Pop-punk giants Yellowcard return with their first collection of new songs in seven years, as they release their new EP Childhood Eyes. It’s an unexpected comeback from a band that felt like it wrapped up with a nice, neat bow in 2016.
But one performance can change everything. And as vocalist William Ryan Key describes, that’s exactly what happened last fall at Riot Fest. But as unexpected as the return might have been, the reception to Yellowcard’s newest chapter is arguably more stunning.
Packed amphitheaters filled with energized fans have greeted Yellowcard on their tour over the past few weeks. It appears to have even caught its four members off guard, who were playing to (still impressive) crowds of about 1,000 people during their final years. Key talks about that feeling while dishing out stories from how the new music and comeback came together.
How has it felt being back on tour?
I wish I could put it into words. It’s the biggest tour we’ve ever done in our entire careers. And to be doing that over 20 years in, there’s not really any rational explanation for it… In some cities we are playing venues that are literally five or six times the size of venues we would have played in, say, 2013 or ’14. And we are selling these venues out. So we are all kind of suspended in this out of body sort of sense of disbelief I think.
You’ve said you thought Yellowcard was done in 2016. What changed?
A part of doing this this late in life is you are trying to make a living. You are trying to provide for your family. It’s one of the reasons we stepped away for, what we thought was for good. Year after year, it was harder to have the level of success that made it worth being away from home for seven, eight months out of the year… In 2021 when the phone call came in about playing Riot Fest; the honest answer is why we took the call was the guarantee to play was so high that we couldn’t believe it.
And then it snowballed from there?
That started a conversation. And as soon as we confirmed we were going to play Riot Fest in 2022, I think Live Nation could smell blood. And they put together this tour that we are on now. We didn’t know at the time, but the fanbase was going to potentially be ignited in such a massive way. And with it also being the 20th anniversary of Ocean Avenue’s release, it was the perfect time for Live Nation to dangle the carrot in front of us. Once we played Riot Fest, everything was fire on all cylinders. We wanted to make some new music, which we hadn’t thought about before the show… You could tell that people were so excited to see us again. It was an open arm embrace back into the world of music.
Let’s talk about that new music. What’s it feel like to release your first album, in this case an EP, in seven years?
I think the nice thing about his EP is we have no expectations. We’re not chasing anything. We’re not trying to claw our way back to our former success. The way we are approaching things collectively is a no expectations attitude. We take it one day at a time. One show at a time. If it ends tomorrow… We will step away from it with, I think, a bigger sense of accomplishment and fulfilment this time. And if people are excited about new songs, it’s just icing on the cake… We aren’t hanging on if it is going to get played on the radio or get on a huge playlist. That’s not what’s important.
How does that attitude impact the music creation process?
I think if we keep operating on that wavelength and we go make more music and approach it in the same way, I think you are going to get really pure, core Yellowcard music from us. We just want the fanbase to be excited. I say this on stage; now that you have given us the opportunity to tour again and play at these amphitheaters you can’t take it away from us now (laughing). If we come back through in a few years you have to come back… We want to retain peoples’ attention and support and that’s going into our music.
How would you describe the new EP?
I think the music, the band itself on the EP very effortlessly captured a sound of Yellowcard’s pasts. It’s a tricky thing when you are doing that. You don’t want to be 43-year-olds sounding like 23-year-olds… The fact that we were able to stumble into the sonic direction the EP made was very cool and felt very natural. Honestly, it was almost a fun challenge for us because the last two full lengths albums we made, we had very much moved on from the pop-rock and pop-punk sound from Yellowcard just because that’s not where our hearts were at.
But this EP was different?
We were so focused on getting the fanbase excited. So how do we make a record we are pumped on, but is undeniably going to turn the true Yellowcard fans’ heads? But lyrically, I think I was able to stay more in the place of some of my songwriting of my later years… I definitely internalize much more… And turn it into song.
Is that what you did with the first single “Childhood Eyes”?
The single itself, it is a style of lyric writing that I use often in my career; turn the verse on its head in the chorus. You may be experiencing a hardship in the verse, but the chorus finds positivity. The song “Childhood Eyes,” I wanted to basically personify the music business and the industry and my experience in it… This toxic relationship, whatever you want it to be, that’s the “you” in the song. With the chorus, I try to turn back on myself, with all the negative energy in the world…And the chorus I wanted turn in a way to say “am I the only one who finds hope and positivity and following my dreams in this challenging space?” And that is the music industry.
There are plenty of great reasons to collab with Vic Fuentes (Pierce The Veil) and Chris Carrabba (Dashboard Confessional). But why did you choose those two to be on the album?
Vic and I were just texting because I just heard their new record and I was texting him telling him how good I thought it was.. And I said “hey by the way, we’ve been tossing around the idea of having guest vocals on the EP. If I send you the demos, would you be down?” And he got back to me and said “I want to do ‘Three Minutes More’.”
It sounds like you two have a good friendship. What about Chris?
Chris and I have developed a really good friendship and relationship through my time living in Nashville… So when I was venturing off into the wilderness as a solo artist, he was a huge resource for me to pick his brain. And he was always someone in my ear saying “I know Yellowcard is coming back”… So he is very happy to be saying “I told you so.”
What song is he on?
I had a song laying around that ended up going on the EP. It’s an older song I wrote in 2015, called “The Places We’ll Go”. So my vocals on that song, except for the first and the third verse, are actually vocals I tracked for myself in 2015 and they are just going on an album now… So I sent that demo to Chris… And said this song would just be gorgeous and super impactful to have your voice on it…The exposure we will get with these guys being so generous with their time, its invaluable.
The environment around the music scene has changed quite a bit with TikTok and the increase of scene solo artists since Yellowcard last released an album. How is navigating the promotional process going?
We have someone that works with the band, full-time on a salary that is running our social media campaigns. And she’s just so brilliant in the way she is able to stay in tune with what’s happening… It’s a fine line too. Like I mentioned earlier you don’t want to be writing songs in your forties that make you sound like you are in your twenties. You have to have that energy and it sounds authentic, or you will sound like you are forcing it I think… We have to walk a fine line of trends on social media that wouldn’t play well for who we are as people and the age we are now.
You were recently on a song with This Wild Life. How does it feel for you to work with bands that probably were inspired by Yellowcard to even start creating music in the first place?
I don’t think I ever got to a place in my head where I felt I was that person or we were that band… So when I’m working with someone like This Wild Life, I play Call of Duty with them. We are friends. They are huge Yellowcard fans and they joke about it all the time. But I’m just singing a song with my friends. I feel like most things are like that, whether its producing records with friends or doing guest vocals on a song, It really feels like I’m just being creative.
What is next for Yellowcard after the tour and EP?
The nice thing about what’s next is we don’t know. I feel like this is the first version of the band since Ocean Avenue that isn’t chasing Ocean Avenue. We are celebrating it now… Conscious or subconscious, it’s just impossible to say we weren’t chasing that for so many years. Right now there is just an undeniable sense of optimism or happiness from as all… I do believe it is safe to say we are operating again as a band full time.
