Hailing from West Palm Beach Florida and moving from local scene to big time was a big step for the power pop band Hey Monday, consisting of Cassadee Pope on lead vocals, Jersey Moriarty on bass guitar, Mike Gentile on lead guitar, Alex Lipshaw on rhythm guitar, and Elliot James on drums. Tight as ever since they’re been friends since their school days, this band doesn’t disappoint on their debut cd “Hold On Tight” that is chock full of pop rock anthems sung by a lead with an amazing set of pipes.
Currently out on tour with labelmates The Academy Is..., this band is ready to take the world by storm. Already on their track record are two songs on CitizensFOB mix-tape CD, and not to mention being backed by Fall Out Boy’s Pete Wentz’ label Decaydance.
With their debut CD hitting stores this week, lead singer Cassadee took a minute out of their crazy touring schedule to sit down with us and give us the lowdown on what to do when on tour and to never give up on your dreams, despite what others say!
Interviewed by: Ellen Leonard | October 2008
The band formed from all of us knowing each other in West Palm Beach local scene. They were all in different local bands for a long time, and we all just kind of came together eventually. I’ve known Alex since we went to high school together, and I’ve known Elliot for a few years from the local scene also. I met Mike in the eighth grade because we went to the same area of schools, I met him at like a basketball game or something like that. Then Jersey came in a little later than everybody, but he’s still just as much a part of the family of all of us.
The name, we had so many problems coming up with a band name and it’s just getting harder and harder for bands these days to come up with names because different bands make up a name and put it on MySpace. We didn’t want to get involved in that if something happens and they file a lawsuit. We were having a pretty hard time. We decided to put up a contest on friendsorenemies.com, and a girl named Hilary from San Francisco submitted Hey Monday. We just like how contradicting it is because people usually don’t like Mondays. For us, it’s just like saying hello to a new week. And also that for our job, a Monday is kind of like a Saturday with what we do, so it’s kind of a cool idea!
That was the craziest feeling ever just because we’ve all been Fall Out Boy fans for a long time and never in a million years thought we would be signed to his label or anything! We’ve all looked up to them, especially Pete, just because of how smart he is as a business man in all the career decisions he makes. Finding out that we were going to be signed to his label was probably the most overwhelming feeling that I think all of us have ever felt, for sure!
It was crazy! We pretty much recorded it in a month and a half. We all basically lived in New York for a month and a half in this little studio and just recorded. I guess it was just kind of like a normal recording experience. We’d go in every day and lay out whatever you can, and we had certain weekends off and just explored the city, but it was a lot of fun! It was kind of a little taste of touring, but not really, with all of us living together for that long. We worked with two of the most amazing producers, Sam Hollander and Dave Katz, and they taught us a lot, so it was definitely a learning experience.
It was so much fun! Asbury Park (the bowling alley where we recorded) was really great because we heard a lot of the history behind it and legendary bands played there. We were just honored to be able to do our video there. The thing that sticks out the most to me is how many times we had to perform that damn song! I should have counted, but I’m pretty sure it was over fifteen times performing full out. Some of us had breaks here and there, but Elliot, our drummer, was the one who had to really had to go full out because he was in every shot behind everybody. He didn’t really get a break. The extras were incredible, they were all really sweet and really good! The director, Noah Schulman, was really good too. I think he’s the next big thing because he’s just very cooperative and calm on set. He doesn’t get too crazy or pushy or anything like that, and his work is just really great. We’re really happy with the way it came out. It was an experience for sure.
Touring with these bands has been amazing! We’re so happy with the way that everybody is. They’re all so nice and welcoming. These bands have been touring a lot longer then we have, and they just took us in with open arms and have been teaching us and giving us advice and everything, we really appreciate that. The crowd response has been amazing. We weren’t trying to expect anything because we’re so new, and we had never toured before, but there have been kids in the audience that were singing the words, and they’ve been going nuts during our set and it’s so much fun! Kids aren’t afraid to come up to us and take pictures and things, which means a lot, it’s been incredible.
The venues are a little bigger than this one, but I don’t think it’ll be too different. I guess touring is touring. It’s a nationwide tour, also, and this one was only a west coast tour.
No, not at all. I am due for a pedicure and manicure, but I can definitely deal with it, I’m not high maintenance. The guys look at me as just one of the guys, so I don’t get treated differently.
I think there’s a few! Blink-182 would be sweet, that would be awesome because we’re all huge fans of them. Fall Out Boy would be insane just because we’ve been to their concerts before and they play from new stuff to old stuff, and it’s a really good show that they put on, so to be able to see that and hang out with them every night would be really cool.
Definitely trying to eat right instead of eating fast food every day! Towards the beginning I was pretty good at eating right, but I’ve been slipping on that. I gotta get back into the groove! It’s very important to take your vitamins and eat well when you can. Sleep is always good to.
