This has been an impressive year for Taking Back Sunday. Sure, we’ve been supporting them for decades and have a little bit of stake in their success, but that doesn’t mean we can’t tell it as it is. 2023 saw the release of their long-awaited eighth album, a viral performance from a Long Island backyard, a crashed wedding, the introduction of matching outfits, and the ninth annual Holiday Spectacular. What more could you ask from these already hard working musicians?
The Aquarian‘s history with Taking Back Sunday dates back 20 years. From their first record cycle for Tell All Your Friends to their new album, 152, we have always been in their corner. With that, we feel that we can confidently state that their new album feels the most authentic. In 2023, TBS is not trying to replicate any traits of their peers or any aspect of those around them, but rather amplify their own originality (that has always been there).
All the strengths that people associate Taking Back Sunday with are enhanced on 152. You can expect Adam’s charisma and hear it on tracks like “Keep Going.” John Nolan’s guitar work is stellar, especially on songs like “S’old.” Mark’s drumming on “Amphetamine Smiles” and “Juice 2 Me” are infectious and ferocious. Shaun Cooper’s bass playing is what drives the record forward in incredible ways, as always, but particularly on “New Music Friday.” This album sees a band realizing their strengths and doubling down on them. They don’t sound like anyone else. They just sound like Taking Back Sunday.
Taking Back Sunday is not only playing their annual holiday shows at Starland Ballroom this Friday and Saturday, complete with our carefully curated pop-up shop and an appearance from Santa, but they are also embarking on a full US tour with our friends in Citizen next year. (They will be coming to The Rooftop at Pier 17 in August.) With so many chances to see Taking Back Sunday, you just have to head out.
For this cover story (one of many that TBS has been part of with us), we had the amazing chance to talk with the band’s vocalist, Adam Lazzara, and bassist, Shaun Cooper, for the second time this year – in addition to chatting with Mark O’Connell. Although we missed out on John Nolan’s input, these are his best friends and bandmates, so his energy is still evident and this band is still a joy to work with.
While it’s still fresh in your mind, tell us about Good Things Festival and touring in Australia. How is it going?
Adam: Good! It’s always wild being able to travel so far from home and find your people. It’s not lost on us how fortunate we are to be in this position. This trip is great! Good Things Festival is in three cities – the entire festival is in Melbourne, Sydney, and Brisbane. Then we had another side show in Melbourne, we have a side show today in Brisbane, and we’re doing Sydney tomorrow. Then we head home!
Shaun: Good Things Festival and the subsequent side shows were literally the best shows we’ve ever played in that part of the world. The crowds were enormous and we had the best time. I got to see my family in Melbourne, so that alone made it incredibly rewarding.
The last time Adam and I spoke, your single “The One” had just dropped. You were about to head on out to Sad Summer Festival. There was a lot of hype, too, but no record announcement yet. Catching up for this cover story, the record is now out, fans love it, you played it in full at the Bowery Ballroom. Tell me about the reception.
Adam: Man, there’s this magical time from when the record’s done to when it comes out to where it’s just yours. It feels like you’re in on something – like a secret! That time is real special, but also during that time is – for me, personally – a lot of sitting with it and thinking “Oh, man. Maybe I should have done that differently,” or “Oh, I could have said this a little differently.” You ruminate on all of that. With this record, that process wasn’t quite as painful. There weren’t as many of those instances where I was sitting through it and picking it apart. You’re your own worst critic. Then, to have it come out and have the reception be what it’s been… it just feels almost like I’m waiting sometimes for the cameras to be revealed. Someone’s just playing a joke on us! Our past few records haven’t been received in the way this one has been received, so that makes us very happy.
Shaun: It’s incredibly gratifying. We worked so hard on these songs for such a long time. We put so much love into every single second of this album and we are so proud of it. We had hoped these songs would resonate with people and the reception has been even better than we imagined.
Mark: We did what we set out to do which was make a mark! There’s been dips in music, like in any job, but it’s up to us. It’s not on anybody else to make sure we look or sound a certain way. We pressed ourselves and I think we delivered. I’m very proud of this album, and so is everybody! It’s hard for bands that have been around for as long as we have been. It’s easy for bands to second guess themselves and second guess what people want to hear from you or whatever it is. If it wasn’t being received as well as it is, we’ve prepared ourselves for that, but it didn’t matter because our view of this record was good. You’ve got to go into it knowing that people might not give a shit.
I also feel like this record had been more immediate recognition. When Tidal Wave came out [2016], it took fans a few months to start screaming along to the lyrics. Whereas here, one week later at Bowery Ballroom, during “S’old” the entire crowd was screaming the lyrics back.
Adam: Aw, yeah! Even here [in Australia], playing these festival shows, we’re one of 50 bands on. As we’re playing, I think we’re playing four songs in the festival set that are from 152 and people were singing along to those! You can act like you’re not surprised about it, but I’m looking at the other guys in the band like, “Can you believe this? This is amazing!” I’m very excited for the show tonight because it’s a side show from the festival – a club show – and we get to play even more of the record. Even for a song like “Lightbringer,” which happens very late on 152, there are folks singing along to it! It’s one of my favorites on the record, so that felt really good. It just feels real nice to have the initial reaction and our perception of the reaction be what it is. With 152 we set out to have no skip-able songs, and no mediocre ideas were going to stay. Those are the guidelines we stayed in and it worked!
