Located near the central west of the United States, Nashville, Tennessee bears a moniker of magnitude – being known as the ‘Music City’.
Being home to so many incredible artists from all walks of life including: Jack White, Kings Of Leon, The Allman Brothers Band, Paramore and Johnny Cash, the incredible list continues covering an expansive resume of diverse music. It is nothing short of inspirational.
For vocalist/guitarist of pop-punk outfit Yellowcard, Ryan Key, this mecca of musical culture needed to be more than a tour stop for when his band are on the road; he has decided Nashville will become his new hometown. "I'm actually driving through somewhere in the middle of Oklahoma right now with a U-Haul full of literally my entire life inside,” he says.
“I have made a big decision to move to Nashville, Tennessee from Los Angeles, it's not a short drive that's for sure; a big cross-country adventure! It's pretty much a career-based decision to make this move. Over the last couple of years I have tried to become more active and involved in the professional, songwriting community outside of Yellowcard when I'm off tour. It's a second outlet creatively and I want to become more associated with production and writing, which there is a lot of opportunity to do in Nashville. Our publishing company is actually based there, so I have a helping hand through them to organise writing sessions with other artists and it's a really exciting prospect for me. I just decided to go for it and seize the day."
For the admirers of the violin-charged, punk outfit, fear not, this move is not the beginning of the end for the quartet. As a matter of fact, it’s the exact opposite for the band, as they have just unleashed their ninth studio album 'Lift A Sail'. An ambitious record finding the four-piece pushing the envelope of their creative niche, embracing a growth quite a bit more advanced than three chord punk. With creative catalysts for the sound of the full-length coming from an array of different artists, from 90s alternative rock, punk and grunge to even electronic dance musicians such as Jon Hopkins.
"We didn't set out knowing what 'Lift A Sail' was going to be, but we never want to write the same record twice. Once we started writing the songs, we discovered we were headed in a new direction and we were venturing into a new musical place. Obviously it's not so much a pop-punk album, but I have never really been a fan of narrowing music down to a specific genre. I think that it's restrictive and it hinders the ability of the artists and the expectations of the fans also.
“I know the record is a bit of a departure for us, but I really hope no-one thinks we are turning our back on them or the community of music that got us to where we were today. The pop-punk community carried us all this way, we are always grateful for that and any fan who has helped us in any way. We have to write music that we are excited about and feel passionate about in the end which is what this album exactly is.
"Foo Fighters, Smashing Pumpkins, Shelter and bands like that from the ’90s were inspirational for us when we were growing up and learning how to play guitar, it wasn't necessarily pop or punk bands who were inspiring us to start a band. Nirvana and Soundgarden were, Green Day is probably an exception because they are from that time and obviously a punk band. So I think that sound or era motivated a lot of 'Lift A Sail'; Third Eye Blind had a significant impact on the album, without doubt. If I had to summarise the full-length, if all the ’90s alternative-rock bands had a love-child with Coldplay, who are my favourite band ever, it would equal 'Lift A Sail'."In better news for supporters of Yellowcard, especially our fine nation, the band has announced their biggest Australian tour yet. “I have been doing a lot of interviews lately for the new record in Australia and it seems that some kind of magic is happening over there for Yellowcard,” Key enthuses. “It's astonishing how profound and complimentary the reactions to the album have been, it's been really consistent across the board. Whether it's fans who grew up with the band or new fans, it's just magical. The shows we have booked for next year are massive! I do believe that it is our most mature and expansive record yet and knowing that it is having such an impact is really incredible especially in a different country altogether."
It seems that change has become a theme for the life of Ryan Key in more recent times. Understandably so, as a change recently occurred for the Floridian native as he recently undertook the greatest adventure of them all, marrying his Russian snowboarder girlfriend Alyona Alekhina. The twist in this beautiful story is however, the couple were married in the ICU after Alyona suffered a spinal cord injury whilst training in California.
"She's good, she's in Russia with her family right now,” he says. “She was here for about a month, but I have to go do a big press tour for the album so she went home and found a rehabilitation centre just north of Moscow. She is really inspired by the doctors and therapy there, she's working her ass off. It is so inspiring, her injury was April 2013, a year and a half ago. Today she is still doing eight hours of therapy and rehab a day, there isn't a moment she isn't multi-tasking either, she's teaching English even during her physical training which is really exhausting. As they say, 'onward and upward'."
Written by Will Oakeshott
Yellowcard Tour Dates
Sat 4 July – Metro City Club (Northbridge)Mon 6 July – Thebarton Theatre (Torrensville)
Wed 8 July – The Tivoli (Brisbane)
Fri 10 July – Moore Park (Sydney)
Sat 11 July – Margaret Court Arena (Melbourne)
