It may be hard to imagine, bands do not always have it easy financially and often are presented with two options; give up or to persevere. For Mike Mains & The Branches their story has been all about the second option. From having their van stolen in mid-2012 to successfully fundraising enough money to record their second full length, perseverance has become the band's motto. Recently, we had the chance to speak with the band's front man Mike Mains about the past, present, and future of the band and he was more than eager to share that all challenges aside the band is here to stay. How has it been touring with Relient K, Hellogoodbye, and William Beckett?
Matt Hoops and Mat Thiesen from Relient K have been extremely encouraging to us. and me personally having people like those guys believe us It's all together inspiring and encouraging. Every and what we're doing is a shot in the arm when band on the tour is really talented, and every band is you're in such a young stage as we are as a band. a band that I listened to growing up. So it's really Even nights like tonight when you've got 600 people cool to see it come full circle. To be out [on tour] with that hear a song they've never heard and are singing band that kind of inspired me to do this has been the chorus by the time the song is over. Just that really good. energy that happens when you get in a room full of people, that we're all strangers but the one thing we Describe the shows on this tour so far. Has the have in common is we're all here for the joy of music audience been receptive of you guys? that never gets old for me. Oh my gosh yes! Especially for us being an opener In a world where money didn't exist what would be who has only got 25 minutes to kind of win the the first thing that you'd do? crowd. It seems like we have been really able to capture the hearts of the people and engage them so Still this. Absolutely. that's been exciting. The song you've written that has the most personal :What has been your favorite tour to date? meaning to you? Before this tour that we're on I loved going out with a band called The Rocket Boys. They're from Austin, Texas and we went out with them February and March of this year and it was incredible. I love those guys they've really become some of our best friends.
Forgive the clichĂŠ, but they definitely all have meaning. But I would certainly say that the one that has impacted me the most that comes from a real, real place would be "Noises" which is a new song off our new record that is coming out. That just delves into the personal struggle of song writing and the In a world where music didn't exist what would you tension that comes from wanting to do music as a be doing? living and the struggles attached to that and wanting to stay true to who I am as an artist and just write Trying to find a way to make music exist. Maybe a lot songs because what Katy Perry or Rihanna and of manual intensive labor? There is something that everyone is doing is working. I just want to be who I I've always enjoyed about working and sweating, but am, and trusting that as I'm faithful to the songs I that's always been conducive to music. I don't know. hear in my head that will work out in the end. In a world where music didn't exist I don't know if I want to live in that world. It'd be tough. Favorite song to play live? What are the best and worst things about being an independent artist?
Right now I'm loving one of our new songs called "Everything is going to be alright" that will be on our new record. That one again has been super cool The worst thing is just the basics of worrying about because no one has ever really heard of our band in rent, worrying about the financial aspects of it that a lot of the places we've been on this tour but are a challenge, but we're outgrowing a lot of our they're really gravitating to that song in particular so financial problems as we continue to excel and that's exciting. You always want to progress on your succeed as a band. The highlights are just the people next record. I've been enjoying that one. that come alongside of you during your journey.
Who are your musical inspirations? I love Relient K, I loved those guys growing up, and I still do. Matt Hoops played guitar on our record and was producing it. Aside from them I love Third Eye Blind, I love Bruce Springsteen, I love Tom Petty, and I grew up listening to a band called The Cranberries a lot in the mid to late 90s. Most recently I really enjoy The National, I've been listening to their CD a ton, and you can never go wrong with the killers. How do you feel about yourself as a song writer? On our first record I was a little less analytical. It's always very extemporaneous for me I try to sway somewhere between the juxtaposition between the rawness that comes from when you first sit down and write a song but then also refining it so that it's in the most distilled purest lyric you can come by and it maximizes all the thoughts you're trying to capture. More recently I'm a lot more analytical, re writing and re writing just to kind of make sure I'm not saying some of the same things twice and if I am repeating an idea it's in a way that is a little bit more unconventional.
