Got a bit of the way through this - Ryan said he decided early on that he would like a co-writer (for the first time in YC's history) as he hadn't done a full length or really written much pop punk in a decade. Mendez suggested Nick Long for that. - Ryan says he was intimidated and overwhelmed at first because he had been out of the game for a while (felt imposter syndrome) but the writing process got him back in it pretty quickly. - Songwriting started in April of 2024 - Said it was a struggle to try to keep the recording process a secret because it was obvious they were all together in LA - Songwriting process went back to their roots as far as writing a song from the ground up in a room together instead of writing instrumental demos separately then adding vocals later (which he says was the common practice post-Paper Walls) - Travis (as a producer) likes to sit back, let everyone hash out ideas while he listens/watches, and then chimes in with a great idea out of nowhere. He was also very encouraging and gave them a lot of confidence. Was very committed, giving them ideas and feedback in the middle of the night. Edit: Also describes the record as "Pure Yellowcard" which is exactly how I feel about the two new songs.
There are three parts of that ap series. In the second part, the Ryans talk about Big Blue Eyes being a proud moment of a song. Sean and Josh seem to reference it in the third video as well. As for the first video posted here, I think the main takeaways are that the band is pushing ahead full steam (as we know). They are grateful and very complimentary of Travis and Nick. Ryan was pretty hesitant in the writing process at first, but got to a very confident place as it went along. Travis played a role in that.
Really cool to see Josh Madden's name in the list of creds, met him once back in the day, he's a nice dude.
I just realized my son’s due date is the same date as the album release. Man, this one is going to be extra special.
Second time they played it – the first time was the night before. Ryan says it during the intro to the song! This song rips live. I can't believe all of this is happening for them, and for all of us