This semester’s Welcome Back Concert, organized by TCNJ College Union Board and SAF Funded, featured The Maine. The concert took place Saturday, January 28th and Her Campus scored an interview with two of the five-man band members before they hit the stage of Kendall Hall.
Pat Kirch, the band’s drummer, and Garrett Nickelsen, who plays bass guitar, sat down with us and talked about the good times, the bad times, and what to expect for their upcoming album “Lovely, Little, Lonely.”
The good times came first, as Pat and Garrett reminisced on some of their favorite memories as a cohesive unit.
“My favorite moment was one that just happened,” Garrett sad, “we just did a festival for our 10 year anniversary of being a band.” This show, which was in Phoenix, Arizona, was The Maine’s biggest headline show. “It was probably the happiest I’ve ever been on stage,” he said. The members’ families and friends were there, and fans came from all around the world to celebrate with the men. “You can’t put into words how cool that was… it was just incredible. That was definitely my favorite experience we’ve had together.”
As for Pat, it was an album rather than a show. In 2011, The Maine released the album “Pioneer.” This was the band’s first record or album released independently. “The album kind of forged the entire path we’ve been on since then… it changed everything and how we do things as a band.” Pat explained that the band was having a difficult time getting the album backed by a record label, so when it was finally released it was a proud moment, stating, “it was probably one of the most potent things that’s happened to us.”
The good comes with the bad, and upon seeing that Pat was on crutches and clearly injured from the knee down, asking about the difficult times was inevitable.
“One time we got all of our money stolen from an entire tour, at the very end of the tour,” Garrett said, and the men looked at each other and exchanged a laugh. They may be able to laugh about it now, but they explained it was definitely a hardship for them.
“That was like, the very beginning of us. We had all of the money we made over the course of two months, and that was really the first time we even made money, and it all got stolen from our hotel room,” Pat explained. “That was bad – that was very bad. Our parents we’re very mad at us,” Garrett said with another laugh.
The Maine’s newest album “Lovely, Little, Lonely,” will be available April 7th, 2017. When asked about the new album, Garrett and Pat both agreed they’re most excited for everybody to just hear it already!
“We’re really proud of it,” Pat said.
“I think we really focused on making a full album and the whole thing really connects together,” Garrett said. “I’m really excited for people to hear it in one piece and feel the wave.”