Toronto pop-punk act Rosedale unleashed their high energy EP, Again on September 6th and now, mastermind Mike Liorti has sat down with The Prelude Press to dive a little deeper into the five catchy songs that make up the EP.
The solo-project of Mike Liorti follows up on 2015’s self-titled record with 5 hook-laden, heartfelt and infectious tracks – something that fans have come to expect from the hard-working musician. With over a decade of experience and countless releases under his belt, Liorti manages to make Again feel more like a theatrical full-length, rather than a short EP. With U.S. tour dates throughout October and November (and even three Colorado shows at the end of this month) you can get to know a little more about Rosedale and the new EP below.
1. What We Started
‘What We Started’ is about sexual tension and overcoming fears and insecurities. I believe those same insecurities and fears that come with sexual tension are relatable to everyday life and goals. If you let fear win you’ll only regret and the greater the fear the greater the reward.
Originally this song was called ‘Pantless Party’, I had the chorus already written in my head. I was having many dreams of being in the house I grew up in and one of the reoccurring dreams was from a scene in the movie “Harold & Kumar go to White Castle” where they show up to the pantless party… only it was in my old house and in it was every girl I ever wanted to date in high school but never had the courage to make a move. When my previous manager & mentor heard the demo, he suggested I change it from “let’s have a pantless party” to “let’s finish what we started!”.
2. Snapped in Two
I wrote this one a while back after a big run of successful shows. I was high on life and all I could think of was how my old drummer had it all backwards; you’re not supposed to run from problems to find success. You get to the next level by facing issues head on and tackling them with a positive attitude. We were basically brothers for years until he got all bitter about the punk/rock/DIY scene and completely ghosted me for a different dream. It messed me up for a while so that song is my anthem of overcoming that poison.
3. This Dissonance
I wrote this song the night my good friend (and drummer at the time) backpack got vomited on by a girl I was dating. We stayed at her brother’s friend’s place during warped tour in AZ and she had way too much wine. For some reason this is a semi-common occurrence, maybe because I’m socially awkward, so I was pretty upset and just drifted off into an emo writing session about my bad luck. I remember the big 2 bar orchestra ramp-in intro was added as the final touch in a Connecticut public library and I nearly pee’d my pants trying to finish it/pack-up (another common occurrence). So, this song is a real road dog and it goes to show you can create art anywhere about anything if you’re feeling it.
4. Space Mountain
This was another one inspired by a reoccurring dream of my childhood. I used to love theme parks/roller coasters but hated long lines. I remember when I used to go down to Darien Lake with my cousins and I’d wake up early to get in right as they opened the gates for a minimal-wait Superman fix. Disney’s Space Mountain was always worth any length of line. The song uses the coaster as a metaphor for how the things in life that bring you the most joy is what matters most; favorite bands, rides, people, animals, places, movies, productions…they’re worth the wait/chase/risk/sacrifice etc. They’re the keys to growth and a happy, fulfilled life.
These days I feel like most people invest too much time/attention into things they hate. I took a trip to LA with my old drummer for the first time when I was 17 to see “Angels & Airwaves” and went on Space Mountain a couple of days before the show while listening to ‘The Adventure’. It was the ultimate rush. At the end of the ride the employees had to pull me out because my long legs were stuck in the shuttle. And they have the next shuttles coming in every 12 seconds or something crazy. I’m definitely too tall for a lot of rides now but I can vividly remember being too short and pulling the ol’ baggy-socks-tip-toe at Wonderland.
5. Do it All Again
A lot of people thought this song was written about a girl which surprised me and made me double-take the lyrics. Then I remembered the truest rock n’ roll saying; ‘being in a band is like being in a relationship… without the sex‘. – every band ever.
This song is about my friends I fell in love with music with way back when and how I wouldn’t change a thing about the memories we share. At least half of everything I know I learned with those guys. I still randomly laugh to myself at the crazy ideas we’d get into. It’s crazy how we can talk to someone every day and then just stop suddenly due to change/growing up. Almost like we need to kill them off our TV shows and ignore their existence so everything can move on. Yet, had a tragedy occurred prior to change, where we never get a chance to talk to them again, they’d be in our hearts forever.
I still talk to a couple of those guys here and there and they’ve even started coming out to hometown shows/helping out/lending gear which has been great. I don’t know if I’d have gone this deep into art as a lifestyle if it wasn’t for growing up with those dudes.
The part about the complex at Queen and McLaughlin (where we’d take a break when our hands got too sore) is about carrying our amps and guitars to new drummers/jam spaces.