Staying relevant after being in the music scene for 16 years is not an easy feat, but with their evolving sound, relatable lyrics about life and relationships and ever-so-inviting punk tracks with riveting hooks, New Found Glory is more than managing.
The band will be performing at the Catalyst on Jun. 5 with Cartel and State Champs. Tickets are available here for $19 in advance $22 at the door.
New Found Glory has played the Catalyst several times before, last hitting it on the “Pop Punk’s Not Dead” tour in 2011, and are looking forward to playing it again.
“The way the venue is set up is pretty open,” guitarist Steve Klein said in a phone interview while in Milwaukee, Wis. “People are always in the balcony or the stairs. The floor is pretty open. It’s always a cool vibe, I love Santa Cruz.”
The band is celebrating the 10-year anniversary of one of their biggest albums they’ve released to date. “Sticks & Stones” brought them into the mainstream with its accessible sound to new fans of pop punk --keeping the classic punk element to their songs with energetic drums and heavy guitars and bass, but bringing the pop element with catchy choruses that are relatable without being cliché.
With the album’s most popular track, “My Friends Over You,” kicking off with a sweet hook, and a not-so-apologetically infectious chorus, “You were everything I wanted/But I just can’t finish what I started/There’s no room left here on my back/It was damaged long ago/Though you swear that you are true/I still pick my friends over you,” sing-alongs and a good time are expected from the show on Wednesday.
The band has started off the tour with sold-out shows and a positive reaction from fans. “It’s a lot of kids’ favorite record of ours so it’s been so fun,” Klein said. “It’s been a lot of fun playing the shows every night.”
Every night the quintet play their 2002 release from cover to cover and throw a few fan favorites into the mix. The band isn’t living in the past. Its last album “Radiosurgery,” released in 2012, peaked at #1 on Billboard’s Hard Rock Albums list and at #26 on the Billboard 200.
New Found Glory recorded a live album in March with three new studio tracks on it. They will not be performing them on this tour, but Klein assures that they will make their rounds on the next one, along with more new music, which will be recorded in early 2014.
The band keeps their sound from becoming stale thanks to their eclectic and evolving musical interest. “We’re not old and jaded and stuck in our ways,” Klein said.
Klein offers his advice to the aspiring musicians in the area.
“Write good songs and put on a live show. It’s pretty simple if you think about that, but a lot of bands don’t really take the initiative and try to think they have to work hard to get to where they are. Go to shows and hand out your demos and try to get your favorite bands to get into you. Try to get on tours, try to get on a label-that means something. Put out quality work, you know. Show it to your friends and if your friends say it’s shitty, it’s definitely shitty. You have to make sure it’s good before you start putting it out.”
Hard work is how New Found Glory has gotten to where they are today. They’ve also gone 16 years without a lineup change.
“We’re kind of like family. We’re brothers, we fight, you know, we have fun, we know how to push each other’s buttons [and] at the end of the day this is something like a dream we all had and we created, we’re very grateful that it’s lasted this long and that our band is still relevant. We just try to work hard and put out good quality music and put on live shows and people keep wanting us to be back.”
