Magnolia Park Thrill in Sophomore Record "Halloween Mixtape II"
Interview and photos by Mary Perez
Graphic by Rebekah Witt
What better way to celebrate spooky season than with a new Magnolia Park record? The eclectic five-piece recently completed a stellar US headline tour, including an appearance at Las Vegas’ When We Were Young Festival. The genre-blending pop punk band’s latest release, Halloween Mixtape II, is the band at their best, scattered with pop culture references and the catchiest melodies you could imagine. We sat down with frontman Joshua Roberts and guitarist Tristan Torres at When We Were Young to discuss their sophomore record, dream collaborators, and Halloween memories.
You guys just performed earlier today. How was it? What was it like getting to see the entire crowd and starting off the day like that?
Joshua Roberts: Man, it was crazy. It was super hot. The sun was beating on us, but we powered through. It was pretty awesome, listening to the chants of people singing our songs back was crazy. Yeah, let's
Tristan Torres: To be part of a festival of all these legendary bands and the crowd reacting the way they did is really special because they really got there, moshing for us super early in the set, so it was awesome.
While you're here, is there anyone that you're hoping to catch?
JR: Pierce the Veil, 5 Seconds of Summer, 30 Seconds to Mars, Blink-
TT: Blink, for sure.
JR: Simple Plan, Bowling For Soup.
For sure. I know that you guys are touring right now and are just about to finish your tour. How's it been like getting to play with those bands and do this headliner just ahead of your album release?
JR: It's been crazy, man. All the people that are on our tour are super, super nice people. They're very fun to play with. The shows have been crazy. Like there's been some crazy times on this on this one thing. It's been it's been unhinged and fun at the same
TT: Yeah, we brought along TX2, 408, and poptropicaslutz!, so it's like a younger kind of tour. The crowd has been amazing, and I’m excited for the rest of the dates.
Have you got a favorite show so far? Anything that stood out?
JR: Seattle was great. Great. Yeah, it was crazy. Yeah. the crowd was rowdy. Man, it was like a rowdy crowd. People were crowdsurfing and stage diving. It was crazy. It felt like an old-school punk show.
Between when we first interviewed you and now, what's it been like getting to play all these shows, getting to tour with different artists, and seeing the growth just within a year?
JR: We did a lot of learning and understanding the touring business, as well as the music business within this past year. We had a lot of acts that kinda took us under their wing, like Simple Plan, Mayday [Parade], Real Friends, and everything like that. I think this year was like taking what we learned and putting it into practice to put us in a better position for next year.
Is there anyone in particular that you're hoping to tour with next year?
JR: Pierce the Veil? Definitely Pierce the Veil. Fall Out Boy. It'd be cool to tour with Bring Me the Horizon. 5 Seconds of Summer would be dope.
TT: Yeah, all of those… 30 Seconds to Mars.
You gotta shoot your shot while you're here.
JR: Yeah, we tried. We tried to find green rooms, run into them casually.
TT: They kind of made the mistake of putting us right next to Pierce the Veil.
The likelihood of that happening is a lot higher than most then. You're about to release a new album, so what’s it been like in these days leading up to it? Do you have anything special planned for that release?
JR: When our album releases, it’ll be the show before our last show. It's gonna be a crazy time, just hearing all the reactions the next day. But we don't have anything planned yet because we're on tour. But like, No, we've just been promoting it while we're on tour, showing people in person what kind of music we're going to be playing.
Are there any songs in particular that you're excited for everyone to hear?
TT: Probably “Candles.” We're doing a music video for that one, too. It’s like old-school Panic! at the Disco vibes.
JR: For me, it has to be “Loved by you.” It's a crazy song, man. Shoutout to Nick Bailey for helping us with that one. Yeah, that one I can't wait for.
I was reading the lyrics and saw that you had “The End: Emo Nite Rhapsody.” Do you have a lot of memories going to Emo Nites, or was that something in particular that you were really inspired by?
JR: Our first big show was at Emo Nite LA and Vegas. Yeah. We actually had a music video for “The End.” From that song, we were like, “Let's bring it back. Let's have a little reprise and see what happens.” We came up with “Emo Nite Rhapsody,” and it came out so, so good as a bunch of callbacks from a couple other songs that we've released. It's gonna be a nice little nostalgic feel for us.
I know that something that you guys are always doing is collaborating with a lot of different artists. So if you were on a song for another artist, who would you want to choose?
TT: Bring Me the Horizon, obviously. Pierce the Veil.
JR: Linkin Park in a perfect world.
Yeah, that works perfectly with another question I was gonna ask! If you could perform with a zombie-fied band from the past or bring someone back from the dead to perform with, who would you choose?
JR: Linkin Park, 100%. Yeah, they were just the blueprint for a lot of bands, and it kind of sucks that we didn't get a chance to play with them. I try and keep that Linkin Park spirit alive in some way for him in our music.
Favorite Halloween costume growing up?
TT: Mine would be a zombie. My mom used to do zombie makeup on me, and I used to run around with Freddy, causing havoc in the neighborhood. So
JR: For me, it was Scream. It's crazy. It was Scream Ghostface, always.
Favorite Halloween candy?
TT: Reese’s.
JR: I’m a 3 Musketeers guy. That and Twizzlers. Yeah, I've been coming back.
So, the dream rider would include…
JR: Twizzlers, 3 Musketeers. Beef jerky.
TT: Celsius, a smoothie machine.
JR: Mcdonald's burgers. Stacked-up McDonald’s double cheeseburgers.
If you could create a conspiracy theory involving your band, what would it be?
TT: Freddie is not real. Yeah. Freddie is a made-up character, so what you see on stage is actually CGI. What you see in music videos? CGI.
Any messages that you'd like to send your fans?
TT: Thank you so much for supporting us and listening to us. Shoutout to the street team.
JR: You know, they grind the street team grind so much. We wouldn't be as far as we are without the street team, without our team, like Jess and Evan. Everyone's been working hard together and become a tiny crew. So yeah, shoutout to them, we love them all. We're not going nowhere. We’ll be rocking out.
Every time I’ve seen Magnolia Park perform, I’m always blown away by how electrifying their sets are, whether it be on a headline tour or playing a festival stage. They’re able to captivate their audiences and keep them wanting more songs, and there’s never a dull moment at their shows. Be sure to stream Halloween Mixtape II, out now on all streaming platforms!