Taking Back Sunday

Back in late 2001, Taking Back Sunday’s founding member Eddie Reyes could only imagine what his life would be like just 3 short years later. With new bass player Adam Lazzara moved up from North Carolina to sleep on his couch and share the Top Ramen, the world was theirs for the taking. After finalizing the initial line-up and moving Adam to lead vocals the band recorded a few demos and begged anyone and everyone to have a listen. A record deal with Victory Records followed after their demo circulated to an east coast rep of the label.

Their debut album recorded a few short months later, Taking Back Sunday’s TELL ALL YOUR FRIENDS hit stores at the end of March 2002. The album sold over 2,300 copies in it’s first week after the band had barely done more than hit up the local Long Island touring circuit, played a few weeks with indie favorites Rival Schools and spent a few weeks as the opener on a multi-band packaging of the Victory Records tour.

From there it just started to pick up momentum. “We played our first shows in California and one was at a venue called Chain Reaction in Anaheim. We’re suddenly 3,000 miles from home and there are like 150 kids singing all of the words to our songs. That was when it hit us. What could really happen,” recalls Reyes.

Before they knew it, a sold out summer tour showed them and the indie label public the force they were about to become. Soon fans were singing along so fervently that it was sometimes hard to hear the stage sound. They continued touring and started getting dates and shows with more national acts, including Boxcar Racer, The Used and Jimmy Eat World. The cover of Alternative Press and features in Rolling Stone and Spin soon followed.

A spring 2003 headlining tour, aptly titled “The Takeover Tour” found the band selling out larger venues in places they had never been. Their show in Toronto, the first time ever in eastern Canada, was moved to the bigger Kool Haus venue and sold 2,300 tickets, selling the club out in advance. They were invited to join the 2003 Warped Tour and started booking television shows, their first European run, summer festivals, etc. Then, a slight change of plans took center stage. Two members decided to leave the band, leaving the future of Taking Back Sunday up in the air.

“I didn't know if Taking Back Sunday could go on,” remembers drummer Mark O’Connell. After canceling most of their plans and leaving a dim unanswered feeling of despair over their rabid fan base, they got the call they needed. Fred Mascherino, a friend and member of one of the bands who opened some of the dates on their last tour was also an extremely skilled guitarist/vocalist and eagerly applied for the opening. Soon Mark’s childhood friend and seasoned bass player Matt Rubano (best known for playing on multiple tracks on the Miseducation of Lauryn Hill album) filled up the last vacant position and Taking Back Sunday was happy to announce that they would be replacing members and continuing on, quashing rumors of a possible break-up.

When asked now about the bump in the road, all answers certainly make what could have been the worst thing that happened to the band just the opposite. Rubano explains, “Not many bands make it through a line-up change, let alone on the heels of a huge debut and before their second record. Taking Back Sunday has not only survived but seems very strong.” Guitarist Reyes adds “since getting Matt and Fred, and considering how easy everything has been with touring and making the second record, I honestly can't remember too much of the past.”

After a few weeks of rehearsal the band hit up the last three shows of the Warped Tour to let their fans know they were back at it. They began writing new songs and making up some missed shows, including re-scheduling their network television debut on Jimmy Kimmel Live that September. An appearance on Last Call with Carson Daly and a North American tour with Saves the Day in the Fall of 2003 allowed the quintet to see, feel and touch their fans from coast to coast and reassure them that the band was back. It also gave fans a taste of the new material. In December, after debuting one of their new songs on a third visit to Fuse TV’s live audience show IMX, they locked themselves away and spent the next few months crafting what would become their highly anticipated and equally scrutinized sophomore effort.

Taking Back Sunday enlisted veteran producer Lou Giordano (Sugar, Goo Goo Dolls, Sunny Day Real Estate) to come in and take five valid musical opinions and craft them into one cohesive album. “The songs really are written by all five of us. They may start with a part or an idea but it’s the five of us that make it the song it ends up being,” states Fred. ‘It’s fantastic,” recalls Lou “because they’ve grown so much and added such great musicianship, yet it’s still very much Taking Back Sunday. I was honored to be a part of this record.”

Rec