AMP Magazine recently conducted an interview with NEW FOUND GLORY frontman Jordan Pundik, who talks about the tenth anniversary of their classic 2002 album “Sticks and Stones”.
What have you guys been doing to prepare for your upcoming tour?
Well playing Warped Tour this past summer definitely helped, ya know? But we have been doing this for a long time so we don’t really need to rehearse the old songs. I may work on some of the songs on my own, and we may sound check a couple songs but we are very well prepared and anxious to get back on the road.
What is your favorite song off that record and why?
I love opening our sets with “Understatement” because it gets the kids going and it gets me going too. It is always super fun to play, but the closest song to me from Stones is definitely “Sonny” My grandfather passed away around the time we released the record so I wrote the song for him, and people come up to me all the time telling me how that song helped them get through the loss of a friend or family member so I’m glad it had a positive impact.
In what ways has your life changed since Sticks and Stones was released 10 years ago?
Oh wow…It’s changed a lot. We all have families now and we have gone through some crazy relationships, but we all grew up on the road, which kept us immature in a weird way. We are older and we have experienced the ups and downs of adulthood. We wrote the album when we were in our early 20s so this tour is a chance for us and our fans to look back on our mistakes and how we have grown as a band.
What do you think has been the biggest impact of Sticks and Stones on the music popular music scene?
So many bands have told us that our music has helped them grow as a band, but when we were writing it, we never thought we would be ‘that band’ so it’s really cool to see the impact it has made. I even read that Pierce the Veil and Miss May I listed us as one of their influences. Plus, there is a lot of up and coming bands that were the same age as us when we wrote that album. I think that has a lot to do with it as well.
What bands have inspired you in the past and continue to inspire you today?
I love music of all types—not just pop punk—and I am always looking for new music, especially to learn new singing styles and techniques. I’ll listen to a song and be like, ‘Holy Shit! How did they write this?’ (laughs). Mostly I like older bands such as DINOSAUR JR. and MY BLOODY VALENTINE. I also lived in San Diego for 12 years so I enjoy local bands from there like THE CROCADILES.
Since the release of Sticks and Stones, what has been one of your most memorable moments with the band?
Anytime we go play overseas is always awesome. The Reading and Leeds Festival last summer was incredible playing to a crowd that big and seeing all the kids that came out to see us. When we came to the Japan for the first time we started out playing in small clubs, but the second time we went back, we played to a crowd of 3,500 and its just gotten bigger every time we go back.
The rest of the interview can be read here.
Photo by Melissa Terry.
