I'm Going To Be in Taking Back Sunday

Inside the audition process for AP 251 cover stars TAKING BACK SUNDAY.

“It’s really nothing that sinks in until it happens,” bassist Matt Rubano replies when asked how the remaining members of Taking Back Sunday felt in the wake of guitarist Fred Mascherino’s departure in 2007. “After Fred left, we took a minute to regroup and then got right back into it,” he explains, adding that finding Matt Fazzi, Mascherino’s eventual replacement was a blessing for the band. “[Fazzi] isn’t only one of my favorite musicians in the world to play with, but he’s become one of my closest friends and that’s a really great feeling,” Rubano says. “I just really love the guy and trust him; I have a great time with him and he’s as funny as he is interesting–plus he’s always got his own point of view and has a really strong personality. He just ended up being the right guy in every department.”

Although Fazzi was the first and last person that Taking Back Sunday auditioned for the band, they still went through an extensive audition process they hope to never endure again. “It was so awkward,” frontman Adam Lazzara explains. “We’re really good at being able to laugh at ourselves, but that process was just weird; the person trying out feels weird and all of us in the band feel weird, too,” he continues. “We tried to make it comfortable, but it’s just an awkward setting. What was that quote they use in The Dark Knight to sum up the movie: ‘The night is always darkest before the dawn’? that’s kind of how it was, but instead of darkest it was the most awkward before the dawn.” [Laughs.]

Rubano concurs: “I would not want to go through it again because it’s so weird, and it puts you in some uncomfortable situations. There were some people who were great and there were some auditions that were a minute-and-a-half long that were just so abominable where you go, ‘Okay, let’s not waste either of our time,’ and I don't like being in that position,” he continues. “I don’t like being the guy that says, ‘Thank you very much, we’ve got what we need,’ you know? It sucks. It’s hard, man, because this is a very organic thing that you have to go about in a very inorganic way.”

While the band don’t want to name who else tried out because they don’t want it to reflect poorly on anyone, the group were acutely aware of how the addition of a new member would affect the dynamic of Taking Back Sunday-and in the end, they’re happy they spent so much time on their search. “We had guys, who had previously been in other bands, that we auditioned that all would have had a very significantly different effect on the band because they were coming from very different points of view and different music backgrounds,” Rubano explains. “Ultimately the combination of Matt’s musicianship and personality made him a perfect fit.” –Jonah Bayer

Plenty of former members have gone onto form other bands you might have heard of–like BRAND NEW, STRAYLIGHT RUN and more. Check out those who can say: I USED TO BE IN TAKING BACK SUNDAY.

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