I am listening to Sherwood. I can’t get enough of them! I’ve been listening to them ever since their first CD came out, their new CD is just amazing. As a whole, we listen to a lot of Mayday Parade, Four Year Strong. There’s a band that we’re really good friends with in Tallahassee called Go Radio, they’re pretty good.
A few times fans have brought us food! A girl Michelle, she’s like one of our biggest fans, she brought us cupcakes once! She bought me a scarf for my birthday. Then, these other girls were a part of someone’s street team on the tour, they brought us homemade pizzas, which were really good! Even the reactions that we get from fans, like when they’re really excited to meet us, that’s the greatest thing ever.
We really want to last. We want to be around for a very long time. This is our dream, we gave up everything for this. We love music so much, we want to continue doing it forever. We want to make time with music. I mean, I know it’s a lot of band’s goals and that it’s hard to reach, but we really want to try to do that and reach out to people on a level that our songs are fun. We want people to listen and get inspired! Our goal for this CD was to make people happy and tap their feet, but we also hope the lyrics reach out to people in a way that they can relate because every word that was written was written from experiences.
I’d have to say fun, upbeat, and uplifting.
Never give up! I know that sounds cheesy, but really, there’s going to be so many times when you get rejected and people say mean things to you and it makes you want to quit, but if you believe in yourself enough, you’re going to be able to make it. It’s kind of like if you’re positive enough about it, then it will happen, you just have to keep working really hard at it. A lot of people in general think that it comes out of no where, but you have to work really hard for it. So just keep working hard and don’t give up!
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Hey Monday Official Website
Hey Monday On MySpace
Oct 8 2008 House Of Blues w/The Academy Is and We The Kings Dallas, Texas
Oct 9 2008 Alternative Lounge - Outside w/The Academy Is and We The Kings Austin, Texas
Oct 11 2008 Marquee Theatre w/The Academy Is and We The Kings Tempe, Arizona
Oct 14 2008 House Of Blues w/The Academy Is and We The Kings Las Vegas, Nevada
Oct 15 2008 House Of Blues w/The Academy Is and We The Kings West Hollywood, California
Oct 17 2008 Soma w/The Academy Is and We The Kings San Diego, California
Oct 18 2008 5House Of Blues w/The Academy Is and We The Kings Anaheim, California
Oct 19 2008 The Regency Center - Grand Ballroom w/The Academy Is and We The Kings San Francisco, California
Oct 21 2008 Croation Cultural Centre w/The Academy Is and We The Kings Vancouver, British Columbia
Oct 22 2008 Showbox at the Market w/The Academy Is and We The Kings Seattle, Washington
Oct 23 2008 Roseland Theatre w/The Academy Is and We The Kings Portland, Oregon
Oct 25 2008 In The Venue w/The Academy Is and We The Kings Salt Lake City, Utah
Oct 26 2008 Ogden Theatre w/The Academy Is and We The Kings Denver, Colorado
Oct 28 2008 Sokol Auditorium w/The Academy Is and We The Kings Omaha, Nebraska
Oct 29 2008 Beaumont Club w/The Academy Is and We The Kings Kansas City, Missouri
Oct 30 2008 Pop’s w/The Academy Is and We The Kings Sauget, Illinois
Oct 31 2008The Cabooze w/The Academy Is and We The Kings Minneapolis, Minnesota
Nov 1 2008 The Eagles Club w/The Academy Is and We The Kings Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Nov 2 2008 Newport Music Hall w/The Academy Is and We The Kings Columbus, Ohio
Nov 4 2008 Bogart’s w/The Academy Is and We The Kings Cincinnati, Ohio
Nov 5 2008 House Of Blues w/The Academy Is and We The Kings Cleveland, Ohio
Nov 6 2008 House Of Blues w/The Academy Is and We The Kings Chicago, Illinois
Nov 7 2008 House Of Blues w/The Academy Is and We The Kings Chicago, Illinois
Nov 9 2008 Clutch Cargo’s w/The Academy Is and We The Kings Pontiac, Michigan
Nov 11 2008 Northern Lights w/The Academy Is and We The Kings Clifton Park, New York
Nov 12 2008 The Roxy w/The Academy Is and We The Kings Boston, Massachusetts
Nov 13 2008 Electric Factory Ballroom w/The Academy Is and We The Kings Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Nov 14 2008 Webster Theatre w/The Academy Is and We The Kings Hartford, Connecticut
Nov 15 2008Starland Ballroom w/The Academy Is and We The Kings Sayreville, New Jersey
Nov 17 2008 9:30 Club w/The Academy Is and We The Kings Washington, Washington DC
Nov 18 2008 Norva Theater w/The Academy Is and We The Kings Norfolk, Virginia
Nov 19 2008 Roseland Ballroom w/The Academy Is and We The Kings New York, New York
Nov 21 2008 Medley w/The Academy Is and We The Kings Montreal, Quebec
Nov 22 2008 The Guvernment w/The Academy Is and We The Kings Toronto, Ontario
Nov 23 2008 Town Ballroom w/The Academy Is and We The Kings Buffalo, New York
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