MaydayParade_2016

Knuckle Puck's Joe Taylor joins Mayday Parade for "Jamie All Over" at Riot Fest

Mayday Parade surprised the Riot Fest crowd by bringing up Knuckle Puck's Joe Taylor as a guest vocalist for their performance of “Jamie All Over.” APTV correspondent Stevie James had a chance to sit down with Mayday frontman Derek Sanders to answer fan questions and dicuss what bands he's most excited to see at Riot Fest.

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Read more: Riot Fest day 1 coverage: Interviews with Nothing More, Vic Mensa and more

AP hit the road to Chicago for Riot Fest to bring you live, on-site interviews from some of your favorite bands. Be sure to keep on eye on our Facebook page for more incredible interviews as they happen.

Derek Sanders took time out of his busy Riot Fest schedule to answer fan questions on everything from the album that saved his life to advice he would give to other bands. You can catch a few of his answers, as well as the full interview, below.

What album saved your life?

“The most meaningful album, at the time when I was 14, 15 years old, I would say Furthest Seems Forever The Moon Is Down. You just connect with it so much, and you realize that you’re not alone. It gives you hope, and it’s certainly inspiring as a musician.” 

Which one of your songs do you have the strongest emotional connection to?

“It’s tough to say but I would have to say ‘Without The Bitter, The Sweet Isn’t As Sweet’ on our self-titled album. It’s hard to even say why, but that one has always been one of my favorites. It’s very personal to me. Of course they all mean a lot to me, but that one is one that I always come back to.”

Do you have any advice for bands?

“My biggest advice is to stay positive and have fun, as long as you enjoy it and have fun, work hard, stay positive. And to do it your way. If you fake it or it’s forced, people can tell. Find out what it is you do best, and embrace that. It’s important to have a positive impact.”

Are there any bands you see that you think “Ah, you shouldn't be doing that”?

“Bands that have bad attitudes, being rude to fans — anytime you see stuff like that, it’s pretty rough, and it’s hard to see. When we started, we followed some tours and sold CDs with CD players, walking down the lines. And there’s a lot of bands that say, ‘You can’t really do that anymore.’ Everything’s changed so much. If it’s on Spotify, they’re going to listen to it on Spotify. It’s hard to get that grassroots support, even just gas money to get to the next city and keep going. Of course bands are figuring it out; obviously social media is such a huge part of it, having an online presence and finding ways to connect with your bands. It’s nice that you don’t have to have the label and the whole set up — people can just find you online no matter who you are. And if you have a message people can attach to, it can just naturally happen on its own.”

Do you ever get sick of each other?

“We’ve been a band for 12 years, and it’s still the five of us that were in the band when it started. There’s not a whole lot of bands I can think of who have maintained [the lineup]. We grew up together; we went to high school together, some of us middle school together, so it’s been this dream for so long. We realize how lucky we are and we don’t let any small stuff get in the way. We love each other and it’s a cool thing. We get along.”

Fans dubbed Mayday Parade's performance as nothing short of incredible, with reactions escalating in excitement as they brought up Knuckle Puck frontman Joe Taylor during the song “Jamie All Over”. 

Gallery Riot Fest 2017 Day 1 photos