Better Days Ahead With RYAN KEY From YELLOWCARD

It's not often you get a second chance in life, especially in the
music industry, where success - sustained or fleeting - is anything
but a given. But that is precisely what has happened for US rock
outfit Yellowcard, who return on October 10 with their new album
Better Days.
After forming in Jacksonville, Florida in 1997, Yellowcard became
one of the most influential bands in the 2000’s alternative rock
scene. Known for blending high-energy pop punk with a signature
violin twist, their 2003 breakthrough Ocean Avenue is certified
Platinum, with the title track now certified two times
Platinum.
Despite this early success - or perhaps because of it - Yellowcard
disbanded ten years later, making emotional goodbyes to fans all
around the world with a farewell tour. It seemed as though the
band's decade of dominance would remain at just that, until
Yellowcard reunited in 2022 with a fresh outlook and armed with
lessons learnt the first time around.
Fans and the music scene in general embraced the band's music once
more, affirming Yellowcard's decision to return from premature band
retirement and solidifying their resolve to make their next album
also their best. After signing with Better Noise Music, Yellowcard
confirmed the addition of Blink 182's Travis Barker to produce the
new material, which he was so impressed with, he also stepped
behind the kit to play on the whole album.
The result is everything you ever loved about Yellowcard, boosted
by musical output from a band that sounds like they have come to
terms with their musical status and, more importantly, have
rediscovered their zest for life and music.
HEAVY recently sat down with frontman Ryan Key, who battled the
effects of a cold to talk about the continued rise of Yellowcard.
We start with a subtle attempt at humour by asking how he is
feeling about the imminent release of the new album and wish him
Better Days ahead because of it.
"It already has, mate," he smiled. "It already has. It's not even
out yet, and we're already having the best chapter of this band's
career. I think we're right in the middle of it right now. So the
fact that the album isn't even out yet and so many amazing things
have already happened for us around it and with it, it's pretty
mind-blowing."
We continue down that line, asking if the feelings and expectations
surrounding the new release are different this time around.
"It feels…," he measured. "We have made a lot of music in our
career. We've made a lot of records, and we've written a lot of
songs. In 2008, we stepped away from the band - not in the same way
that we did in 2016-17 - but in 08 there was this feeling of
uncertainty in terms of what was going to come next. We had gone up
the first side of the mountain extremely fast. We went from
practising in whatever garage we could find to being at the Video
Music Awards in two and a half years. It was really rapid. And so
we came down the backside of that mountain equally as fast, and we
didn't really know what was next."
In the full interview, Ryan talks more about the first stage of
Yellowcard's career, including the highs and lows. He opened up
about the problems the band faced with being part of the industry
cog and how it left them disheartened at a time where they should
have been riding the crest of a wave.
He went deeper into the musical side of Better Days, how it is an
improvement on anything they have ever done before, and how it
represents Yellowcard in 2025. Ryan also detailed how Travis Barker
came on board as producer and what difference it made to the
finished product. He told us his feelings on working with Barker
and how he came to be their studio drummer, signing with Better
Noise Music, reaching Number One on the charts after 22 years and
more.


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