Maycomb

It's bands like Maycomb that really give new British pop-punk a great reputation. Along with All or Nothing and Wolves at Heart; they're at the top of their game at the moment.

Last year the Wolverhampton based foursome played with a plethora of cracking bands that are breathing new life into the pop-punk scene over in the states such as Man Overboard, Transit, The Wonder Years and Set Your Goals. Their sound is catchy, melodic and solid. Keep an eye on these guys in 2011, they're sure to be making waves within the UK scene and proving we can do it just as good as the Americans.

Guitarist Jonathan Ward chats to Kiki Vs Everyone about the band's sound, their views on the state of the music industry and their dream tour...

How would you describe your sound?
At the heart of it, we’re a pop-punk band. That said, I’d like to think that we have some elements of other genres in our music, and we like to bring in a number of outside influences when we are writing - whether that’s from books, films, games, or just trying to incorporate some of the different things that might be going on in our lives at a specific time. I think that all these elements help to make the ‘Maycomb’ sound.

I think that pop-punk is an interesting genre at the moment, as I feel that it’s going through a sort of revival. There are a lot of great bands that are really pushing the boundaries of what consititutes pop-punk, and to me, that’s very exciting. We’re honored and humbled to be a part of it.

If you could only listen to one band forever more, who would it be any why?
I can’t speak for the rest of the guys, and I’d like to think that this would be a difficult question – whittling all the bands and artists that I love down to just one. Really, it’s quite easy. I think that I could listen to The Hold Steady every day, and nothing else, and not get bored.

Craig Finn’s vocal delivery sits somewhere between spoken word and singing, and it always feels sort of conversational. It’s like he’s telling the listener a story, one-on-one. I find that very endearing. Also, their songs are always so multi-faceted, that I find myself drawn to different parts every time I listen, or noticing things that snuck past me on previous listens. I really can’t say enough good things about them. If you’re not familiar with them, they come highly recommended.

How do you feel about the music industry? Is it hard for bands to break out these days?
It’s extremely hard for bands to break out, mainly due to over saturation. Whether for better or for worse, there are so many bands around at the moment and it’s a struggle just to be heard. It’s a very competitive environment to work in, due simply to the volume of bands, and the nature of the music industry.

None of us are in this to make money, which is probably a good thing, as there is virtually no money to be made. I’ll be honest, we’re broke as hell, and for the longest time we were really struggling to understand what we were doing wrong. It’s only recently that I’ve come to realise we’re not alone in this. It’s virtually impossible for anyone to make money in this industry through music, especially on the bottom rungs of the ladder, where we reside. The best chance a band has of staying alive is the support that they get from fans and merch sales. That side of being in a band is more important than ever now – you really need to try and be business minded, just to stay afloat.

It’s understandable that so many great bands break up due to money troubles, before the really get a chance to break out. I honestly think that Maycomb will keep playing together for as long as we can afford to. That’s quite a sad thought, but thankfully we have some great fans behind us and that really helps. Hopefully we have a while left in us yet.

What would your dream tour line up look like?
We’ve already been lucky enough to tour with some really great bands, full of even better people, such as The Wonder Years, I Call Fives, All or Nothing, Basement, and Sam Little. From these shows, we’ve learnt that it’s so important to be surrounded by good people while on the road. The fact that it’s a pleasure to watch their set every single night is a bonus.

For that reason I think a dream tour line-up for us would have to be all of those guys on the same bill - all of our friends in the same room. Maybe stick The Hold Steady on to open, too. That’d be nice.

What makes your band stand out from the crowd?
I think this is difficult to answer, as we can only see the band from an internal perspective. It’s tough to gauge how other people will perceive us. We’re not really trying to be anyone, or sound like any one particular thing. All we do is write songs that we would want to listen to, and write them about real things that happen to us. We try to be very honest. If people don’t like our music then that’s okay, and if they do, then that’s great.

+44 Vs Angels & Airwaves? This is pretty tough. I think they’re about as good as each other, and I didn’t really hear that much stuff by either. I think Angels & Airwaves had more albums, but from what I remember there were quite a few good songs on the +44 record. I like that song, Lycanthrope. On that basis it’s +44 for me.

Marvel Vs DC? I’m pretty big into comic books, and you have to make mine Marvel. The DC characters never spoke to me on any level. I dig Batman, and Constantine is pretty cool, but in my opinion their roster is pretty weak outside that. When I was little, this family friend hooked me up with hundreds of X-men comics and my love for all things Marvel blossomed from there. I know Jack (Owen – Guitar) is pretty big into Spider-man (if his bed sheets are anything to go by), so as a band, we’re backing Marvel in this one. Sorry, Bats.

Stadium shows Vs Basement shows? Basement shows without a doubt. We would much rather play a completely full, 80 capacity dive, than a 1000 capacity hall that was only half full. For us, live shows are all about atmosphere, and we love nothing more than playing on the floor with a bunch of people right in front of us – no barrier, no stage, just us and them. It always makes for a good time. We tend to be quite conversational with the audience, and with each other, throughout our set, and being so close to the audience in that physical way always helps to generate a good rapport. All of our best shows have been the smaller ones.

Lindsay Lohan Vs Britney Spears? I honestly don’t know anything that Lindsay Lohan has done apart from star in Mean Girls, be a lesbian for a little while, and go a bit crazy. I liked Mean Girls though so I’ll give her that. Britney is rad. I think she’s been consistently good for a real long time now, which is admirable. I don’t know how any of the rest of the band feels about Britney or Lindsay. I’m thinking they’re probably indifferent. For me, Britney wins this one, despite being quite mental. All the best people are a little bit mental though.

iPhone Vs Blackberry? I’m afraid the jury’s out on this one. I’ve had an iPhone for a few months now, and probably use it more than my PC, so I’m pretty into it. Simon just got one too, but Jack’s had a blackberry for a few years, and he’s devoted to it. Jimmy has an old ghetto piece of equipment that does the job, though I’ve heard him utter ‘I want an iPhone’ on more than one occasion. We’re split, but based solely on numbers, Maycomb choose the iPhone. Maybe they’ll hook us up an endorsement or something if we talk about them enough. A kid can dream.

Summer Vs winter? Personally, I used to prefer the winter, until one summer when I was sitting around in my shorts drinking a beer and thinking about how stupid winter is. Since then, I’ve always been a summer kind of guy, and I can safely say that we are a summer kind of band. Most of the tours we’ve done have been in the winter and that sucks. November just gone, we spent two weeks with our friends I Call Fives from New Jersey, touring the UK in the world’s coldest and least reliable van, and at times, it got pretty grim. We were all completely ill, and coughing, and shivering, and throwing up, and praying for death’s sweet release for most of that tour. Despite all of this, we still had a blast and can’t wait to hopefully do some more shows with those guys.

Any parting words?
If you took the time to read this, thank you very much for doing so. We’re about to go and record our debut full-length record, so please keep a look out for that in the summer.

Also, it’s very important to us that people who like the music really get behind smaller bands. It’s a struggle just being in a small band a lot of the time, and it really helps when people go out to shows and buy merch. It’s the only way to keep bands alive. In this vein, please check out our friends in All or Nothing, I Call Fives, Wolves at Heart, Basement, Save Your Breath, The James Cleaver Quintet, and Kyoto Drive. They all work extremely hard.

For more on the band, drop them an e-mail, or head to any of the following sites: Facebook, Myspace, Twitter, Tumblr and Youtube. Or check out http://www.maycomb.bigcartel.com/ and http://www.bandcamp.maycomb.com/