Good mood music.
That’s how Nikki Bruno, 21, described Mayday Parade, the first band she fell in love with enough to etch a tattoo of on her skin.
Mayday Parade plays Sunday at High Dive with opening acts The Postelles and The Maine. Doors open at 6 p.m., and tickets are available for $20 on www.ticketweb.com
The band formed in 2005, after two Tallahassee bands, Defining Moment and Kid Named Chicago, joined forces. Mayday Parade since released two EPs and three albums. The most recent is self-titled “Mayday Parade,” released in October 2011.
The band is not a stranger to Gainesville. Derek Sanders, lead vocalist, said when it was starting up, the band played in the Swamp all the time.
“I love Gainesville,” he said. “I always enjoy going back there.”
Mayday Parade even has a song, “Your Song,” that mentions the city. Sanders wouldn’t say for certain if “Your Song” is going to be on the setlist for the show, but he did hint at it.
“We’ll have to wait and see and leave it as a surprise,” he said, laughing.
Sanders has been involved with music since he was 11 years old, when his older brother taught him how to play the guitar.
He then met Brooks Betts, the guitarist for Mayday Parade, in seventh grade, and they started a band together.
“Ever since I met Brooks, it’s been our goal and our focus to be in a band and make it together,” Sanders said.
He said the inspiration for Mayday Parade’s songs come mostly from real life experiences and “just thinking about things growing up,” like relationships with friends and family.
Bruno said Mayday Parade helped her through a rough time in her life, when someone close to her began using prescription pills destructively.
“I turned to Mayday Parade to get me through those times that were so bittersweet,” she said.
Sanders said it’s “very humbling and very awesome” when he hears that his band’s music helped people through their lives.
“It’s an unexpected bonus,” he said. “We love doing this. It’s what we have always loved to do.”
Bruno said her first concert was Mayday Parade in 2007, and since then, she has seen them four times, most recently at this year’s Warped Tour.
She said her favorite song by Mayday Parade was “Miserable At Best,” from its first album, “A Lesson In Romantics,” which she described as her “belt-it-out-in-the-car, know-every-single-word” song.
Sanders said the upcoming show will include a mixture of songs from old to new. He said it’ll include some staple tour songs, but they have switched up the setlist.
“I’m very excited,” he said. “It’s going to be a good show.”
