One week is gone by since A DAY TO REMEMBER published their seventh record “You’re Welcome”! The new album shows a musically and lyrically development. It is like a musical cocktail – a mixture of hardcore, metalcore and a lot of pop-punk. So I had the chance for an interview with Neil Westfall to get some background stories and knowledge about the new milestone. What does “Viva La Mexico” has to do with a bachelor party and what’s so special about the album cover, you’ll be able to find out in the interview.

Sarah-Jane: You‘ve announced your upcoming album in 2019. Now 1 ½ years are gone by – so why do you release it now after such a long period?

Neil Westfall: Well it just had to be injustice. When there was the first release day given to us we knew that it wasn’t going done in time. We knew the date was very very ambitious. We tried our best to get it done – we didn’t by that release date release day we hadn’t even finished the music. We really worked hard to get that done. And then as soon as we finished the music we still don’t even had any artwork that represented this album we felt it was. We went to work on that – working insanely hard to get that finished. We had 40 concepts with probably 8 or 9 different artists. No one really being able to nail a vision that we had. It was tough, we we’re going through different kinds of ideas. As we were finished we were right in the middle of the pandemic, everything was happening around us. So wanted to go in and have a real plan of how we gonna release this. We figured out the best way for us with the label as far as production and being able to produce the actual physical copies, the vinyl’s and the CDs. So when that finally came around so we can get that out and get that to everybody on that date that we say, we arrived on March fifth.

Sarah-Jane: So you also had some challenges because of the pandemic?

Neil Westfall: Right, the pandemic definitely made everything 5 times harder that it would have normally been. It’s hard to get together with people, especially when you trying to socially distance and be respectful with other people’s space. And it’s just hard getting things done in general. Whenever production for physical items have been push back for months and months, just because they don’t have the capacity to really handle everything with the social distancing. It was a lot at once, but we are here now.

Sarah-Jane: So now 1 ½ years are gone by are there any ideas for a further album? Or do you need a break now after such a long time of production.

Neil Westfall: We’re constantly writing and I think that has always been the case since the bands beginning. I don’t know how soon we put out new music, but we are always writing. We have new songs already, we have songs that we didn’t use for the last album. There’s all kind of stuff. The biggest thing is trying to figure out some way to go and play this album in a save way. Obviously we’re not gonna be touring any time soon, but we definitely wanna figure out some way to get out to play these songs. That’s the next focus here.

Sarah-Jane: Yeah sadly that’s the best way to play a show right now. So your voice sounds wishfully when you speak about touring. You really miss the live shows, do you?

Neil Westfall: Omg every day. It’s one of my favorite parts of being in the band. Getting to see the reactions of the people in real time and seeing how it means as much to other people as it does to us. You kind have that energy transfer that you have at live shows. It’s unmatched.

Sarah-Jane: What does the cover stand for – what is the idea behind the cover?

Neil Westfall: It’s representative of the journey that we are on. In this album we are started at one place and breaking down whatever barriers people has set for us and going to a new place that we don’t even know what it looks like yet. We are just going. So if you look at the cover that it goes to a place that is not seen from your current perspective. That is the idea behind the artwork. It’s taking you on the journey you don’t know where you gonna end up, but that’s okay, because you just going there. That’s what the album was for us. We kinda started in a place where we just had some ideas and what we thought it should be. And as we got into the process we realised we need to go wherever the music, we are writing, was taking us.

Sarah-Jane: So what kind of challenges do you had as you produced the album?

Neil Westfall: One set was for ourselves. The expectations what you hope it will be, what you think it will be. And as we get in there and worked with Collin Brittain, he’s another producer, we tried everything. Any idea that we had. I think by the second week there’s nothing that we can’t do. We felt like anything we had an idea for we figured out the song and make it happen with the setup that we had. I think before you go into any project, you set some expectations. But that was gone after the second week.

Sarah-Jane: Which is the best song to play on the guitar for you and why?

Neil Westfall: I think my favourite song to play on the guitar would probably be “Last Chance To Dance”. It’s challenging and fun. And I also like playing “Viva La Mexico”, just ‘cause it’s a catchy fun pop-punk song.

