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This year's Give It A Name Festival provided yet another opportunity for UK audiences to spend the weekend with some of the most fresh and popular bands of our current music scene. Among the lengthy list of American favourites, one of the most highly anticipated were the very wonderful Mayday Parade.

The Floridian quintet played their first ever UK show to the 16,000 attendees at London's Earl's Court before taking to the road on the annual 'Introduces.. ' tour. We managed to grab frontman Derek Sanders for a quick chat after their insanely successful set at the Newcastle Academy 2.

OS: You played your first ever UK show at London's Give It A Name Festival. How was that experience?
Derek Sanders [vocals]: Aw, it was awesome! It was so cool. It was probably like, one of the biggest shows we've ever played; there was so many people there.

OS: Was it daunting to play at a venue that size?
Derek: Oh yeah, it was! But, you know, we usually don't get too nervous, just because we do this often. But, it was definitely exciting and there was a lot of adrenalin going on!

OS: You're currently on the Give It A Name Introduces.. tour, so how has it been?
Derek: It's been awesome! I think every single show is sold out, and of course, all of the other bands are great: we've toured with Four Year Strong before, so we already know those guys and they're awesome. Also, meeting The Color Fred and Meg & Dia has been awesome.

OS: And how did you find tonight's show?
Derek: Tonight was great! Tonight was one of the better shows.

OS: So, as a new band to the UK, some people may not know your history. How did the band form?
Derek: Basically, it was just two bands that got together to start one. It was a band called Defining Moment and a band called Kid Named Chicago, and we just, for different reasons, decided to split and take the best of both together to form one.

OS: And who are your musical inspirations?
Derek: Uh, definitely, for me personally, Queen and Further Seems Forever are two of my favourite bands.

OS: What would you say Mayday Parade's sound is like?
Derek: I mean, obviously, it's poppy. Pop-rock is the easiest way to describe it.

OS: You recently re-released your album 'A Lesson In Romantics'. What were the inspirations behind it?
Derek: Most of it was written while we were on the road, a while ago and we just had an acoustic guitar and we would just write stuff here and there. So, we pretty much wrote about what was going on at the time, and a lot of us had girlfriends back then, and being on the road, and having girlfriends back at home can be pretty stressful. So, a lot of it has to do with that kind of stuff, because that's what we were dealing with at the time of writing; just basically that kind of stuff.

OS: Have you got any idea which direction you'd like to go in for the next record?
Derek: Who knows! I don't think we're going to change it drastically. We try not to have any ideas beforehand of what we want it to sound like; we just try and write good songs. That's all you can do really.

OS: Have you managed to write anything yet?
Derek: Absolutely. We haven't had a lot of time as a group to start working on stuff, as the whole band, but I know I have a lot of ideas. We record stuff on Garage Band, you know, so a lot of my ideas are on there. I know that everyone else has a lot of ideas too.

OS: As a band, the lyrics are an integral part of your songs - they seem to be quite advanced and mature. Is there anything that allows for your lyrics to be that certain way?
Derek: I don't know. I mean, I know for me, whenever I write lyrics, it's something that you can't force. If you're in the zone, the mood, and you're writing stuff and it's coming out, great. But, you kind of get to a stopping point and you can't force yourself to write something. You know what I mean? You have to wait until it comes to you.

OS: Would it be fair to say that your songs are about heartbreak?
Derek: A lot of them are, but not all of them.
OS: Emotions like that are obviously very inspiring creatively. Do you think it'll be quite difficult when your writing the next record, without those specific feelings to inspire?
Derek: Yeah, that's the thing. I'm not sure. Who knows what the next ones will be about? Like I said, that's just what we were dealing with at that time, so really, whatever's going on [will be influences], whether it's more positive things, for the next CD. I don't think it necessarily has to be about heartbreak or any of that kinda stuff, for it to be a good song.

OS: Before you came over to the UK, you played at Bamboozle. How was that?
Derek: That was awesome. That was really cool. We did the MLB Stage and it was unbelievable. I've always wanted to go, but I've never been able to go, so my first time being there was playing it. So, you can't get better than that! It was awesome.

OS: And you're playing Warped Tour this year...
Derek: Yeah!
OS: How are you feeling about that?
Derek: Ohh, I'm really excited about Warped Tour!
OS: Have you played it before?
Derek: We've done a few weeks of it, last year, but not the whole thing. This'll be our first time doing the whole thing, so I'm really excited about that.

OS: Have there been any differences between these UK crowds, compared with the US?
Derek: They're not that much different actually, to the American audiences. It's crazy because we didn't really know what to expect, coming over here; we didn't how many people would know us, or would be singing along or anything. But there's been a good amount of kids who have been singing and moving around and stuff. So, it's really been really awesome for us. But, it's pretty close to the same. Everyone has a good time.

OS: Do you have anymore plans for the UK?
Derek: We don't have plans yet, but I'm sure we will be coming back. I don't know when, but I know that we will!

OS: As musicians, you're all linked to the organisation To Write Love On Her Arms. How did you get involved, and what does it mean to you as a band?
Derek: It means a lot to all of us. To start with, we met them on Warped Tour last year. Really, from the beginning and since I'd heard of the organisation, I wanted to be involved. But once we met them on Warped Tour, Michael - who's one of the guys that represents TWLOHA - we met him and he's a really awesome guy. He's a great friend of ours now, he got us a bunch of shirts and we've been working with him ever since then. It's definitely just.. it's the whole awareness for teen suicide, and self-harm, that kind of stuff. But, you know, it's stuff that.. I've had friends and ex-girlfriends that have dealt with all that stuff. I've seen a lot of it firsthand: I think a lot of us have. It's definitely a bad thing that people need to know about, and know that there's help and something you can do about it.

OS: Finally, what have you got planned for the rest of the year?
Derek: Well, actually, up until Warped Tour, we don't have anything planned. We have a few weeks when we're gonna take a little time off, start writing. Then, we'll do Warped Tour starting in June.
OS: But, you'll be back in the UK soon?
Derek: Oh, I promise! I don't know for sure when - we're talking about that now, but as soon as we can though, because it's awesome!

Mayday Parade are set to return to the UK this September.