An Interview With The Well-Known Punk Band, BAYSIDE On Their Latest 8th Studio Album, ‘Interrobang’!

The renowned punk act Bayside just released their 8th – and heaviest – studio album, “Interrobang,” merely two weeks after first announcing it. The condensed roll out was a riff-heavy blitzkrieg that has knocked Bayside fans on their asses.  

“Interrobang” is a punctuation mark that combines an exclamation and a question mark. For Raneri, the title represents the feelings the band’s 8th studio album invokes from the listener. “We wanted the record to feel exciting and new, but also sound like a natural progression for the band,” Raneri explains, “We just wanted to keep the listener on their toes -there is a ton of information being thrown out -and if you want to take it all in -you can’t stop paying attention for a second.” The result is the heaviest rock album of the band’s career juxtaposed with the most catchy, melodic hooks the band has ever created. Working with acclaimed producer, Cameron Webb (NOFX, Motorhead, Alkaline Trio), the band embraced his eclectic résumé and pushed the boundaries of what a Bayside song could sound like. “Cameron (Webb) has worked with a really wide range of artists, from NOFX and Lagwagon to Kelly Clarkson to Motorhead and Megadeth,” Raneri shared, “We thought it would be perfect to work with (him) because we see ourselves as sitting somewhere in between all of those artists.”

In the band’s nearly 20 year history they have established themselves as one of the most consistent acts in the punk scene.

Bayside are currently supporting the new record with The Interrobang Club Tour. A series of small club shows that see the band playing some of their smallest rooms in years, The Interrobang Club Tour kicked off on November 6th and features special guests Sincere Engineer and Capstan.

Connect With Bayside Online Here-

www.facebook.com/Bayside
www.twitter.com/baysideband
www.instagram.com/bayside

Learn more about Bayside in the following All Access interview-

Thanks for your time! Now that we are into the last months of the year, how would you say that 2019 has treated this band? What have been some goals this group has had this year? How close are you to reaching them?  What are you already excited about for 2020?

2019 was a good year for us. We didn’t play a lot of shows we have been taking a lot of time off to get our new album Interrobang written and recorded. I feel very fortunate that we were allowed this much time to really develop an album and we have created one that we are very proud of and everyone seems to be liking a lot also. We are currently out on a tour supporting this record and the shows have been great so far. Next year will be the 20th anniversary of Bayside so we have some fun stuff up our sleeves.

Can you recall the moment when you thought you could be in this group together? Was it hard to think of a name that you could all agree on? Where did your name come from exactly?

The four of us have all come into this band at different times. Anthony started the band in 2000 I came in around 2003 Nick came in in 2004 and Chris came to us in 2006. When our old drummer Jim and bass player andrew left the band in 2004 I spoke with Anthony about the future of the band I knew that this was something that I would pursue long-term depending on who else we found to replace the rhythm section. As far as the naming of our band goes, ant was the only of us in Bayside at the time in the year 2000 and was on his way to a new found glory show to drop off a demo for them to hear and seeing as how the band was from Bayside I believe they were driving past the train station in Bayside and that was quickly jotted down onto a CD.

How do you think your hometown has influenced the sound and how you all carry yourselves in this group? How has the music scene there changed over the years?

I’m the one person in the band not from New York so I have never felt a hometown connection to Long Island personally. I do have a lot of friends there though. Bayside had always been touring and actually was bigger in a lot of other places besides Long Island when we first started. We spent a lot of time in Florida and Chicago and parts of southern Texas where we had more of a hometown reception than we did in Long Island for a long time. Now playing in Long Island is a much different story, we are getting real love when we come back. We never really sounded that much like a lot of the other Long Island bands though.

Let’s talk about your latest 8th album, “Interrobang.” What was it like recording this collection? How would you compare to your past albums?

It was a lot of fun to make this record. We had decided early on that the direction for this record was going to be heavy and interesting. With having as much time as we had to develop and record this record it seems like we really stay true to the plan and came out with a record that we feel was the record we had tried to make. I personally believe that this is our strongest record to date and it seems that a lot of fans are agreeing with that sentiment.