Mark: We wanted to make sure we did not lose ourselves trying to do something different. We are so confident in every single song, though, and are actually excited to play it. We’ve done full album shows and I’m not going to lie, myself personally, when we get to song six on whatever album, I’m like, “Oh my God. This is going to be painful,” and it was when no one gave a shit. This time around, when you’re so confident in something that another person’s opinion of it doesn’t matter, that’s a win. In Australia, the crowds were singing not just to one or two new songs, but to every new song. Now, that honestly hasn’t happened since the album Louder Now came out in 2006. That’s almost 20 years since that feeling has happened, and it’s back!
It’s funny, because the last time we talked we discussed that seven year gap and where your headspace was after not releasing music after so long. If you came back with a mediocre record, after that gap it would have been even more disappointing.
Adam: Thank you for saying that. We had that same conversation. We couldn’t believe so much time had passed either, but we had the exact same conversation. We couldn’t make another record, put it out after all this time, and have it be ho-hum. To everyone’s credit, you can hear it in everyone’s playing. You hear it in Mark’s playing, you hear it in Shaun’s playing. Shaun is doing things that I don’t even know! I’ve never heard his brain go to those places like that and make those choices, and I love them. With John, and for myself, too, I feel like we didn’t have anything left in the tank after all that.
Mark: Yeah, man. This is our eighth album. Can you ever remember one time anyone or yourself in life being like, “He,y man. This band I like is putting out their eighth album. I’m so excited.” No, never! No one has ever been, “I’m so excited for this band’s eighth album,” so knowing that, we had to make it to where they can’t not listen to the songs again. They have to! Why rewrite the song everybody loves? You can go listen to the song everybody loves instead of the fake version. People can read that shit. People can read real.
With every Taking Back Sunday record, you’ve always had ‘152’ hidden in the record covers. With this one being actually titled 152, are you going to continue that tradition for future records or hang up the coat?
Adam: Oh, man… I haven’t even thought about it [Laughs]. For us and naming the record 152, I feel like for so long we were trying to get into other people’s worlds. When we were writing, we realized this is too special to go chasing somebody. Let’s just invite people into our world because there’s a lot of great stuff going on here. That shift in perspective was much needed for us. It’s harder now with social media and different distractions. It’s harder for me to stay focused on what I can contribute to the world. That’s how we all approached 152: what can we add to the world, meaning the record and the band. We’ve already had a self-titled record, and 152 (like you said) as a number has been on every single one of our records, but it’s not something we ever talked about. It was more of a nod to our friends so they would see it and know we were thinking about them. As far as if we’re using the number on records moving forward, we haven’t even thought about that yet, but the answer is probably yes.
Shaun: 152 was an important number to the band since its inception due to Adam’s North Carolina roots. Other numbers don’t really mean anything to us.
So many rock stars in the punk, emo, and pop punk scene are scared of EDM, techno, and synths. They run away from it. From your perspective, now that you’ve played the full record live, how was it incorporating those synth elements in a live setting?
Adam: Oh my God. Dude – it takes everything inside of me to now want more synthesizers on the stage. I love geer. I love studio things. I love all of it so much. It’s my favorite shit. When it came to playing it live, first off we were like, “Ok, here’s what we’re going to need. We’re going to need a wall of synthesizers and it’s going to…” It’s funny that there’s all these elements now, but that’s always been in the music. We just flipped it and brought it more to the front with Tushar [Apte, producer] and all that. With that, too, what you said about rock and roll bands shying away from the pop/EDM world, I feel like there’s this life lesson I learned along the way, and the best way I can describe it is how I didn’t start listening to Led Zeppelin until I was in my mid-twenties. The reason is, for the longest time I was under this mentality of it not being punk rock. If it didn’t fit into that mold, I was not fucking with it. It was so detrimental to my growth as a person. I can’t get enough of music; I don’t care what kind. At the end of the day, if it’s good, then it’s good. It doesn’t matter. These different elements are just these different tools. If you’re a craftsman and you’re building a house, you’re going to want more than a hammer. That’s how we viewed the whole thing.
Mark: Thank you for saying that, Valentino. While doing it [writing and playing with EDM elements], the attention to detail to make sure we didn’t cross any lines was strong. When you border with adding different sounds and styles into your music, you think about bands that have made horrible choices when doing that. You have to be aware of what’s too much, what’s pushing it into a corny side, and what’s not. It took years with this album to make sure it is right, but it is cool we did that, and thank you for noticing.
It’s also about knowing what a Taking Back Sunday record is. If you had written a 10-track album of just dubstep but I couldn’t hear any guitars or your drum fills, I’d be disappointed. A track like “Juice 2 Me” is a perfect example. It’s a rock track through and through, but it has synths that add a new element.
