Hot off The Noise tour this past fall, Mayday Parade and Demi Lovato's openers We The Kings will be kicking off a four week national co-headlining tour in Louisville, KY, on February 2. The Downtown Fiction and Anarbor will open. Tickets go on sale January 13.
READ IT: J-14 Q&A with We The Kings' Travis Clark
Click "Read More" to check out all the tour dates and see if they're coming to your city.
Will you see Mayday Parade and We The Kings on tour?
We The Kings have had a crazy year between releasing their third album Sunshine State of Mind, headlining the Friday Is Forever tour, and then finishing the year with a string of dates opening for Demi Lovato. Front man Travis Clark recently chatted with J-14 all about the new album, the sweet story behind the album's second single "Say You Like Me", and what it's like touring with his close friend Demi on the road.
Q: Where did the title Sunshine State of Mind come from?
Travis Clark: We live in Florida, which is the sunshine state, and because we pretty much spend eleven months on the road and a couple days here, a couple days there at home, we try to keep with us our family and friends from our hometown. It's really the only thing that we know for anything permanent and we wanted to dedicate a record to our friends and family. Sunshine State of Mind is kind of saying like, "Wherever we go, we always have you guys on our mind."
Q: What's the most personal track to you off the album?
Travis: It's weird but every song has a certain spot in my heart. Nothing was just thrown on the record, everything was there for a reason and there because I wanted it to be there. But there's a song off the record called "You and Only You" and it's a song that I really want to kind of one day sing to my wife -- wherever she is in the world. I think it's the most romantic song that I've ever written and I think it's the ultimate wedding song without straight up saying that this is a wedding song, you know? The lyrics and everything just means a lot to me. It's like when you find that one person that makes you want to stop looking and it's a really special thing and it's kind of just letting everyone know I'm still on the search for that one and only.
Love music and video games? We The Kings just released the music video for their latest single "Say You Like Me." But it's not your ordinary music video -- it's an interactive video game. Pick your band member and embark in a series of mini games to save the girl and watch the full video. If you beat each level as all four band members, you'll even receive a free song download.
WATCH IT: J-14 Video: We The Kings Release Friday Is Forever
Travis Clark, lead vocalist of We The Kings, recently chatted with J-14 all about the music video. "You choose your own adventure," he tells J-14. "It's one of the videos that you can't really stray away from. You can't go and do something else on your computer or the video will stop which is kind of cool. We definitely are big gamers. On the tour bus we're always playing but we wanted to do a video that was representative of our favorite video games."
Watch (and play!) the music video for "Say You Like Me" below:
What do you think of the We The Kings' music video for "Say You Like Me?"
We The Kings' Travis Clark has more than just music on his brain -- he's got the X Games to think about too!
READ IT: Demi Lovato's Pal Travis Clark says issue is "not severe"
The singer chatted exclusively with J-14, and he told us about two huge things happening in his life.
First, Travis is currently training to compete in the motocross portion of the 2011 X Games. "The SMX stuff like flying through the air and doing crazy tricks," he tells J-14. In fact, Travis was talking to us from a dirt bike track in Florida! So why the X Games? "When I walk out on stage, I have such an adrenaline rush and it's this amazing feeling of being nervous and anxious," he says. "It's a crazy feeling and I love it every bit of it. I've noticed that when I ride my dirt bike and I'm sailing through the air, I get that same feeling. So when I'm not playing shows, the only other way I can get that feeling is by riding my dirt bike all the way through the air."
In addition to training, Travis tells J-14 that we're the first to hear that he's heading to New York City in two weeks to work on We The Kings third album. "It's kind of already written, but I'll be demo-ing the songs and figuring out which ones we want to use for the record," he says. "Even though it hasn't been the typical two-year record cycle or whatever like that, we'd like to get new songs out quicker."
What do you think is cooler -- Travis competing in the X Games or a new We The Kings album?
With the surprising announcement that Demi Lovato checked into a treatment center for "emotional and physical issues" over the weekend, many have been speculating about the circumstances surrounding her sudden departure from the Camp Rock tour with the Jonas Brothers.
READ IT: Jonas Brothers to Demi Lovato: "Best of Luck"
J-14 just got off the phone with We The Kings' singer Travis Clark, a good friend of Demi's. In late 2009, Demi sang the duet "We'll Be A Dream" with We the Kings -- and Travis was quick to come to Demi's defense.
"I speak with her frequently, so I knew [many of the rumors out there] were lies," Travis Clark tells J-14. "It's tough for any one of us to be in the public eye at all times. If I go missing for a day, people are like, 'He's entered rehab and he's gone completely off the deep end.' It's a classic, 'Don't believe everything you hear' story. Unfortunately there are a lot of rumors and a lot of lies out there. But in a positive way, it helps bring everybody together. People are there supporting her whether it's real or not -- they want her to know that they're there for her whenever she needs it. It's just about how loyal fans are."
Travis also explains that despite hanging out with her a few times this year, he didn't see something like this coming. "I saw her a few times while she was on the road when we were in the same cities and we'd hang out," he says. "It was fun. We had a good time together and she was completely happy and really outgoing. She was just the Demi that I've always known and it was totally normal. So that's why I know it's not a severe issue. It's been blown out of proportion and that can really wear on anybody."
Stay tuned for more big news from Travis!
What do you think about Travis Clark's take on Demi Lovato's situation?
