Fireworks

15 December 2014 | 10:59 am | Staff Writer
Originally Appeared In

Ahead of Fireworks' visit to our shores in 2015, we chat with vocalist David Mackinder about the record, and about touring with pop punk royalty New Found Glory.

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Fireworks have always been the type of band to exceed expectations - heck, when we reviewed their latest album earlier this year, we said it was likely going to be one of the best albums of 2014. Ahead of their visit to our shores in 2015, we chat with vocalist David Mackinder about the record, and about touring with pop punk royalty New Found Glory.

Hey David, how are you doing this morning?

I’m good, how are you?

I’m doing really well. You guys released ‘Oh, Common Life’ in March this year. We’re now on the back end of 2014, so what has the continued response to the album been like?

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Oh, it’s been amazing. We couldn’t be happier with the response. Overall, it’s just a really good experience having people listen to and enjoy your music.

Personally, I thought the record was absolutely brilliant. It’s been one of my favourite things released this year. I found that, particularly lyrically, the album just towers above your previous records. Was there anything going on between the release of ‘Gospel’ and ‘Oh, Common Life’ that would have influenced that?

Well I think that, while obviously there are some literal situations there, but all in all I think it’s just a rollercoaster of emotions in my life. I think we just decided to be really honest here. Not that we haven’t before, we just decided this time not to have any perceptions of what our songs should be and see what we could come up with for this record.

How have the songs been going down in a live setting? Have there been any particular fan favourites?

We’re currently on tour with New Found Glory for the Glamour Kills tour, and there’s been a lot of newer fans, so we’ve been playing a lot of newer songs, and it seems like the crowd favourite is ‘Run, Brother, Run,’ which we just released a video for the other week.

How’s it feel touring with New Found Glory again? For any pop punk band, touring with a group as influential as NFG is a pretty big deal.

It’s been amazing. This isn’t our first time with them, but I think now more than ever, it feels like it’s gone full circle just because of how much both of our bands have been through in the past few years. New records, new situations, you know. We knew it was gonna be a really good vibe all around. It’s really good fun.

This is our first time touring with We Are The In Crowd outside of festivals as well, and that’s been really cool too.

What do you think of the possibility of teaming up with the NFG guys to play some sideshows while you’re both down here for Soundwave?

I think that’s all up in the air at the moment. Our first time in Australia we actually jumped on a New Found Glory tour, way back when. Anything’s possible though.

One of my favourite shows ever was with New Found Glory at the Roundhouse, so I’m always happy to play with them.

Do you have any particularly great memories from your first Soundwave?

The lineup that year was huge, and there’s such an umbrella of genres, so we had times where like, we were hanging out with Marilyn Manson before his show. You connect with the most random people at these things. It’s a really cool place to be.

Obviously you guys liked playing Soundwave, otherwise we wouldn’t be seeing you there again, so what sets Soundwave apart from other festivals around the world?

I think just the cross-genres there. I would never think that I’m playing a festival with someone like Slipknot. Over here we end up on things like Warped Tour, and it just doesn’t have the same reach in terms of genres. You can see a band like New Found Glory, and then you can go and catch Korn. That’s pretty cool.

As well though, they take really good care of all of their artists, and they’re super nice over there. Flying to every show is really wild as well.

Are there any bands you’re particularly excited to share the stage with at Soundwave?

I’m really excited to see Faith No More. I’ve never seen them, so that will be cool. Also, New Found Glory, and The Wonder Years just got added on too, so they should be really good.