What is your biggest fear as a musician? My biggest fear as a musician is not representing myself or not representing the truth and the truth is extremely honest and venerable where I am and where I'm at. I don't buy into the idea that you would always write songs that people want to hear. I get that those song have a place, but I’m not interested in writing songs specifically for the sake of selling millions of records or having singles. I think the songs that change the world come from a really honest raw and often a place of pain and I never want to lose sight of that part of me.
How does your faith impact your writing style and you as a musician? It keeps me convicted and I think it just keeps me raw. I realize that without God and everything he's done for me I wouldn't be who I am, so with that I always want to write from a place that's always very earnest and truthful. My prayer is always just that the songs that we write and the shows that we play will always create an atmosphere where people can experience the joy that I've found in my faith and just the freedom that comes with knowing that we are loved by God an celebrating that with a lot of loud amplifiers.
How would you describe your work ethic as a musician? I want to work harder than anyone else on the planet. I want to work harder than anyone else that's doing it. I have every intention of being one of the best that has ever picked up a guitar. I want to work really hard to be the best I can possibly be. My goal is to work harder than anybody else.
What is an event in your band's timeline that has impacted you guys the most? In May of last year we were on tour and visited the Alamo and when came back to hop in our van and our van was stolen. The folks that stole it stole all of our gear, our luggage, all of our possessions, everything that we had except for our phones and the clothes that we were wearing that day. In a strange way it was one of the most encouraging and hopeful times for us as a band because when you really remove all of the things you have materialistically it kind of reveals the identity of who you are as people and instead of dispersing and getting discouraged and despondent we really drew in towards each other and the love and the faith we all share and have together. It also refined us and it kind of pissed us off and made us say "Okay bring it on world, take our van take our stuff but hell or high water we're going to see this thing through all the way to the end" I feel like if we've been through that there's not a lot that we can't make it through.
How do you want your next album to be different from the first?
that you have to play it safe and just go to college and get a day job, but inspiring anyone who listens to our music or comes to one of our shows that you I want it definitely to feel like there is a page that has can do whatever you set your mind to. Also we will been turned, I don't want to sound exactly the way be known for our live shows people will have to we did on the first record and I definitely want it to come to our live shows because that’s where you showcase my growth as a songwriter and as a lyricist really find out who we are, it will always be about as a story teller but then also [to show] that we're coming and seeing us live. still Mike Mains & The Branches we're still energetic we're still upbeat and you can still put our record in What's in store for you guys after this tour? your record player, your CD player, or whatever and get in your car put on our CD and drive really fast After this tour, we finish our record in June; we're listening to our music and that's something I always submitted for several different tours coming up midwant to have. I want to write songs that make people summer and early fall so ideally we'll be releasing want to drive fast and roll the windows down and our record this fall some time. Music videos and all forget about the world for a little while. that kind of coming along, touring until from here to kingdom come. How is the recording process for your second album different from your first? Mike Mains & the Branches are currently on tour The first time we went in way more prepared and we supporting Relient K coming to a city near you! knew exactly what we wanted to do right down to the notes that we were playing so we knocked it out really quickly because we had a lot of time to prepare. The second one we went in and the idea was to just make an EP with four or five songs max and I kept bringing songs together and songs kept coming so we decided to make a full length and we went in Click here to purchase their first full with less of an idea of exactly what we wanted length "Home" because we wanted there to be a creative atmosphere in the studio and a sense of adventure and discovery. I wanted the songs to blossom in the studio. The disappointing factor is the producer that we had back in October didn't share as much of the vision of what we had and wanted to do and we had to re-track the whole record with Matt Hoops who is now producing the record. It's been a really trying time for us and it's funny because the name of the record is called "Calm Down Everything is Fine" and I feel like that's the last thing any of us have been able to do which kind of shows you that God has a sense of humor I guess. But it's been a really challenging and difficult record to finish I guess, not out of any personal struggles in the band but situation ally and things that have happened, but I couldn't be more proud of how it's coming along. Where do you see the band and yourself in five years? I see us being immensely successful and success being defined as I see us doing music for a living. I see us touring extensively and I see us being a force to be reckoned with as far as bands that are carrying the torch of rock n roll and I see us inspiring and encouraging our generation to not swallow the pill