It’s been more than a year since Yellowcard released their major-label debut, Ocean Avenue. And in the time since the album first slipped onto shelves, it has sold almost 1.3 million copies, spawned three hit singles and become a long-term resident in the Billboard Top 200.
And now they’ve got to figure out a way to top all that.
The big question is: When will they find the time? The band is currently in the final stages of a massive world tour that wraps up on Saturday in Irvine, California. But it’s not like they’re going to relax once the show’s over: There’s still the matter of four super-secret high-school shows in Phoenix, Denver, Salt Lake City and Seattle (the band’s label, Capitol, won’t confirm exactly where or when these shows will happen, but if there’s suddenly a Mohawk-ed dude with a violin sitting in your shop class, there’s a pretty good chance your school’s the place).
The high-school gigs will more than likely take place before December 18, because that’s when Yellowcard leave mainland America and head to Hawaii to play the Bud Light Surfest at the Kualoa Ranch in Oahu (other acts on the bill include New Found Glory and the Vandals). And after all that, they’ll finally return to Los Angeles for a short rest. But beginning in January, they’ll get back to work, starting on the follow-up to
Ocean Avenue. Which, for two members of Yellowcard, means getting away from all the hometown distractions – about 3,000 miles away.
According to band spokesperson Jason Roth, singer Ryan Key and bassist Pete Mosely are leaving the rest of the band in L.A. and moving to New York to write songs for the new album. Yellowcard’s other members will make a few trips out to NYC to write with them, but for the most part it’ll be Key and Mosely hammering out tunes. The band will continue the cross-country-collaboration until February, and then hopes to head into the studio in the spring.
At the moment, it’s not known when the band will emerge from that studio with a shiny new album. But given their work ethic, it could be sooner than later.