While it’s difficult, can you talk about some of your favorite songs on this album? How did they come to be on this collection?

I really do like every song on this album. Again with the amount of time that we had to develop and polish all of the songs I truly believe that each of these songs has a good home in this album. My personal favorite to play might be tall just because it has some of the more interesting guitar work for me personally on the record.

Can you elaborate on the battle of the bands contest that you had on your website? How was the submissions process? Who were some groups that impressed you?

We wanted to offer the opportunity for a local band in each city to have the opportunity to have a strong hometown show where they wouldn’t have to pay to play and so far it’s working! We did get over 1000 submissions and had 200000 votes that ended up in 29 bands to open these shows. There were some elements of people feeling slighted or people believing things aren’t being run properly but for the most part this was a huge success and the bands we have had so far are all great and deeply appreciative. The hope is these bands will take thin experience and may be in a position to pay the forward someday.

Generally, how does this group go about writing your music? Do you write together or separately? What is the first step in your music-making process?

Typically Anthony will come up with a chord  progression and a basic vocal melody that we will pass around and We all keep adding to it and changing it  until we get into the studio where we finally put all of our stamps on it. During the writing process for this last record we had the opportunity to go stay with a friend who has a studio in California a few times and I know that us being together in a room and actually working on the songs together is a large part of this record feeling as developed as it is. So we do work on parts individually but work together to make sure all the individual pieces fit.

I always like to ask bands if you all hang out socially apart from the music? In other words, when you aren’t working on music, do you guys enjoy hanging out for fun?

Chris and Nick both live in southern California and work together with legal speed. Anthony and I both live outside of Nashville but both have families so we stay pretty busy on our own. Our kids get together and play fairly regularly so we see each other then.

How do you feel that this band has grown through the years? What has remained the same?

Over the years we certainly have established a definitive identity for our band with both the aesthetic and the sound it is something that we’ve all become very comfortable with. All of us have become substantially better players in the songwriting process has become more streamlined as we continue to work together. Outside of all this before of us are ultimately still the same people though.

Where do you think you are all happiest- in the studio recording new music, on stage performing or elsewhere?

Honestly I’m the happiest spending time with my family but I love all the elements of creating and performing music. The writing is emotionally exhausting but rewarding, committing  those ideas to a record is stressful but exhilarating, performing new material is scary until it becomes comfortable and then it becomes blissful.

What do you think makes for an ideal show for this band? What have been some of your favorite shows and venues lately?

Good crowd, good sound and good performance. We played music hall in Williamsburg yesterday and it was a great show!

How has social media impacted this band? How often are you all on your different sites interacting with fans? How have you been able to utilize it through the years?

It allows bands to directly have contact with their fans. It’s usually important for marketing advertising and also to give fans insight into the bands personalize personalities and any other content we think would be cool for people to see or hear. I guess we’re pretty much like anyone else, on our phones all the time dealing with social media. It’s a blessing and a curse

We are currently living through a very trying and politically charged time right now so I am curious to know how you all think being musicians and in this band still gives you the most joy in life today? Do you find that your music is an escape to all the current events?

Music has always had a real positive impact on my life and it makes me happy to know that music that we make provides that same type of happiness and escape for other people.

What musicians continue to inspire you all since you first started making music together?

We all listen to very different music but I like to keep trying to explore new music and draw from new influences. If we’re all still playing the music it will always feel like us but I like to think that new influences make small differences. Recently been listening to a lot of Charlie Christian and have been enjoying the new white reaper album.

What do you hope is the message of your music? What do you hope people continue to take away from your songs?

The message is whatever people want to take from it. I know Anthony has always spoken about not making the message too direct or specific. Everything should always be open to interpretation and people should take from it what they want. My hope is that whatever they take away from it is positive and helps our community of friends and fans continue to grow.