Hey J-14ers,
Last night I got to check out We The Kings and Mayday Parade when they hit New York City's Highline Ballrooom on the Take Action 2010 Tour. I've seen both bands play live before, but this was even cooler than both those times because the energy on this tour was crazy high.
Mayday Parade stopped by the J-14 offices last week, and they told me they were psyched to play in NYC -- and it showed! Guitarist Alex Garcia stole the show with his solos, and lead singer Derek Sanders managed to quiet an entire room with his acoustic performance. My fave song of the night was "Anywhere But Here" -- not just because I own a pair of Mayday Parade shorts that say that, but because they had me jumping long with all the other fans there.
Their energetic set was the perfect intro for We The Kings. Not only can lead singer Travis Clark tell a mean story -- just ask about his trip through Atlanta if you ever meet him -- I was almost out of breath singing along to "Secret Valentine" and "Check Yes, Juliet." But what really stole the show as their live take on "We'll Be A Dream." It's an epic song on the album, but live it's even more intense. Demi Lovato wasn't in NYC to duet with Travis, but his friend, singer Diane Birch, took the stage with him, and her voice was the perfect compliment for Travis. If you haven't heard of Diane, I'd def check her out -- she's got some sick pipes that are worth a listen.
What do you think of We The Kings and Mayday Parade?
<3,
Emily, J-14 editor
We The Kings second album, Smile Kid, just hit stores last week, so J-14 sat down with lead singer Travis Clark, drummer Danny Duncan, and guitarist Hunter Thomsen to chat about the new record, their collab with Demi Lovato, and why Travis isn't afraid to admit that he's a Twi-hard!
J-14: How would you describe the sound of the new record, Smile Kid?
Travis Clark: Smile Kid is a very dynamic, full-sounding record that makes you smile. We want people to laugh, smile, and be happy listening to it and hope that a song makes them think of a moment in time that brings them happiness. Half the record is like "Check Yes, Juliet, "Secret Valentine," and "Skyway Avenue" 2.0 -- songs that were written shortly after the first record [We The Kings' self-titled debut album] was released. Then as we started touring and having new life experiences, we wrote songs like "She Takes Me High," "Promise the Stars," and "Heaven Can Wait," and all these other ones that are still same energy but have different lyrical content or are hookier and a little more dynamic.
J-14: Which is the most personal Smile Kid track for you?
Hunter Thomsen: "Promise the Stars," the second song on the record. I'm a huge Beatles fan, and we tried to give it a Beatles-esque sound. I think we did a pretty good job. I like the guitar lines in it. It's way different than the rest of the record, just unique.
Travis: I really like the "We'll Be a Dream" track with Demi Lovato. It's a song all about growing up and wondering what you're going to be. The imagery for it is two kids sitting on this hill looking at the New York skyline wondering what they're going to be, or which building they're going to work in, or if they're going to be a firefighter or airplane pilot. I always wanted to be play music, so my dream came true. "We'll Be a Dream" is saying live life and never give up because you can be what you want to be. It takes time and effort. That's a really emotional song for me because it all came true.
Danny: Travis cried so much recording that song.
Hunter: That's the truth. We put buckets underneath the mic stand.
J-14: How did the collab with Demi come about?
Travis: I heard her sing the "National Anthem" for one of the Dallas Cowboys games and I was like, 'Oh my God, she's not just a Disney star. She's got pipes.' I called her and was like, 'Hey I have this song and I really want female vocals. Would you be down?' She got really excited so I sent her the demo of the song. She texted me back saying, 'It literally gave me goose bumps. I can't stop smiling. I would love to sing this song with you.' We went in and recorded it for real. When we first got the first mix of it, we were all sitting in the bus listening to it, and it was incredible. It gave us all goose bumps. It's a super epic song and it came out exactly how I really wanted it to sound. She was just as stoked.
J-14: How did you become friends with Demi, Miley Cyrus, and Taylor Swift?
Travis: When we were first starting out, Demi came out to one of our shows because she was a fan and wanted to see us. Disney is a world apart from what we do -- it's big in its own way and our thing is big in its own way - but she really cool and totally down-to-Earth. We exchanged numbers and kept in contact. We met the Cyrus family a long time ago because we used to tour all the time with Metro Station, and Miley would come out on tour and to shows. We met Taylor Swift at this MTV thing, and she was a sweetheart. She walked up to us and was like, 'Are you Travis and Danny from We the Kings? I just want to let you know "Check Yes, Juliet" is one of my favorite songs.' I was like, 'That rules.'
J-14: Travis, we hear you're a Twilight fan - are you Team Edward or Jacob?
Travis: I am. It's my guilty pleasure. People at shows were bringing me Twilight stuff, and I actually really like it. I don't think it's corny or anything. I've gotten Rob Pattinson dolls -- they get that I'm actually a real fan of Twilight. Most of the people who are team Jacob are people who saw him in the second movie and are like, 'He's got a ripped body,' and I like girls so I don't really appeal to the Team Jacob side. Edward is this dude who's stuck in this tragic world but loves this girl, and I find the romantic side to things.
J-14: Who's your celeb crush?
Hunter: Keri Hilson, 100 percent.
Travis: Mine used to be Zooey Deschanel but she just got married to Ben Gibbard from Death Cab for Cutie, so I'm going to go with her "twin" and say my celeb crush is Katy Perry. She's a friend, so it's kind of weird.
