Mae recently stopped in the Greater Washington-Baltimore Metropolitan Area (or as OK Go called it… BalWash) for one of the last shows on their tour with The Fray and OK Go. Read on to hear about everything from their upcoming album Singularity, their likening for sweet tea, and why I will never invite Rob to a hot tub party.

 

PlayBackPress: For all of the very naïve people out there don’t know who Mae is, please tell us a little bit about yourself and your band.

Zach: Mae is a rock band from Virginia Beach. We’re on Capitol Records and we have a record coming out on August 14. There are five members in the band, I’m Zach and I play guitar, *points* this is Rob and he plays keys. We have two prior official full lengths under our belt and a b-side release that we did just for fun.

PBP: I took a listen to your new songs, ‘Brink of Disaster’ and ‘Sometimes I Can’t Make it Alone’ on your Myspace, and those are a little more kickin’ than your previous releases. Is that what we can expect from the new album?

Rob: Yea, I think you can just expect a margin of improvement with our songwriting and in the kickass factor.

Zach: Yea, the kickass factor.

Rob: But on multiple levels, the majority of the people who listen to it are totally excited about it and then there’s a small percentage of people who are a little weary of the record because it’s a little bit different for them. The songs are very heavy, driven with guitars, but we haven’t lost melody whatsoever and I think ‘Brink of Disaster’ is a good example of that. For me, I think this record is a little bit of something for everyone. Also, nobody’s heard any of the ballads yet, and I think that will surprise a lot of people who think the record is a big departure from what we’ve been doing. I think it’s more of us coming into who we are.

Zach: People are really quick to judge, and I think the people who are a little more weary just need to let the songs absorb a little bit more. They should really listen to them and try not to comment after listening to the 30 second preview on iTunes.

Rob: But we’re stoked. We’re excited about the record. We’re proud of it.

PBP: I’ve seen ya’ll a few times before, and the shows were either at a small club or a college, now you’re on tour playing huge amphitheatres with The Fray. What’s it like playing in front of a larger crowd at a larger venue?

Rob: Awesome.

Zach: For me it’s a bit more detached, so in a way it’s almost like rehearsal, but that doesn’t mean it’s just like we’re going through the motions or anything like that, but a lot of the time the crowd doesn’t start until 25 feet out, and sometimes we play arenas on this tour and with the way the lights are, I can’t even see the crowd, so in a way it’s isolated.

Rob: The way I feel about it is it seems to me that because the venues are so large, it almost feels like a club experience because you can only really connect with the first 1,500 people in front of you, and then everything else just looks like a backdrop. We were playing at Jones Beach in this stadium type pavilion, and I remember looking out at the end of the song and seeing the people in front of me clapping and then I look up and see all these little people going like this (imitates clapping), it’s so surreal. I also think all of us have experienced what we like to call Jumbotron Surrealism. They have Jumbotrons at these venues because they’re so large and you’ll be like zoning out, playing and having a good time, and then you look over and your like ‘woah.’

PBP: So, you turn around and look at yourself?

Rob: Yeah! I’m like, ‘who is this big Asian guy playing keyboards?’

Zach: You forget that you’re being projected visually on these big screens, and you think ‘do people even see what’s going on down here?’

Rob: All in all, it was scary for the first week and then you kinda come into it, so I hope we continue playing venues like this in the future.

Zach: This tour is cake. I mean we’re the opening band, so we don’t have to do much except soundcheck. But besides that we have skateboards, video games on the bus, free catering every day.

PBP: That’s actually what I was going to ask you next. How do you guys pass the time in between cities?

Zach: Read books, skateboard, watch movies, eat, go online. Pretty much anything you would do at home, just in a much smaller space.

Rob: It’s like a little festival. It’s like Warped Tour without the suck.

PBP: Well there’s no screaming 12 year olds around, that’s for sure.

Rob: Yea, we love the bands we’re touring with, they’re awesome and talented. The Fray puts on an amazing show. When you listen to them some people are like ‘oh The Fray is soft rock’ but when you watch their show, it’s just engaging. It’s great to be on the tour. Everyone is nice! It’s like a familial type environment.

