"I'm really excited to be in Yellowcard right now!" enthuses violinist Sean Mackin via cell phone from sunny San Diego, Calif. One can practically hear the smile in his voice. Indeed, Capitol Record's Yellowcard has much to be optimistic about since triumphing through a difficult year. In 2006, the Florida-based rock quintet's second major-label release Lights and Sounds suffered the dreaded "sophomore slump" and was notoriously bashed by critics and listeners alike.
In addition, the controversial departure of founding member Ben Harper created uproar, isolating many fans. Just when the band thought things couldn't get any worst, frontman Ryan Key developed a career-threatening cyst on his vocal chord, putting a dead stop to the act's already deteriorating momentum. With the time Yellowcard spent away from the public eye, the band reevaluated their purpose and drifted back to their roots by simply doing it for the love of music. Most importantly, they let their guard down, against each other and themselves. In the process Yellowcard created one of the best releases of the year. That is Paper Walls.
HYPEzine: Hey Sean, welcome back! How did your trip last week to Japan go? Mackin: Japan was amazing. My mom was born there. It was our first press/promotional tour, so we didn't play any shows. Only Ryan and I went. The Japanese culture is so amazing, but they never get kudos for their cuisine. One of our favorite things to do is to go to all the different Japanese restaurants. We had Shabu Shabu the first night. We then of course had the Kobe beef experience. The culture's so wonderful. I have very strong Asian pride.
HYPEzine:You chose Neal Avron to produce your album for the third time. You guys must have great chemistry together. Mackin: We got really lucky the first time finding Neal. He's the undeclared sixth member of Yellowcard. Anytime you can find someone with the same ideas and vision that the band has-it's just a very difficult industry. He's from Florida, and we've worked with him so many times before. Him and Ryan have a great relationship, so it only seemed like a logical thing.
HYPEzine: Lights and Sounds didn't live up to the standards set by Ocean Avenue. If you could go back in time, would you have changed anything about that album? Mackin: No, commercial success is not something Yellowcard measures itself by. It you look back, we still sold 500,000 records. That's half a million records. That's a lot. We had such a great experience with Lights and Sounds that if we didn't try to show some growth and development and evolved on Lights and Sounds, Paper Walls probably would've never been able to be what it is right now. So we're very fortunate about everything that happened for Yellowcard over the Lights and Sounds cycle. It made Paper Walls that much better.
HYPEzine: Paper Walls is like your new baby. Mackin: [enthusiastically] Paper Walls is Yellowcard's best work to date! We've taken the energy and collaborative nature of Yellowcard to the next level! We've taken the growth and the evolution of that straight forward rock sound from Lights and Sounds, and we smashed it together with super sonic fury now called Paper Walls!
HYPEzine: [Laughs.] Wow, you said everything with so much heart! Mackin: [Laughs.] I'm having fun with this.
HYPEzine: How did Ryan having to undergo major vocal surgery change Yellowcard's perspective? Mackin: It changed a lot of things for us. There was so much frustration. Every time we would get going on [touring in support of] Lights and Sounds, Ryan would get sick. After surgery, it was like a giant cloud lifted off the band. We were really focused on writing this new album. Writing, especially for Yellowcard, is like a new chapter in the story. We have already gone through so much together. We're excited to have a new chapter in the Yellowcard story that we can present to everyone.
HYPEzine: How did Ryan prepare himself for Yellowcard post-surgery? Mackin: Even before he had to have surgery, he was taking major vocal coaching. I've also been doing a lot of vocal coaching. It really strengthened our physical instruments, and we have never done that before. So now it's a part of our pre-show and everyday routine. You always have room for improvement, and we're definitely hard on ourselves.
HYPEzine: You took a break from the spotlight last year and for a while; Ryan thought his career was over. Mackin: Things might have been a little rough, especially for Ryan. He went through vocal surgery, and there is always that chance he might not ever be able to sing again. We almost have like a second chance, so we want to make the best of the opportunity.
HYPEzine: Paper Wall's "Five Becomes Four" is supposedly about Ben's farewell. Is there any truth to that rumor? Mackin: Yeah, that is very true. Ryan wanted to do something to remember that moment. He has always been a very honest singer and lyricist. Ben's a huge part of our lives. Ben and my brother played soccer together when they were young, 12 and 13. We grew up together, and we didn't want it to be like, "Oh, I did this. He did that"-that type of song. [We wanted] the song to say, "Hey, you mean a lot to us. We miss you. We wish you the best."
HYPEzine: How is your relationship with him now? Mackin: I think he's doing Takeover Records. We're just doing our separate things. He wanted to really be a part of his record label. I haven't ran into him, but I know that Ryan has ran into him a couple of times, and LP talks to him occasionally. There's no ill will, and he wanted to do his thing. We wish him the best.
HYPEzine: Despite all these setbacks, Paper Walls turned out to be a very solid record. It's refreshing to know you guys were willing to give it another shot. Mackin: It's not really that hard. When you look at how much we all love music, and how different our stories are from other bands, it's really not that hard because we all love being Yellowcard. We definitely don't take doing music for granted. We love everyday, and we're very fortunate to be where we are.