Mark: Man, with “Juice 2 Me” there was a point when John and I were in Arizona together working on the album. The version that it is, we listened back like, “Yo, this sounds like when we were kids!” Listening back, this is just what naturally happens when Taking Back Sunday gets together in a room and makes music without fighting it at all. It was really cool to hear. It sounded like the excitement we had when we were getting as 18-year-old kids making music. That’s what I like about “Juice 2 Me.”
Shaun, I particularly love your bass riffs on the track, “New Music Friday.” Tell me about the songwriting process behind this one. When the chorus ends and the instruments kick in high gear, it’s incredible.
Shaun: Thank you for saying that! I believe John had the words and chords for “New Music Friday” and the band worked out the arrangements with Tushar. I honestly don’t remember exactly how it came about as we played with a few different versions. The chord progression is essentially the same throughout the entire song. I worked on introducing some inversions of the chords and adding fuzz on my bass to build tension within those limited parameters.
Also, at the end of the track “The Stranger,” there’s this cool voicemail. Where did that idea come from? Who is that in the voicemail?
Mark: That is a friend of ours who passed. He is sending a voicemail to his daughter. He would always make a joke to us, “When am I going to come in and do some backing vocals on the album?” and laugh. We thought it would be cool after years of that joke to have him on the album. His wife and daughter sent that. He’s a great, wonderful guy and that’s who that is
Wow, especially with the album titled 152, it’s really a love letter to not just you as a band, but all the people that helped make you as a band.
Mark: Yeah, man, you don’t do it by yourself. You have to have strong, good people around you that are still there when shit doesn’t go right. Let me tell you – there are ups and downs. How you handle the downs is how you get back to the ups. He was one of those people. I knew it was on the record, but the first time I heard it, I’ll be honest and say I started crying. One of those crys where you’re not crying, your face isn’t moving, but years just slowly come out.
That’s such a beautiful way to end the record then. It brings it all full circle and makes it even more heartfelt. You also just announced a US tour for Summer 2024 with Citizen (who just so happened to be our November cover story). Have you met the guys in Citizen yet? What helped you choose them as openers?
Shaun: We played a handful of shows with them several years ago in small venues. We had always wanted to do more with them, but just didn’t have a chance. Thankfully the stars aligned this time. Their new record Calling The Dogs is fantastic.
I agree! Now, of course I want to touch upon the reason we’re on this call – Starland Ballroom and our ninth (!) Holiday Spectacular. How are you feeling? Tell our readers about this Jersey tradition.
Shaun: The band has been playing shows there for nearly 20 years. It’s a home away from home… not too far away, though. They welcomed us with open arms from the very beginning. We love playing there.
Adam: We’re feeling great about it. We always look forward to it every year. With what we do and in our world there aren’t a lot of constants, and this has been one that from when we first started doing it. I remember conversations like, “Wouldn’t it be amazing if this was just something we can do every year?” It has worked out like that! Man, we’re so lucky. Everyone there – from the staff to the people at the shows – is so nice, and it just feels so nice because it’s a way of being able to put some closure on the year, to reflect on that, and to celebrate it. It’ll be nice, too, because I prefer colder/cooler weather. It’ll be nice to be back in winter from the summer we’re in right now.
Anyone who has been in the Jersey scene knows Starland Ballroom. Every year, the one thing I can count on, even if I don’t have any shows in December, is that Taking Back Sunday will be there.
Adam: That makes me really happy to hear that you see it that way, because that’s how we see it, too.
Next year is going to be 10 years of the Holiday Spectacular. Do you have anything planned?
Adam: Oh, wow! I haven’t even thought about it! There’s been so much going on. Definitely for 10… yeah, we’re going to have to do something real special for that. I keep wanting them to get snow machines in there. I’ve been trying for like five years now, so maybe that will be the year. Maybe this will be the year! I don’t know. We’ll have to wait and see!
I also want to ask you about the panther logo. It started on Happiness Is and grew to be what it is today. How do you look at it now versus how you looked at it 10 years ago?
Adam: Eddie has a large panther tattoo on his forearm, and around that time we were having some conversation and he was like, “I just love the way it looks.” He’s who brought us all together. He’s who started the band. I’m like, “We’re going to make it where that panther on your forearm was the first Taking Back Sunday tattoo and nobody knew it, not even you.” We made it a mission to try to make the panther synonymous with the band. It felt nice to hear you say that because that’s been our goal for some time now and it’s finally working; when folks see the panther, they think of us.
Mark: We all have the same panther tattooed on us, but also the font! When you see the words ‘Taking Back Sunday,’ the font does not change. That is also very important to the look. If you’re changing the style that’s coming out and making the letters look like this and that, you lose who you are. That’s also part of that, mainly for me, personally. The panther and the way the words look may seem small, but are a very big part of us as a whole.
FOR TICKETS & INFORMATION ON TAKING BACK SUNDAY’S NINTH HOLIDAY SPECTACULAR ON FRIDAY, 12/15, & SATURDAY, 12/16, AS WELL AS THE LIST OF VENDORS FOR THE POP-UP SHOP, VISIT STARLAND BALLROOM’S WEBSITE!
