Troy Lowney, Brennan Smiley and Mike (Nico) Nicolette. Photo by Rosemary Vega.

At the beginning of April, the Technicolors released a brand new EP, “Ultraviolet Disguise,” their first with 8123. “It’s just sneaky, you can’t really pull that apart. It kinda makes you want to be sneaky,” Brennan Smiley, vocalist and guitarist, described of their sound.

The band has been touring with fellow Arizona natives, The Maine on their American Candy tour, which began around the time of the EP’s release. The tour’s last date is tonight in Florida, but we had the chance to talk with The Technicolors just days into the tour. See what Brennan, Mike “Nico” Nicolette (Bass), and Troy Lowney (Bass) had to say about their music and touring in the video below.

The Maine‘s latest album, American Candy is a far departure from their previous record, Forever Halloween. With a little less than two years in between albums, American Candy has a more uptempo and carefree vibe than their previous installment. The fifth album did a complete turnaround from the “darker” sound they experimented with in Forever Halloween, as guitarist Kennedy Brock described to us. “It’s always kind of our goal to go into the studio and do something that feels fresh and new,” Brock said about the change.

We sat down with drummer Pat Kirch and Kennedy just at their start of their “American Candy Tour” in April and talked about their social media black out during the recording of “American Candy,” 90s influences in their music, and much more. Check it out below.

Spring is finally among us and what better way to welcome the warm weather than with concerts? New tours are announced everyday it seems, and one of our favorites, Lydia recently released the dates for their summer 2015 tour with The Early November. It will no doubt be a great pairing, but it’ll be a few weeks before the band will start performing again. But don’t fret, if you’re dying with anticipation, check out our Lydia interview for some highlights from their last tour.

We sat down with Lydia again at the tail end of 2014 to catch up on their previous year, as well as what’s to come next for the band. The band reminisced about their Illuminate tour, and revealed their favorite song to play, “One More Day.” “We’re not shredders,” Justin Camacho said, but the track allowed them all to “get shreddy.” You’re welcome for your new nick name Justin – all hail “the Shredder!”

The band is currently finishing up their next album. When we spoke with them, only a few songs had been tracked. We asked the guys who they might collaborate with –“Might call up my friend Kanye,” Leighton Antelman told us.

So far, no signs of ‘Ye on Lydia’s Instagram, but we’re still keeping our fingers crossed.

Day 10

A photo posted by @lydiamusic on Feb 23, 2015 at 2:09pm PST

Check out our interview to hear some tour stories, including one of John O’Callaghan of The Maine and Matt Keller staying up and drinking with (or rather, around) their bus driver, and more:

Last December, Nick Santino released an EP “Savanah,” just 7 months after the release of his first full length album “Big Skies.” Nick began 2015 with an a show opening for Hanson in Mexico, playing in various college performances, and even headlining a rare, intimate acoustic performance in his small hometown of Braintree, MA. Following his performance tonight in Dallas, TX at the South by So What?! festival, Nick will be heading back on the road for a full tour with Oh Honey on the “Postcards Across America Tour.”

The tour opens next Tuesday in Los Angeles. You can get your tickets here.

When we sat down with Nick Santino in December, he told us he had recorded a song with John O’Callaghan of The Maine. Well, that song is finally here. Nick released the song, “Long Way Home” as part of the 8123 Single Series. “Long Way Home” was co written by Nick and John, and produced by Pat Kirch of The Maine. The song is available on iTunes and on a limited edition 7″ Vinyl, which can be purchased here. (FYI, you can listen to the song for free there too.) The vinyl also includes a bonus track, a cover by Nick of a song originally by The Maine.

The 8123 Single Series was created by Kirch. “The idea of doing an 8123 single series came very naturally,” Kirch explains. ”We wanted to be able to play around with some collaborations and yet still be able to release the music for fans to hear.”

Check out the making of the song below: