Taking Back Sunday’s Adam Lazzara on how the band’s music is finally growing up | Charlotte Observer

Since forming in 1995 and 1999, respectively, emo-punk stalwarts Coheed and Cambria and Taking Back Sunday have shared a stage more than once. But this summer marks the first time the two veteran rock bands have embarked on an entire tour together.

It’s a familiar pairing for Carolinians who witnessed their back-to-back sets at Carolina Rebellion in 2017, where the seed for the current tour — which launched in Miami earlier this week — was planted. The two bands’ concert at Charlotte Metro Credit Union Amphitheatre on Saturday marks a brief homecoming for NoDa residents Adam Lazzara and John Nolan of Taking Back Sunday.

Lazzara, who welcomed his third child (and first daughter) in March, spoke to the Observer before the start of the tour.

Q. How did this tour come about?

SIGN UP

They (Coheed and Cambria) were coming up around the same time we were. We were always on random shows together. We’ve never done an official tour together. We did that Carolina Rebellion show, and then we did Rocklahoma and another one in Ohio that were similar type shows. We were on the same stage there, too. Our drummers, Josh and Mark, are friends. At the North Carolina show, I remember Mark saying, “Why haven’t we toured together?” And they got to talking after the shows to put it together.

Q. Your 2016 album “Tidal Wave” was a bit of a departure, and I know your musical tastes have broadened over the years. Is that indicative of where the music is headed?

Looking back, I’m pretty mad at myself. There was a long time where if it wasn’t punk rock or super indie, I wouldn’t listen to it.

Q. That’s kind of normal when you’re young, though.

I think mine went on for it longer than it should. For years. Now I feel like there’s stuff I’m discovering where friends are like, “How have you not heard this?” There’s so much music out there. For me, even if it’s something from the ’70s or ’80s, I’m just discovering it for the first time. It’s the same thing with the other guys in the band.

Q. When you mature in that way as a band, is staying true to your sound while incorporating these new influences something you discuss?

When we first started writing the last record, we talked about it for the first time. The conclusion we came to is that Mark plays the way he plays. My voice sounds the way it does. John does what he does. And as long as it’s us, it’s going to sound like Taking Back Sunday, because it’s always been us. (Note: Founding guitarist Eddie Reyes left the band in April.) So with all that said, once we realized that, it freed us up to stretch our limbs a little longer. On “Tidal Wave,” the song “Can’t Look Back” doesn’t sound like anything we’ve done before, but it sounds exactly like Taking Back Sunday.

That way, we aren’t saying no to an idea out of the gate. Everything gets its due process. That’s always the hope. My favorite bands and artists I’ve been listening to, or follow closely, I realized I’ve been growing with them. When they put out a record that doesn’t sound like anything they’ve done before, it sounds right to me. I think they must be where I’m at now.