Matt McMichaels and Adam Price of The Mayflies USA stopped by Live & Local last week, following the release of their album “Kickless Kids” – the band’s first new album in 23 years.
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One of Chapel Hill’s most prominent bands at the turn of the 21st century, the Mayflies stopped recording after the release of their third album, 2002’s “Walking in a Straight Line.” But the band never fully went away, with occasional reunion shows throughout the years – and finally the bandmates found themselves drawn back to the studio, spurred by a fundraising effort and a health scare that hit all at once.
“We’d agreed to do a song for the Cover Charge record,” Price says. (“Cover Charge” was an album of cover songs produced by various musicians in 2020, to raise money to support Cat’s Cradle during the pandemic.) “Then around the same time, our guitar player Matt (Long) got pretty sick – and we’d had a really good time in the studio, and we had a couple of songs, and he was like, ‘let’s do this, you know?’ He’s fine now, but it was the kick that we needed to go ahead and do it.”
The end result was “Kickless Kids” – reuniting nearly the entire band, albeit with Tony Stiglitz replacing original drummer David Liesegang on most of the tracks. Producers Tim Harper and jangle-pop legend Chris Stamey, also veterans of the Mayflies’ previous albums, once again added their efforts behind the scenes to produce a long-awaited record that shows the Mayflies may be older, but they haven’t lost a step.
“I think this is our best album,” Price says. “We’re not that different, but I think we’re better musicians than we used to be.”
“We’ve settled down a bit, (but) we’re still kind of stupid,” McMichaels adds with a laugh.
Listen to the album and purchase it on Bandcamp.
The album’s 12 tracks may sound akin to the Mayflies’ earlier work, but the lyrics reflect a quartet of musicians who are older and wiser – and excited about looking back on the journey that led them where they are today.
“It’s not like a concept album about getting old or anything like that,” says Price, “(but) I do think there’s a good amount of stuff that is sort of about – not just nostalgia, but a wary nostalgia about your youth. We had a good time the first time around, but we screwed a lot of things up and there are things we would’ve maybe done differently.… And I do think it’s interesting: I don’t think there’s a ton of great rock records about aging, you know? It’s a pretty rich vein that’s untapped.”
The album is out now from Yep Roc Records, and Price and McMichaels say it’s just the beginning: after last week’s album-release show at Cat’s Cradle Back Room, the Mayflies are working to book more shows in the summer – and then planning to head back in the studio to record more music in July.
All of which puts the Mayflies in an enviable position: not only do they have the chance to move forward with the best music of their long careers, they also have the opportunity to look back fondly on past lives well spent.
“I (remember) our first tour, down to Florida,” Price says. “(Matt) had this Ford Econoline, and I just remember driving down there and – you know, I was 20 and just feeling like you were doing it, (living) the dream… and I have a very distinct memory of just being in the van and feeling like I was doing exactly what I wanted to do.
“And you know – it is a pretty great way to be young.”
Matt McMichaels and Adam Price stopped by Live & Local to discuss the new album. They also performed three songs: “Kickless Kids,” “Cabbagetown,” and a still-unrecorded new song, “Bad Light.” Listen:
‘Kickless Kids’: Live & Local with The Mayflies USA! Chapelboro.com.
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