PBP: I was reading on your blog that ya’ll were at the Capitol a few weeks back for a seminar on the arts, do you fear that you’ll become a political band?

Rob: We’ve never had any aspirations to be a political band.

Zach: We’re concerned socially, but I guess we’re not really concerned politically.

Rob: Saying that we’re concerned with politics is like saying it just for the sake of saying that you’re a political band, and we’re not that way. We care about things…

Zach: People kind of listen more to bands and entertainment figures more so than political figures. But I guess we’re just preparing for the responsibility we might have.

PBP: One more serious question, then I’m moving on to the fun stuff. I guess I kind of have to ask this question just because it was big news for the Mae fans. You recently signed with Capitol Records, a major label, why the change?

Rob: It was always our intention as a band to play music and do it as long as we possibly could, and Tooth and Nail presented us with our first offer… an offer we couldn’t refuse… and they are part of EMI which is part of major distribution, and for us it was a good stepping stone to get where we would like to be. I don’t think anyone in a band, if you ask them, honestly doesn’t have that aspiration to be around as long as possible and to expose themselves to as many people as possible. When we started with Tooth and Nail, things started growing and we started to accelerate, and Capitol had been watching us since we signed with Tooth and Nail, and then came the part when Capitol started talking with us. It seemed like a good way to go.

Zach: It was just a natural progression. There’s not much thought behind it as far as us wanting to reach as many people as we can. Tooth and Nail was awesome, they supported us with everything we did. We didn’t have to check in and didn’t have them watching over us or anything. You get kinda safe in that realm. You know how many records you’re going to sell and you sort of reach their ceiling. If you’re comfortable with that and that’s what you want to do, then that’s fine, but I think as a band we’ve always wanted more. As a band, we’ve never had this crazy indie ethic. Basically, they all work the same, we just have more money with Capitol.

PBP: You guys are from Virginia Beach, and there are two major theme parks around central/eastern Virginia, Kings Dominion and Busch Gardens, and there’s also Water Country U.S.A. Which one is better?

Zach: I’ve never been to Kings Dominion.

PBP: What? You’ve never been?

Zach: Well I’m a new Virginia resident.

Rob: Yea, he’s originally from Florida and just moved to Virginia. Kings Dominion’s awesome, but I hate driving three hours to get there.

Zach: Where is it?

Rob: It’s kind of like…

PBP: It’s kind of between Richmond and D.C.

Rob: Yea, so I’ll say Busch Gardens because it’s close, and I love Apollo’s Chariot. I’ve never been to Water Country U.S.A., that big gorilla kinda freaks me out. And I’ve heard stories about it, like kids pissing in pools, in the wave pools and stuff like that. Ya know, lately I think I’m getting really old because lately pools and hot tubs that are in public venues or public places like hotels, I’m not really excited about it anymore. I used to want to get in there right away when we got off the road or whatever, we’d be staying overnight and I’d be like ‘aww yeah a hot tub!’…

PBP: And now you know what’s in there?

*everyone laughs*

Rob: It’s not natural for you to desire to take a bath with 50 other people. Ya know what I’m saying? That’s essentially what’s going on. And then when you get out it’s got that rank smell on your bathing suit. That gets you thinking ‘I just got out of the refuse of other people’ *everyone laughs*  I really don’t know why I needed to go there. I feel very strongly about that.

Zach: You went from waterparks to hot tubs. 

PBP: What’s your favorite fast food place to hit up on the road?

Zach: It’s funny. It depends on the day or the week. I’ll love Taco Bell for a month, then it just hits you and you’re like ‘ugh’ and you can’t eat Taco Bell for 2 months. And then there’s Arby’s. In and Out is the best, but that’s only in California.

PBP: You guys are from the south, so you’d better like Chick Fil A and BoJangles.

Zach: I’ve never been there either!

Rob: I don’t like BoJangles!

PBP: No!!

Rob: That’s rough! BoJangles?!

PBP: It’s awesome!

Rob: It’s so bad!

Zach: Chick Fil A is sweet though.

