Growing Pains

MxPx's Mike Herrera is totally ensconced in the throes of adulthood, despite the perpetually youthful tunes he's spent over two decades producing with his 'left coast punk' outfit MxPx. Case in point, when the singer was initially scheduled for this interview he was in the hospital with his wife as she gave birth to their first kid. When we eventually talk about the band's upcoming run of Australian shows, an understandably weary but incredibly personable Herrera has said baby on his mind.

“Having a newborn is a lot like travelling to Australia because you don't sleep, you feel completely weird what with the jetlag and everything, but then when you arrive you're in this really cool place.”

As Herrera sees it, being all grown up has changed what MxPx want to do with their time. Now there's a family waiting at home, things are different. The band hasn't lost any of their passion for the music, or going out on the road, but now they just need to be smarter about the logistics of it all.

“I wouldn't say that our desire to do this stuff has receded, it's just changed. Now when we go out on tour, we really want it to count. We want to be playing the places where people want to see us, and going to new places where we haven't been – to me, going to new places keeps me so stoked on being able to do this band.”

The run of touring that will really kick off the band's 2013 will be in support of last year's Plans Within Plans, MxPx's first record after a five-year gap. It's an album that fans around the world have been really digging on, according to Herrera.

“I think when it came out everybody was ready to hear some straightforward melodic punk rock, and hear a band that they were familiar with doing something new. So the fans have kind of been overwhelmingly stoked on this record, playing it live we usually work in three songs from the album live and it's been really cool to one, have new stuff to play in a set, and two, watch the crowds react really positively to the stuff.”

The record has also injected new life into MxPx's set, because 'doing the hits' for half a decade can get more than a little tired.

“Imagine being Kenny Rogers and having to play The Gambler over and over again. You'd just want to kill yourself,” Herrera laughs. “Not because that's not an amazing song, but you just get sick of doing the same things over and over again. So the new album's great for that. But it's a tough line to toe because you want to give them what they want. When I go to a show I want to see the songs that I know and like. So I always have that in the back of my mind, play all the old stuff but mix in the new, don't overkill it but let all the material have a voice.”

Herrera's mature outlook on putting together a set list is just another example of his band's age. The frontman suggests as MxPx continues to grow up, one of the most distinct pleasures of the band's career is watching how the fans grow up with the band. “I think as the band's grown up so have our fans, and we've been writing music about the things that are relevant in our lives and that has then been relevant in their lives. So now people are like, 'Alright, when's the new children's album coming out?'”

MxPx will be playing the following dates:

Wednesday 6 March – The Zoo, Brisbane QLD
Thursday 7 March – Manning Bar, Sydney NSW
Friday 8 March – Fowlers Live, Adelaide SA
Saturday 9 March – Forest Edge Festival, Melbourne VIC
Sunday 10 March – Corner Hotel, Melbourne VIC