Sarah-Jane: Was there a new challenge for you as a guitar player with the new songs?

Neil Westfall: A lot of the album is thought about different perspectives and instruments. The guitar work is from a different perspective, more like a support role rather than a forefront role. So it’s kinda learning to service the song, it’s is a really hard thing to do. You playing the guitar and you’re one of four instruments. That was the biggest challenge to learn how to service the song best with your instrument. Adding two things and finding new creative ways to make sounds that fit in with everything that’s going on.

Sarah-Jane: “Bloodsucker“ is a mixture of many genre – can you tell me a little bit about the development or ideas?

Neil Westfall: Honestly it started off like a regular rock song, that’s the progression that we were using. And the producer he started doing these things in the verse with a mouth drum. And it sparked the idea .as we were exploring the different elements that we were being used to produce the song, the song just changed. I think Kevin was playing the guitar and he came up with the beginning melody. We wrote it and we thought this is so good, it can’t be just in the bridge. This is the best part of the song we’ve written so far. So everything changed and this part became the focus of the song. We ended up with this interesting kind of song. It sounds like you have a Spanish guitar and big rock. It’s just interesting and again it was just one of these things where we were trying all these things. So this song sounds very unique.

Sarah-Jane: It’s really amazing how many genres you were able to mix!

Neil Westfall: That’s the thing – A Day To Remember has always been, or us as an individual, have always been interested in so many different things, in combining those things is a fun challenge for this band. We are all about combing genres we are interested and maybe shouldn’t exist in the same song but somehow we try to figure out some ways to where they can and they do. That’s a big influence on this album – exploring that more and the idea of what this band is really about.

Sarah-Jane: „Viva La Mexico” sounds like a song for a stadium and it also has an unusually beginning– what was the occasion that you wrote the song about Mexico?

Neil Westfall: When we writing that song we all were on this trip for my bachelor party to celebrate, me getting married. We had this crazy trip down in Mexico. The song is written about everyone’s experience, put into one point of view. When we’re writing the song the music just happen, it just made sense that way. As we finished up the music and putting the lyrics to the music it just fit. I don’t know, I can’ explain it any other way. It wasn’t like a purposed type of thing, it just happened.

Sarah-Jane: Is it a personal song for you or the band? You all wrote it after the bachelor party

Neil Westfall: Yeah, definitely! I think it represents us. Being able to travel and being friends after how many years, 10 or 15 years and still be able to come together and be free together while we have the best time in our life. It is very personal but also very fun.

Sarah-Jane: “Only money” reminds me partly on a country song. The lyrics are very sad and they talk about the negative aspects of life – which message do you want to come across with?

Neil Westfall: Coming to realization that you lose something and sacrificing so many things for what we think it’s important when we are young. You have a job and doing all those things and you think they are so important. But that’s that are important are our family and friends and the time you get to spend together and the moments and memories that you get to create. That’s the song about. Realizing that before it’s too late. In my mind it’s a sad song, but it’s also a positive song, because we still have a lot of time to spend time with our family’s and make those memories

Sarah-Jane: Yes, especially during these times you should know what it really important.

Neil Westfall: Yeah, I totally agree with you.

Sarah-Jane: The Song „Re-Entry“ deals about being on the road continuously – considering the situation now, would you still while touring plan to take more breaks to go home or to play more shows than ever in a row without a break – do you think there is a change?

Neil Westfall: I mean to be honest the song is about any situation like if we say you travel for work, like for us to be on tour, you know there are some people that are constantly gone for work. It’s the push and pull between wanting to be out, working, traveling, but also wanting to be at home. And that time in between and how you feel, the anxiety that’s creating about wanting to be gone and also wanting to be at home. That’s the career path and in my mind I don’t think that there is anything you can do about that, that’s the rough thing. Even if you take more breaks, you still feel it, because you can’t wait to go back work again. And the other way around. It’s just about the feeling that you can’t really control.

Sarah-Jane: We should enjoy that time while we can spend time with our family and friends together. Now we’re at the end of our interview and I thank you very much for taking the time. It was nice to talk to you and congrats to your new album!

Neil Westfall: It was nice to talk to you. Hopefully we’re able to play shows soon