Introduction
Today we bring you our interview with the excellent alternative rock band Madina Lake. A band that wasn’t content with just creating music. So they created a whole world for it to take place in!
Up till now they have released three studio albums and three EPs but here is hoping there will be more soon. I can personally attest to the energy they bring at their live shows , as well as some seriously cool haircuts!
We caught up with the band’s singer, Nathan Leone prior to the 20 Years Rippin’ Tour which started a few days ago in the UK. So give the interview a read, the songs a listen and don’t forget to grab tickets to their tour!
Interview
What is it like to be in a band with your twin brother? Has it ever caused issues, and what is great about it?
Madina Lake (Nathan) – Yeah, it’s been fantastic actually. Matthew and I have always been really close and done everything together so it’s very natural for us.
Of course, when you live on top of four other gentlemen for long stretches at a time each will grate on you in their own unique way, including one’s twin.
Being from Chicago, was there any bands you looked up to locally when you was coming into the scene?
Madina Lake (Nathan) – We’re lucky to have come from a really strong Music town so we had bands like Smashing Pumpkins, Alkaline Trio, Rise Against, Spitalfield (to name a very few) to look up to while we’re coming up.
Lots of your music and a book have been set around the disappearance of a fictional socialite called Adalia, set in the town of Madina Lake. Could you go into a little detail about how this concept came about?
Madina Lake (Nathan) – Yeah, we had picked out a couple of themes or challenges that we’d consistently encounter throughout life and that we wanted to reflect upon artistically. We thought it would be cool to imagine a world through which to mirror these scenarios various character archetypes.
The band called it quits in 2013 (I was at that tour!), what made the band reform again just four years later ?
Madina Lake (Nathan) – Yeah cheers for that! When the pandemic hit and everybody was stuck at home, Mateo and I started trading ideas and eventually we felt like we had something worth releasing.
We’d decided that we would do what we could when we could given that we live 4 separate lives in 4 separate places. It turned into a couple of festivals, the Warped Cruise, the Emo Cruise, and now we’ve got a handful of UK/USA dates so we’re enjoying every moment of it.
The band is touring the UK and the USA in early 2025 with the 20 Years Rippin’ tour. What venues can fans catch the band at, and what support will be at the UK shows vs the USA shows?
Madina Lake – Dates are on https://www.madinalake.band/ and we’ve got Greywind and Bad Luck supporting. It’s gonna be a killer show! In the USA we are supporting Anberlin, one of our favorite bands.
With so much time off in recent years we are curious, what have you guys been up to in your spare time?
Madina Lake (Nathan) – Personally, I’ve happened upon the oddest of passions which is woodworking. Besides chess boards and cutting boards, I build wood features in homes.
Mateo is a professional songwriter and Chris a professional drummer/computer programmer. Matthew runs Charity Bomb, an organization that works with building up the mental and emotional strength of kids.
You mentioned Charity Bomb above, you produced your annual benefit show at the festival launch at When We Were Young Festival. How did the event go, and what was the show like for the band as you performed alongside Boys Like Girls and Simple Plan?
Madina Lake (Nathan) – Absolutely killer lineup. We’ve crossed paths with both bands countless times over the years on Warped or various tours and festivals. Amazing people and a killer night.
You featured on the line up for the 2024 Emo’s Not Dead Cruise, first of all what was it like performing on a ship? (Any seasickness?) and what was the show like?
Madina Lake (Nathan) – Pretty wild playing on a ship. We were lucky enough to do the Warped Tour cruise as well in 2017 so we knew what to expect.
Chris had to have a dramamine patch attached behind his ear but otherwise smooth sailin! Those cruises are the best of all worlds. You get to play a handful of shows and hang out with bands and fans for a week in the Caribbean.
The first memory I have of the band must be the Here I Stand music video of you guys performing in the middle of a lake. Who came up with that idea and can I just say I miss those haircuts!?
Madina Lake (Nathan) – Ha! They were pretty sweet haircuts. We did that video with Dori Oskowitz while out on the Projekt Revolution tour with Linkin Park.
It was surreal because we had a day off of p-rev in North Carolina I believe and they put out a casting call for anyone who wanted to be in the video. We showed up to this random lake and there were all these kids out there ready to rip. Such a great time.
Would you mind going into a little background of the song Never Take Us Alive? It has always been a personal favourite so would love to know more about it.
Madina Lake (Nathan) – Lyrics by nature are subjective and people can interpret them in countless ways so I don’t usually like to give too specific an explanation but NTUA came at a time when our band had a polarized career.
We headlined London’s Forum in front of 3,000 kids one night and literally played to 25 kids in a small club in Sacramento the next night. It only made us hungrier to keep pushing which we did.
Early in the bands existence you won Best International Newcomer at the Kerrang! Awards (2007), what was that like, and how do you think that changed the trajectory of the band from that moment onwards?
Madina Lake (Nathan) – Yeah we’re very grateful for that award. It certainly helped put us on the map and Kerrang! was always so supportive of us. It did give us quite a boost early on.
One of our writers St.Jimmy wants to know what it was like touring with Papa Roach back in 2009 having loved it so much in Nottingham that year?
Madina Lake (Nathan) – Thanks St.Jimmy! Papa Roach are one of the best bands on the planet. Amazing people too.. We’ve been lucky enough to play with them in the UK and US several times. They have an energy about them that resonates high above most. I remember that Nottingham show. It went off..
Are there any plans on release another album any time soon? The last full length release was back in 2011 and we are begging for another one!
Madina Lake (Nathan) – Thank you! We are working on it.. I have not been satisfied enough with recent songs to move ahead but as soon as we are, I trust you will know about it first!
What would you say has been the best festival you have performed at and why?
Madina Lake (Nathan) – Very early on we did a festival called “Give it a Name” in London. It was our first one and we played with Enter Shikari and Brand New among others but the place went completely mental. That and SummerSonic in Japan..
What would you say is the most under rated song you have ever released that as a band you really love?
Madina Lake (Nathan) – They’re Coming For Me. Thank you so much!
All rights to the songs in this interview are retained by Madina Lake. This site claims no rights over them. All photos were provided by Madina Lake.
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