HYPEzine: Tell us some fond memories in regards to working on Paper Walls. Mackin: There's always those moments in the studio where you don't know if you are playing or performing to the best of your ability. Then your band mates look at you and go, "Hey man, that was freaking awesome!" For Ryan, he has always been like, "I don't know if I sing that good." We'll listen back to it, and I'll be like, "You're kidding! That was awesome!" The last day in the studio, we ran a little bit over time. We got into the studio at 11:00, and we didn't leave the studio until 7:00 in the morning the next day! It was crazy because I remember being way ahead of schedule at the beginning of the album.
HYPEzine: What motivated you to contribute a cover of John Lennon's "Oh, My Love" to Instant Karma: The Amnesty International Campaign To Save Darfur? Mackin: I think it's important for people to know that there are other things going on in the world. Of course our country is at war, but there's just some [other] really scary things going on in the world. We are trying to make people more aware about the problems going on, so that the people who can help will help. Horrible things are happening over there, and people should know that they could make a difference, even if it's just by buying a record or listening to a song. You're helping in some small way. That has been Yellowcard's role, and we are happy to help whenever we have the opportunity.
HYPEzine: Congrats on beating My Chemical Romance on the AOL Sessions Undercover. All the fans know how much that meant to you guys. Mackin: Thank you! It's funny because it's never really a competition to me. My Chemical Romance, they're friends of ours. They're on top of the world right now, so for our fans to take care of us like that…
HYPEzine: You're gearing up to release Paper Walls soon, and it's no secret that CD sales are rapidly declining even more so this year. Is that intimidating to you, since you're a musician and this is part of your livelihood? Mackin: Yeah, kind of. It could be, but we don't really focus on that because the music industry is always changing, and you have to stick with it. We've never been a band with the purest mentality like, "Go buy our records on vinyl!" But the media source has changed from vinyl to 8-track to cassette to CD to mini-disc to I-pod. You just have to be a part of that because we love to play music. I think that our fans change as well, so we stick with the times, and make sure that we know what's going on.
HYPEzine: From following the band's career, it's pretty noticeable that many people don't respect your space. Does it ever get frustrating when others are constantly prying into your personal life? Mackin: It comes with the territory in Yellowcard. I'm blessed to have this. It's really nice that people are interested. Sometimes the lines are crossed, but I try to not be rude. I try to remember that not only do I represent myself, but the members of my band. I also try to have fun with it. I love telling jokes and making people laugh, so I can pretty much have fun in any situation.
HYPEzine: Lyrically speaking, what is the story behind your first single "Light Up The Sky?" Mackin: That song is a story about a girl Ryan liked. She lived a different lifestyle, and he was trying to show her a better side of life. Unfortunately, in the end, things didn't work out the way he planned. But I think it's a beautiful story of having hope and giving someone hope. I think that's what he's trying to do, is to show this girl that she didn't have to go down that path, that there are better ways to go.
HYPEzine: The song "Dear Bobbie" seems different from everything else circulating out there right now. What inspired you to share this tender love story between Ryan's grandparents? That's not something a typical rock band would write about. Mackin: Ryan's grandparents are an incredible love story. A lot of what our songs are about are from Ryan's perspective. They come from how close his family is. He has a really big, close family, and his grandfather's the pillar of that. He has always looked up to his grandfather, and his family has always been there for us. They're the "band family." Every show that we have in Jacksonville, his whole family is there. I mean, my mom and stepdad come out, but Ryan's grandparents are there, his aunts, uncles, mom, everyone.
This was a great opportunity for him to honor his grandfather. He's 87. He's lived a good life. Some of his best years may be behind him, and Ryan wanted to honor him in that way. He's been working on that song for a long time. He came up with the idea to get his grandfather to record a letter in a little tape recorder and sent it out to us. It worked out great, and it's just one of the wonderful things to be in a band with a guy like Ryan Key. He's always thinking of stuff like that and trying to take it to the next level.
HYPEzine: Considering the divorce rate in California nowadays is like 80%, his grandparents are still going strong after 58 years. That's incredible. Mackin: A lot of Ryan's stories give us hope. We've always taken pride that we are a positive influence band. We are very lucky and very blessed to have what we have in life and to be able to share it with so many people. There's so many pitfalls in the world that make you wanna be sad, but I think that Yellowcard's music has always been on the other side of that.
HYPEzine: Let's talk about Ryan Mendez. He makes his Yellowcard recording debut on Paper Walls. Mackin: Ryan Mendez is a badass. That's it. That's all I'm gonna say.
HYPEzine: [Laughs] Mackin: Just kidding, I'm gonna say more. [Laughs] Ryan Mendez is a badass because he's a precise and passionate musician. On top of that, he's never had the opportunity to have a real studio experience like this, where he'd work with Neal Avron, play whatever instrument he wanted to play with. So everyday when he walked in, it was like a little kid in a candy store. We saw how excited he was, and we got really excited! It was like, "Yeah, Yeah! Try this! Try that!" It was definitely a very positive experience. He's an amazing guitar player, and we're lucky to have such a perfect match for Yellowcard.
HYPEzine: Sean, thank you so much for this interview! Mackin: I'll see you at The Warped Tour!
A Tribute to Friendship
HYPEzine: How did Ryan having to undergo major vocal surgery change Yellowcard's perspective?
