Adam Lazzara of Taking Back Sunday

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On March 18th Taking Back Sunday releases its sixth full-length record so we got on the phone with vocalist Adam Lazzara to learn more about it.

When did you start writing this record?

We started writing not too long after the self-titled record came out. Just because we all live in different states, whenever we got home from tour we would get together to write and find a place that was kind of out of the way so there weren’t many distractions.

This time I noticed you went with two producers, Marc Hudson and Mike Sapone, instead of returning to Eric Valentine like you did with the self-titled.

That kind of happened haphazardly because we had done a round of demos in Michigan with Marc Hudson and then we did another round of demos in New York with Mike Sapone. When it came time to actually record the record we thought things went so well when we were demoing with those guys, so if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. We’ve had a relationship with Mike Sapone since the band started so that is one reason we went back. As for Marc Hudson he’s been touring with us for years so it was just two guys we felt really comfortable with because they were our friends first. There really wasn’t much of an outside influence.

How would you compare and contrast working with the two of them?

Well they’re both really great engineers as well as producers. The thing is Marc pays a lot of attention to detail in the songs themselves while Mike is more about capturing the mood. At first I think we were worried that recording the record with two different producers might make it not sound cohesive, but the end product though, when I sit back and listen to it I think we’re the only ones who are really able to tell who produced what.

What made you choose Happiness Is as the title?

Originally I was just going through all the lyrics on the record and trying to find a phrase or something that really stood out, but nothing really popped up its head as the thing that should sum up the record. I think we went with Happiness Is because it’s kind of a blanket statement about where the band is right now. We were much more comfortable writing with each other this time around and there wasn’t any kind of outside influence as we were writing and recording. I think it just speaks a lot to where Taking Back Sunday is right now.

I think this is the third record you’ve recorded with this line-up, which is sort of a record breaker for the band.

Yeah, I guess two was the limit but now we’ve broken that and done three, which is a big accomplishment for Taking Back Sunday. For us we don’t really think about it like that though, honestly it feels like the next record.

Yeah, this is still the sixth Taking Back Sunday record. Was there anything you wanted to do with this one that you weren’t able to do previously?

Well for us I think we just wanted to go where the songs were taking us, I know that sounds like a real hippie statement, but we didn’t go in there with any expectations or preconceived notions about how we had to write songs a certain way. When we all got into the room together we just sat down and said ‘Let’s make the best songs that we can make.’ We’ve always had that in mind when we were writing in the past, but since there wasn’t any outside influence I think that makes it one of our most honest records. I think it’s the truest example of what happens when the five of us get in the room together and start making things.

One of the songs that sort of stands out to me is “Better Homes and Gardens?” How did that one come about?

Well Mark our drummer had the guitar parts for it, that main little riff. We were in West Virginia during that time on top of this mountain in a really old colonial house and we just started writing it one day and worked back and forth. The words just sort of happened right then and I think there was something about the mood of the guitar part and then the idea that Mark had for the drums as well. I think the words are very fitting for it.

It seems to be about divorce, would you agree?

If you want it to be yeah, I’d say it could be something along those lines. I’d say it’s open for interpretation, my hope is that someone always takes our songs and make them their own.

This is also your first record for Hopeless. What’s it like being back on an indie again?

It’s actually been great, it’s really something else to be working with people who are excited about what you’re doing. I feel like it’s just a great home for us and also Eric Tobin, who’s one of the guys over there, I’ve been friends with him since the early 2000s and I think he’s one of the smartest people around in the business of music right now.

You also just released a video for “Stood a Chance.” How did the concept for that come about?

Yeah, the concept came from the director Evan Brace. For us what caught our eye about it originally was that it was very bright and colourful and we had never done anything like that. The song itself is an upbeat poppy tune, but of course it’s juxtaposed with a darker lyrical content. Still we wanted something that had more of an upbeat feeling to it and then because we never tried anything that was seemingly that happy we decided to go with that idea.

You’ll be hitting the road soon.

Yeah, we leave this week and we’ll be out with the Used which is all over the U.S. and a bit of Canada throughout the spring. Hopefully the weather is nice, it’s been awfully cold lately.

Do you think Taking Back Sunday might do a full Canadian tour again or will it just be a select few cities?

I’d like to do the full Canadian tour again, I’m actually a temporary resident and I’d like to take advantage of that so hopefully we could work that out, I’m not sure. It’s funny because I think over the years we’ve only done a full Canadian tour once which doesn’t make much sense to me, I might have to make a few phone calls.

Yeah, the last and only time I saw you in Winnipeg was in 2007.

With Underoath? Yeah, it’s about time. It’s funny with those things too, just how they work out. Your schedule gets filled up and then when you step back and look at it for a minute you’re like ‘Wait, why don’t we go here and here?’ I’ll have to talk to my people about that.

What else is next for Taking Back Sunday?

For us the record is out on March 18 and we’ll just be touring and playing these new songs for as many people who want to hear them. That’s the main plan.

This article was originally published on AbsolutePunk.net

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