Tyler Posey of Five North on leaving PVMNTS and happily starting over

While most fans recognize Tyler Posey from his various acting roles (most notably on MTV’s Teen Wolf), they got another treat when his band PVMNTS released their debut EP Better Days last year. The pop-punk outfit brought the goods with such bouncy tracks as “Standing (On My Own Two Feet).”

But then in late April, Posey announced that he and drummer Nick Guzman had left the band, leaving Freddy Ramirez to continue with new members under GRAVESEND. Then earlier this month, Posey announced his new band, Five North, with a brash, John Feldmann-produced track, “This Mess.”    

Read more: blink-182 join Goody Grace as he bares his heart on “Scumbag”

Posey is psyched about his new band, which features his longtime friend Kyle Murphy on bass and Makeout drummer Scott Eckel. He spoke with AltPress about being crestfallen with certain aspects of PVMNTS and how promising Five North feel to him. As part of the roster of Big Noise, the new label formed by Feldmann, he’s smiling a lot more these days.

Straight up, why did you walk out of PVMNTS?

TYLER POSEY: A bunch of reasons, man. I put a lot of money and personal things into the band. I don’t really like using my [acting] platform to help me move forward in a certain career path—I want to earn it. So I put a lot into the band and used my name to help us get out there, but not in a forceful way. I wanted to do it in a way where I felt like I was earning it but also taking advantage of my position. So I put a lot into that band—money, manpower and a lot of equity.

Read more: Awsten Knight accidentally wrote a book but the result is as real as it gets

And so these dudes that I grew up with, it was awesome writing music with them for years, but then starting a business with them became a little tricky. You forget that writing music and creating great tunes with your friends is one thing, but being in a band is really starting a business. I felt like there were things that I kept having to pick up on the business side that were being dropped a lot from the other guys. It just felt like we weren’t on the same page. I wasn’t really happy: I didn’t really feel like it was going to get any better. And as soon as I took off, I felt this relief come over me.

And, you know, I don’t think that’s a coincidence as much as I would have loved for that band to progress and just get over whatever shit we had. I really don’t think it was going to happen. So I think this is the best possible outcome. We’re still friends. I got lunch with Nick, our drummer, not too long ago, and he and I are still very friendly. Freddy still [has] taken PVMNTS to the next level. He’s got a new band name for it now. There were a lot of disagreements, [and] I think we’re all happier now that we’re all in a different place.

Read more: 15 celebrities you probably didn’t realize were also in a band including Tyler Posey, Gaten Matarazzo and more

So there were no problems with the music you were making? It was just nuts and bolts and logistics that had nothing to do with the stuff coming out of the speakers?

I really enjoyed writing music with those dudes, and I loved being onstage with those guys. We both wrote the same kind of music. We [had] the same inspirations growing up and the same goals. 

I think there were moments in the writing process [where] I would have to bite my tongue a lot and just shut my mouth and let them handle some shit. So the writing process for me wasn’t always the most fun. A lot of the writing process in PVMNTS felt like it was a compromise. Now being with Feldmann and Kyle and Scott, it’s a completely different atmosphere, and it’s fucking awesome. 

Read more: Tyler Posey leaves PVMNTS, remaining member shares statement  

Have you done a lot of recording? Feldmann’s a busy dude: Are you just waiting to get things done?

We’ve got an eight-song EP coming out, including the single that we already have out. Maybe five more or that at least for the album that we’re working on for next year. We banked a shitload of songs working with Feldmann. He’s working with, like, 10 other bands right now. So for now, we’re good. We’ve got our immediate pathway set up for us. We’re going to try to get on some supporting tours to try to maybe do a couple of headlining release parties. 

Are you actively changing the way you conduct business, as opposed to the way you worked in PVMNTS?

As a band, PVMNTS did things in a weird way. We’d release a single, and then we started a headlining topper with one song out. The kids didn’t really know too many of the songs, and they were really sweet and supportive. But I want to do it a little differently this time around. I want to have more music out and just be a little bit more refined when we actually play. And I want to do more supporting tours. We didn’t really do many supporting [in] the previous band. So that’s the immediate path that we’ve got set up for us right now. 

Read more: Makeout return: New singer, former Sleep On It bassist and no “Secrets”

We have a music video that we’re gonna shoot in the next couple of weeks for a single that we just came out with. It’s a really fucking cool idea. We’re gonna try to do most of our music videos like this. It’s going to be like a short film, and then we make a music video out of it. [Because] I’ve been acting my entire life, I’ve been wanting to mix the two worlds. I haven’t really known how, so that felt like this was a pretty cool idea that we could do that. We’re working on it. We’ve got a music video [and] really cool ideas for our live sets. 

So what songs are you looking to follow “This Mess” with?

Dude, there’s a bunch! But the one I’m really leaning toward is this song called “Same Old Story.” And it’s really fucking cool and different. The songs are pretty sweet, and these things sound pretty goddamn eclectic. We embody that mindset that when we come into the studio, we have no ceiling—[we] just play whatever we want to. 

I know we’re not holding ourselves back. And I think PVMNTS did that without really knowing we were doing that. But I feel like the opportunities that we are making for Five North are just bigger—and there’s more of them.

Tyler Posey and bandmates Kyle Murphy and Scott Eckel talk more about Five North in the next issue of AP, #376 with cover stars Waterparks, which is available here or below.