Give us your names and roles in the band?
My name’s Jonny Ward and I play guitar and sing backing vocals in Maycomb. Simon McCoy is our bassist and lead vocalist, Jack Owen shares guitar and backing duties, and Jimmy Taylor plays the drums. That’s us.
How did you guys all meet and when did the band form?
Jimmy and I both grew up in Wolverhampton, in the heart of the UK’s West Midlands, and met one another through attending local shows and playing in local bands. It wasn’t too long before we ended up playing in a band together.
Soon after that we met Simon, who was studying at Wolverhampton University. Simon originally started playing bass for our old band, long before we realised that he was a great vocalist, and when that band eventually fell apart Jimmy, Simon and I decided to start something fresh, with Simon singing.
We went through a ton of line-up changes before we managed to convince Jack to join us as our permanent fourth member. Jack was somewhat of a local hero to us, having previously played in bands we greatly admired, so we couldn’t believe our luck when he decided to be a part of Maycomb.
How did the name Maycomb originate?
Maycomb is the name of the fictional town in which Harper Lee’s ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ is set. Jimmy was reading it at the time that we were trying to come up with a name and it was one of the few suggestions that we all liked so we went with it. It isn’t a commonplace word and it has a bit of history, which I really like, but at the same time it’s chronically prone to mispronunciation. We’ve seen a lot of wild spellings of it in our time as a band.
Describe your music to those who aren't familiar with you guys?
We like to describe ourselves as pop-punk for grown-ups. Pop-punk is the place where all of our musical interests meet, so it’s very natural that anything we write together has roots in the genre. That said, we try to push the boundaries of pop-punk and enjoy experimenting with its conventions. Lyrically, we tend to deal with darker themes than genre normally allows for, and we feel that as a result we generate a mature and refined sound. It’s cool when kids are into it, but it’s also cool that it can be appreciated by an older audience.
What inspired you guys to get involved in playing music?
I can’t speak for the rest of the guys in the band, but I’ve been surrounded by music for my whole life. 75% of my family members are musicians so naturally I tried to rebel against it in my early teens, but it wasn’t long before I was begging my dad to teach me to play. I’m sure the others have similar stories, but I can say that I was lucky enough to have been inspired and encouraged to write, record, and perform music from an early age. I appreciate that not everyone gets that opportunity.
What artists played a big role in your sound and have shaped you into the people you are now?
I think it’s overwhelming any time someone mentions our name in the same breath as Motion City Soundtrack. Individually, we all love that band so much; the way they structure songs, the lyrics and melodies they compose, and the way the speak so passionately about the music they make. They’re a huge inspiration to us and the music we make, and it’s humbling any time that’s recognised.
We each take inspiration from so many different sources (I know Jimmy’s family has a penchant for soul music that helped to shape his tastes), but personally, I wouldn’t be who I am today without people like Paul Simon, Joe Strummer, Morrissey, Peter Green and Van Morrison. My dad has a lot to answer for.
Take us behind the recording process of "I Opened My Heart to Caustic Things" and what that whole experience was like?
Recording the album was a really fun, interesting experience. It was the most ambitious project we’d ever attempted and it got pretty intense, with time constraints constantly looming over us. We knew we wanted to do a full-length, and we spent so long meticulously writing, demoing, and practicing the songs, that when it came time to go down to London for two weeks to record with our friend Frankie Torpey, we knew them inside-out.
Recording was fairly straight forward, as once we’d got the right tones and sounds that we felt most accurately conveyed the mood of the album, it was just a case of laying everything down to the best of our ability. With the exception of a few effects and dynamics, there wasn’t a great deal of experimentation. This is something that we would probably like to have a bit more time for when we get around to doing our next record, but for our debut album it was an efficient and honest way to record. It was a lot of fun, and I’d say we’re all happy with the outcome.
What do you guys like to do for fun in your spare time when not making music or playing shows?
We’re all pretty big on movies and TV. Each of us tends to have different passions in sports, or games, or books, but we spend most of our down time watching and discussing shows and films together. Also, beers.
What's coming up next for you guys, any new music or shows in the U.S. that we should know about?
We have no immediate plans to get over to the U.S., though it’s something we’re pretty desperate to do. It’s such a fascinating country, so to be able to do what we love doing over there, and seeing it through the perspective of the band, would be truly amazing. It’s definitely high on our to-do-list.
Other than that we’ve been quietly piecing together demos for our next record, which is a painfully slow process. We’re approaching the writing a little differently – more organically – than we did with the last record, so it’s really interesting to start to hear the results. We’re a long way off, but it’s exciting nonetheless.
Unfortunately, I’ve broken my hand so I’m out of action for a couple of months. Hopefully it won’t slow writing down too much more.
Lastly, why do you think people should listen to your music?
We’re humbled whenever anyone listens to our music. There are so many bands around at the moment that it’s amazing that people choose to listen to us. We work hard to try and make music that feels real and honest to us. We have no pretentions, and as long as we feel that we’re representing ourselves truthfully, then we’re happy. If anyone chooses to listen to us after that then we’re truly grateful. Thank you.
Thanks once again to Jonny and the chaps in Maycomb for being so humble and gracious to do this interview. I always have a soft spot for the music scene in England and am constantly humbled and enthralled by the depth of talent that is constantly being churned out and is a place that I'm destined to visit sometime soon, I'm that much in love with the country. For more information on Maycomb, 'Like' them on Facebook here, follow them on Twitter here, and check out "I Opened My Heart To Caustic Things" on their Bandcamp site right here.
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