songs we choose.
Whatever happens, The Maine is sure to put out a product that the band and the fans can stand behind.