The pop rock five-piece will play at the House of Blues Anaheim on Saturday. “We're excited to be going back to Anaheim,” guitarist Jared Monaco said. “We always have a good time there.”
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When the Maine first started, they had to hold off on touring and wait until drummer Pat and bassist Garrett graduated high school. They relied on MySpace to help them get their sound out instead.
They released their sophomore album, Black and White in July on Warner Brothers Records. Monaco said that recording for this album was less stressful than their pervious album, Can't Stop Wont Stop. “We were more prepared this time. We went in with 45 demos. Choosing what was going to make it to the album was the hardest part,” Monaco said. “It's nice to have planning this time around.”
The band's songwriting style is changing from basic love songs to storytelling. “It's hard to write new songs with the old songs in mind,” he said. “We're dabbling in the storytelling aspect now. In the future, fans are going to get something they're not expecting.”
The Maine got their name from a Ivory song called “Coast of Maine.” “A lot of people ask us, 'Are you guys from Maine?'” Monaco said. “[Ivory] were influential to us. Now, oddly enough, we're good friends with the guys from Ivory.” He said the band members of Ivory are flattered that The Maine named their band after one of their songs.
Monaco has been playing guitar for 11 years. “I started playing because my parents never let me get a drum set [laughs]. They didn't want the noise.” From time to time he'll dabble on the drums during a sound check, but he sticks to guitar.
The Maine will play a sold out show at the House of Blues Anaheim Saturday with Never Shout Never. Doors open at 6:45.
When not running the OCWeekly.com and OC Weekly’s social media sites, Taylor “Hellcat” Hamby can be found partying like it’s 1899.