This summer, pop band The Maine will be adding a little bit of black and white to the glowing Hollywood lights in hopes of striking a different chord than the overly auto-tuned recordings and pretentious Gaga-like displays. Touring in support of their newest album, “Black and White” (released July 2010), The Maine has set out to share and rediscover the meaning of raw, genuine, “black and white” music.
“For us in particular, we’re playing a couple new songs and a couple of old songs in new ways. We’re pretty much playing as many songs as we physically can with the allotted time we are given,” said John O’Callaghan, lead singer of The Maine, during a phone interview with the Graphic. “I would say the theme of the tour is just music, honestly enough.”
The Maine is co-headlining the tour with world-famous rock band Augustana and special guest Austin Gibbs. They are set to head to LA and will perform at the Hollywood House of Blues June 15 and the Anaheim House of Blues June 16.
Augustana’s strong melodic vocals and fluid guitar and piano will likely provide a balanced contrast to The Maine’s more alternative pop sounds while also providing somewhat of an inspiration for the band.
O’Callaghan commented on Augustana’s success and stated, “Even before the tour I was a huge fan of their music. I think they are an incredible band. I was really looking forward to coming out and listening to them every night. … They’ve been nothing but great to us.”
They began the tour in early May in Dallas, and will be concluding their nation-wide loop shortly after LA in their hometown of Phoenix on June 18. Though the shows have been almost non-stop, O’Callaghan said the groups have made the most of their time together.
“We actually just had an off-day in Toronto and camped out and barbecued and what not, sort of to regain that spirit and energy necessary to have for a good show. … But the shows have been really fun. People are coming out, they’re excited to be here, and we’re excited to play.”
As for what’s next on The Maine’s agenda, O’Callaghan divulged that they’ll be heading straight back into the studio to work on their new record, which, surprisingly, they’ve already started.
“We’re actually producing it ourselves in El Paso, Texas, and that can probably scare some people that are followers of our music,” O’Callaghan joked. “But we are pretty confident. We’re really confident of the material we’ve created and we’re very proud of it.”
Though “Black and White” is only the band’s sophomore album, The Maine has already been named by Rolling Stone as one of “Bamboozle’s Five Breakout Bands to Watch.” They’ve also been on the cover of Alternative Press twice, which has called The Maine “The new face of American pop.” Their newest album, due out this fall according to O’Callaghan, will likely see just as much, if not more success, than the previous two.
“I think now more so than ever it’s really, truly just about the music. We are trying to put 100 percent of our efforts towards putting on a great live show and writing songs we fully believe in,” O’Callaghan said.