The Vans Warped Tour 2018 Interviews: Makeout
The Vans Warped Tour 2018 Interviews: Makeout
The Vans Warped Tour 2018 Interviews: MakeoutThe final dates of the cross country Vans Warped Tour are now approaching, with the last stop taking place at The Coral Sky Amphitheater in West Palm Beach, Florida on August 5th. Back at the beginning of the iconic summer extravaganza, Highwire Daze Online caught up with the pop punk rockers in Makeout at Seaside Park in Ventura to discuss their thoughts on the Vans Warped Tour coming to an end, the meaning behind their debut album title The Good Life, working with 5 Seconds Of Summer on the song Ride It Out, donuts, and a whole lot more! Read on…
Introduce yourself and tell me what you do in Makeout.
Sam: Hey, I’m Sam and I sing.
Scott: I’m Scott and I play the drums.
What were your first impressions when you discovered that the Vans Warped Tour was coming to an end?
Sam: I was a little sad. I had never gotten to play the Warped Tour before. I got a couple of dates in an old band, but not the full thing. So the fact that this will be out first time doing it and it will be my last is kind of sad. It’s also kind of cool, because it’s definitely bringing a lot more people out to it with the hype of it being the last one. Other than that, I haven’t really had that much time to tell – this is Day Four – but it seems like it’s going to be sad when it’s over.
What advice would you give fans attending Warped Tour for the very first time?
Scott: Use sun protection – because I am sun burnt all over right now. I thought I had prepared well enough – but apparently not. So lots of sun protection and lots and lots of water. That’s my advice. And just to stay safe and healthy.
So if you see Makeout on the remaining days in Warped Tour, bring them sunscreen…
Sam and Scott: Yes!
Is there any overall or concept behind the album title The Good Life?
Sam: Yeah, it goes pretty deep into it. There’s even a track that didn’t end up on the record that had that as a lyric. But it definitely encompasses the whole feel of the record that we were trying to really get – capturing the idea that when you’re a kid, you want to be an adult – and that’s The Good Life. And when you’re an adult, you want to be a kid because that was The Good Life. It’s talking about how it’s always greener on the other side, and that want for a better life – and the pursuit of happiness is kind of where that comes from. The whole record really does talk about that many times.
What was it like working with members of 5 Seconds Of Summer on the song Ride It Out?
Sam: It was really cool. They were a lot more down to Earth than I really expected. They were one of the first people John Feldmann (producer of The Good Life) introduced us to when we worked with him. They were really, really cool – very quick writers. Sometimes it wouldn’t be a great idea, but they were just sharing. Never stop sharing. And it kind of taught me that not every idea needs to be a great one, but in the little ideas, you are going to come up with something amazing. And it was just very eye-opening.
How long does it take to film a video like Where’s My Charger?
Sam: That took longer than I thought it would. And even though it’s only a 45-second song, we were shooting in half time – and I wasn’t exactly prepared to do slo-mo stuff – so I was like “alright” and it just took me a long time to figure it out. It was probably like an hour and a half or so. It was cool though.
How did your recent tour with Icon For Hire go and what were some of the highlights?
Sam: I thought it went pretty well. They were drawing in every city probably 250-350 – some nights even more kids – and a couple sold out shows – and all of their fans were really receptive to us – so it was a really good time. And it was really cool to see how they work on the backend – I don’t know if you know too much about how they’re handling things, but it’s all DIY at this point. So it was really cool to get some insight on that stuff as well.
I thought that was an unusual pairing of bands…
Scott: We kind of thought that as well, but it really worked out in our favor as well. We picked up a lot of new fans from their fan base. It was really great – they’re really great people too! They were fun to tour with and everyone got along, which is very much needed in touring life.
Sam: We’re seeing a lot of those same kids from those shows coming out here too. So we’re bringing them back, which is always nice.
How close is Makeout to writing and recording all new material?
Sam: I’ve been working on a lot of new material – nothing really directed toward exactly Makeout – but that’s kind of how it was for the first record too. Hopefully we’re looking to get back into the studio sometime next Spring, and that’s really where all the magic will happen. We’ll take a lot of the work that I’ve been doing, Tyler’s been doing, Scott – and kind of mesh everything we’ve learned and make a new record that way.
Scott: And then we’ll scrap all these songs and write new ones while we’re there! (Much laughter)
If the music of Makeout was a donut, what kind would it be?
Scott: Pink frosting with sprinkles for sure.
Sam: And blueberries!
Scott: We’re all different donuts! I know Tyler is a chocolate donut lover…
Sam: So there’s so chocolate in there too. So chocolate cake, blueberry, pink frosting with some sprinkles.
That’s an interesting donut (Much laughter). Do you have any messages for Makeout fans who are reading this now?
Sam: We would love to see you all out on Warped Tour. It’s been really sick and we would really love to meet you guys and say what’s up!
REMAINING VANS WARPED TOUR DATES:
7.28 WANTAGH, NY
7.29 COLUMBIA, MD
7.30 CHARLOTTE, NC
7.31 ATLANTA, GA
8.02 JACKSONVILLE, FL
8.03 ORLANDO, FL
8.04 TAMPA, FL
8.05 WEST PALM BEACH, FL
(Interview and Candid Photos by Ken Morton – Live Photos by Jack Lue)
