Interviews (219)

• April 7, 2018
• Colleen Johnson
• 1190
• 0

Makeout has had an explosive first year as a band. Their debut album “The Good Life” was casually produced by iconic producer John Feldman and their first show was opening for Blink 182. With a full run on this summer’s Warped Tour, the band is poised for greatness. I caught up with the band while they were out with Icon for Hire and I think the interview happened at the perfect time. We talked in full about their journey so far as well as dissecting the Warped Tour lineup! As well, the interview happened to fall on the first year anniversary of the band which allowed them to have an emotional moment filled with a lot of hugs. Find our interview below and catch the band on all of Warped Tour this summer!

Obviously you are on tour with Icon for Hire. Makeout has been really busy ever since the record has really been released, it’s been a crazy journey. How have these shows been going for the most part? How have these sets been going, how have the fans been coming out for Makeout?
Sam Boxold: Honestly, we’ve been super surprised by how well Icon draws. So we’ve had like a mix of some of our fans coming out. We’ve had like fifteen or twenty kids come for us and then past that, we just garner a whole bunch of new fans which is sick. Yeah like 350 kids was probably one of the biggest nights.
Alex Lofton: I think it was more then that honestly.
SB: Maybe 400?
AL: Or like 450, the tour’s been super cool. We’ve been making a lot of fans and having a lot of people come out for us. It’s been cool to see kids kind of singing the words to the record and stuff. Because we’ve done a little bit of touring but it’s been a lot of more like one off’s and stuff. Like we did Europe and stuff. We did the Blink dates and stuff so it was cool to kind of see that turnover into people coming out and seeing us from the headliner or what not.
SB: But this tour, it’s a lot more than what we got to do with the headliner. So like I didn’t know what to expect realistically but it’s been awesome.
Tyler Young: Yeah there’s been fans coming out singing the words every night. It’s great!
Because that headliner wasn’t super long ago, right? You played Sonia’s I think.
AL: December.
So it’s only been a few months since you’ve been in Boston and the record is still so new. It only came out in September. So maybe you say these kids are singing the songs, obviously it’s been a lot of buzz off this first record, you’re opening for Blink 182, which a lot of bands don’t get to do this early on.
SB: Yeah super lucky.
When did you kind of start writing the songs for “The Good Life”? When did that record kind of start coming together? Was it something where you were purposely writing for this album or were some of them like much older?
SB: Yeah, so we met John (Feldman) about two years before the record came out.
AL: So from the point we met him, he pushed us to kind of start broadening our horizons and start really thinking about what we wanted to be and kind of calling us generic in a way. The way we sounded before in our old band. Yeah so from that point, we started writing. We had like seventy or so songs then there was a pretty clear direction from some of those demo’s. Then honestly, most of the record came together when we were recording it. We just created all new pieces of work and it was like, wow these are way better than anything we came up with before. It took forever though, it was like two years.
TY: It took a long ass time.
Long time in the making?
TY: Really long time.
Then working with John Feldman, you say that you guys obviously had a band before but John Feldman, iconic for making so many massive records. It must have been incredible.
SB: It was definitely massive, it was sick.

Then you’re on this tour and you’re playing all of Warped Tour .It feels like they’re trying to let so many bands play this last Warped Tour, you’re one of the lucky few that’s playing the whole thing compared to two weeks.
AL: Yeah there’s a lot of smaller runs for a lot of people.
Or like the really big bands that are playing like one day. Like Paramore, Frank Turner. Did you do Warped Tour with your previous band or will this be your first one?
SB: We did the two week kind of thing.
So maybe going into this Warped Tour, maybe bands that you’re looking forward to seeing or other bands that kids should check out, besides obviously Makeout, that are playing this year?
SB: I’m always stoked for Don Broco, I’m really excited to see them.
I think it’s their first one too. Don Broco only started touring the states like a year and a half ago.
SB: Oh wow.
AL: Waterparks of course.
SB: Those are our friends, we like Waterparks.
TY: Chase Atlantic is going to be sick. They’re on our stage.
SB: Are All Time Low on Warped?
I think they’re doing like one date.
AL: Yeah they’re on a few dates. All Time Low, Sum 41 I want to see.
TY: I think our stage is just sick. Just a bunch of cool bands.
AL: Yeah, As It Is, With Con.
TY: With Con and Waterparks are going to be fun. There are going to be mad hangs for us for sure.

And you have these bands like you guys that are newer but then you also have those bands that have been on it forever like Mayday Parade and The Maine.
SB: Oh The Maine are doing it too?
Yeah they’re doing the whole thing.
SB: Oh, that’s going to be so sick!

Then like we’ve said, you guys have had a band before but Makeout is still very new.
AL: Yeah it’s been a year. Our one year birthday is the 22nd.
TY: Wait what’s today?
SB: It’s our birthday!
AL: It was the first Blink show.

Well, that’s incredible. I caught you on a good day then. I’m glad I live in Boston and not somewhere else! Then speaking of that, you’re one year into this band, still so early in 2018, you have Warped Tour, you’re on this tour. Really big year ahead of you or planned for you. Maybe a focus or goals for Makeout in these next few months?
AL: For us really, it’s just touring. Making sure we can just get everywhere.
SB: We’re also trying to work on getting more content.
TY: More “content” so maybe more music videos. Possibly.
AL: We feel, we’re still so young and we have such a good record and not a lot of people have heard it yet. We just really want everyone to hear it. So right now that’s the main goal for us.
TY: Just to spread the word.
AL: Spread “The Good Life”. Spread it everywhere.