Rob: Yea we save their sweet tea for when we’re away from home.

PBP: What came first, the roadie or the groupie?

Zach: The roadies.

Rob: Really?

Zach: The roadies help set up. I guess there’s a certain band dynamic that has to attract groupies and I guess we never really had that or we ignored it. It’s just funny when people come on the bus and you kinda know what they’re there for. They’re just so fake. I just kinda ignore them.

Rob: I personally don’t like it when I don’t know anyone on our bus.

Zach: Yea, he’ll get so mad.

Rob: I get ticked. I’m like ‘this is my home, this is our home, I don’t know who you are, you’re loud, your obnoxious, and you have the cheapest perfume on, and I don’t appreciate you being in my house.’

Zach: We were at Bamboozle one year seeing a bunch of our friends, the party happens to be on our bus, and he’s off the bus at the time. We’re loud, and there’s a lot of people on the bus, I’m only enjoying it because I’m drunk, otherwise I would hate it as well. But this guy *point to Rob* comes on and he just goes straight line to his bunk, doesn’t talk to anyone. The next day he wakes up and he’s like ‘what the hell was going on last night?’
*laughs*

Rob: I don’t think that was the case at all.

PBP: That kind of leads me into my next question, what’s your favorite drink?

Rob: We all know what yours *looking at Zach* is.

Zach: I like Southern Comfort. We have 2 full bottles of it on the bus. We love wine.

PBP: Are we talking box wine, or the nice stuff?

Zach: Oh hell no. I had a bad experience with box wine one time. Actually, we like cabernets a lot. We also like Amstel Light. I really like So.Co. though.

Rob: I am a kind of self-proclaimed connoisseur of fine wine. Self-proclaimed being the operative word there. I just have some of my favorites. I love the Australian wines because they’re very serious about their alcohol content, it’s usually somewhere between 13.5 and 14.5%. You take one cup down and it’s just so nice.

Zach: Rob will see some of his favorite people like Eddie Vedder and will drink whatever he drinks. 

Rob: Man, he’s all about the Spanish wines, and I have them. But yea, I’m more of a wine dude.

PBP: What kind of jobs did you have before taking on music full-time?

Zach: I worked at grocery stores.

Rob: Like Publix.

Zach: I was working 17 hours a week and I hated it. I thought I was working so hard. I was bummed. I was calling in sick and stuff. Then I went on tour, and so far, it’s worked out. It’s like a thin piece of ice, it’s cool when you’re on top of it, but then when it breaks you’re just swimming in cold water… or whatever. *everyone laughs*

Rob: I actually was in law school and got my J.D.

PBP: *Rob and I then start a conversation about law school, since I’m unfortunate enough to be there… but I’ll spare you the law-ish details*

Rob: Anyways, I missed the BAR by 4 points in Virginia. I was working with a bunch of attorney’s, clerking for them, being their little…

PBP: Bitch?

Rob: *laughs*

PBP: Get me coffee!! File these papers!!

Rob: Totally. There was this one time when I was collating these papers in the office and this needed to be done by a deadline, and he just comes back and beeps me on this intercom *imitates a phone beep* ‘Rob’ I’m like ‘Yes?’ and he’s like ‘I need you to drop everything to the exclusion of all else and go down to City Subs and pick me up a package of peanut M&M’s’ and I’m like ‘OK, I’ll finish doing that as soon as I finish collating all these papers you asked me to file’ and he’s like ‘hurry up.’ I guess he had some sort of chocolate addiction. Then 15 seconds later he’s like ‘Rob? Are you gone yet?’ I’m like ‘not yet.’ Then 15 seconds later he’s like *beep* ‘Rob… NOW!’ Anyways, it sucks to clerk. *everyone laughs*

PBP: Now, I’ve gotta finish this interview with my favorite question of all time… how much wood does a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood?

Rob: Exactly.

Zach: Exactly.

Rob: There ya go.

 

 

Kristin’s note: Mae’s new album, Singularity, is out on August 14. They’re also going on a headlining tour to support their new release. Check out www.whatismae.com for all the details.