What Doesn't Kill You

“We’re currently finishing up our run headlining the fifth annual Glamour Kills Tour here in the US,” New Found Glory drummer Cyrus Bolooki begins from the depths of Seattle, surrounded by party pals We Are The In Crowd, Fireworks and more. Despite being in good company and touring their new record, Resurrection, around the US to a solid response, the writing and recording process for the band’s eighth record wasn’t an easy one to get to.

It’s been a tough 12 months for the pop-punk icons, and a year that almost saw the demise of the band. When former guitarist Steve Klein was charged with lewd conduct with a minor, their world was thrown into chaos. “Given the circumstances, I think a lot of bands wouldn’t have continued their career after going through changes, yet for us we used it as a springboard to push us to continue and make sure that no one or no thing would stop us from doing what we love,” Bolooki comments on the situation.

Pushing through the heartache of the publicly aired case, the band landed on their feet, and became closer because of it. It’s not surprising the new record feels more mature and perhaps well rounded than previous offerings. “This time around we were able to channel some of the feelings and emotions we had been going through for the past year and put those things into lyrics and themes for the songs on this album…rather than focusing on only relationships, you have lyrics that deal with how to overcome struggles, or how to look inside yourself and question and really figure out if you are truly doing what you want to do with your life.  By putting a lot of these themes in our new songs, it helped us to deal with and move past our own struggles.”

A restructure in line-up also rendered for a different writing and recording process. Where in the past the band had entered the studio and hashed things out as they were going, they spent more time collaborating before entering the studio. By the time they went into track, the album was completely written. “[It] allowed us to focus on the recording process more, making sure that what we recorded really captured the sounds and overall feeling that we had while writing the material.  It also allowed for us to be able to live with a lot of the songs for a longer period of time before we entered the sessions.”

Overcoming a trying year, and bringing the new material to Australia for Soundwave, it’s clear New Found Glory aren’t going anywhere anytime soon. “I think we’re all closer and tighter as a band, not only musically on stage, but also personally as well.  Sometimes unfortunately I think it can take a bad experience to really put things in perspective, but after overcoming what we have had to endure throughout the past year, we know now that we can push through and survive almost anything, and there’s a big sense of confidence and tranquility that comes along with that.  We’re here for the long haul, and we’re going to keep pushing on for years to come.”