Messed!Up
The outfit arose from the merger of two popular Tallahassee local bands, Kid Named Chicago and Defining Moment, whose combination helped the unit amass a quick buzz around its hometown scene. The sextet was initially comprised of vocalist Derek Sanders, vocalist/guitarist Jason Lancaster, bassist/vocalist Jeremy Lenzo, drummer Jake Bundrick, and guitarists Alex Garcia and Brooks Betts. After playing shows on the 2005 Warped Tour, along with sporadic gigs alongside bands like Armor for Sleep, the Rocket Summer, the Starting Line, and Emery, the band issued its debut EP, Tales Told by Dead Friends, signing with Fearless Records a month later. Their first full-length, A Lesson in Romantics, was completed in January 2007, but by the time it was released that summer, the band would be one singer short after founding vocalist/guitarist Lancaster parted ways with the group in March 2007 (Lancaster would go on to form a new band, Go Radio).
Mayday Parade signed with Atlantic Records in early 2009 and issued their first album without Lancaster, Anywhere But Here, later that year. In 2011, the group issued a pair of efforts, starting with the Valdosta EP in March and their Fearless-issued, eponymous third long-player in October. Mayday Parade peaked at number 12 on the Billboard 200, their highest-charting effort to date. The Zack Odom and Kenneth Mount-produced Monsters in the Closet followed in early 2013 (along with a deluxe edition the following year), besting their self-titled album’s placement with a Top Ten debut on the Billboard chart.
In 2015, the band released its fifth album, Black Lines. Landing just outside the Top 20, the set was the last of their albums for Fearless. After the 2017 release of the tenth anniversary reissue of their debut EP, the band repackaged the gold-certified A Lesson in Romantics as well, complete with demos and commentary. They signed with Rise Records and returned in 2018 with their sixth album, Sunnyland.
In 2021, Mayday Parade released What It Means to Fall Apart, which leaned into introspection, emotional vulnerability, and resilience, reflecting both the band’s growth and the turbulent times of the COVID-19 pandemic. The record continued to prove their staying power in a genre where many contemporaries had faded.
Mayday Parade continue their 20th anniversary celebration with today’s release of SAD. With over 1.43 billion streams, platinum and gold singles, and a catalog that helped define a generation of emo and alternative music fans, Mayday Parade remains as vital and creatively energized as ever. Catch them on tour this fall with All Time Low as well as at this year’s When We Were Young festival!
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Mayday Parade pages
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Mayday Parade: ‘Sad’
