“We wouldn’t be here without our fans.”
It’s a sentence uttered by every band so often that it almost garners a collective eye roll each time it’s spoken. It feels like a rehearsed line, one that bands are supposed to say when performing on stage, accepting an award or being interviewed. While as a fan it’s nice to be recognized, there doesn’t seem to be any kind of reciprocation for their loyalty beyond this type of statement.
The Maine are changing that.
On August 30, the Arizona quintet—lead singer John O’Callaghan, rhythm guitarist Kennedy Brock, lead guitarist Jared Monaco, bassist Garrett Nickelsen and drummer Pat Kirch— set off on a 19-date tour unlike any they’ve done before. It’s different because, well, it’s free.
Appropriately titled the Free For All tour, the just-show-up string of shows are the Maine’s way of repaying fans for their unwavering support over the years. They’re not just conveying their appreciation for fans in words; they’re showing it.
“Fans are the only reason [bands]can [survive], but nobody really expresses that in a way that’s actually tangible for the fans,” Brock says, checking in from Niagara Falls. “We get to do what we want and be ourselves because of the people that are out supporting us all the time. To be able to give out a free show and a free tour and let people come to a show and bring friends and have fun, I think that’s the whole goal behind it. We are one big family in this group, and we want to open our arms to more people.”
Indeed, Brock and his four bandmates have created a family. But it’s not just made up of the band and their crew. No, this family is much, much bigger and goes by the name of 8123. The four digits originated from lyrics on Can’t Stop Won’t Stop’s “We All Roll Along,” referring to a space in the Maine’s hometown of Tempe where they would gather with friends, and gradually became a reference to any supporter of the band. 8123 is also the management company/label/publicity firm hybrid that serves as headquarters for the Maine’s manager, Tim Kirch.
“He’s the 6th member of our band,” Brock says. “He really always has us in mind. I don’t think there’s any question about how much loyalty he has toward us and we do toward him as well. There’s a huge level of respect that we have going both ways.”
Without Tim, the Free For All tour might not have come to fruition. The older brother of drummer Pat, Tim has managed the Maine since day one. He’s watched them grow as artists and humans over the years and simultaneously grown with them. It’s this close and trusting relationship with Tim that really assured the band that a free tour would be possible without consequences. They knew that with Tim on their side, they couldn’t go wrong.
“[He] really went leaps and bounds over what anyone else would have done for us and made sure that we could do this tour,” Brock says.
But Tim isn’t the only one who has grown up with the Maine—their fans have too. Over time, not many fans have outgrown the music, mainly because the Maine’s style and sound have constantly evolved along with their audience. Each album has it’s own defining sound but remains uniquely true to the Maine. It’s as if they’re making it up as they go along, which works perfectly since they don’t have a label or corporate entity dictating how things should be done.
“As we go, we learn what we like and don’t like and we change,” Brock says. “People go through different spurts as they’re growing up. It’s been a lot of years [as a band]. Sometimes you’re happy and sometimes you’re sad. I think all those things combine to allow us to continue to grow up with people. As they do, we are. Luckily for us, people can relate.”
It’s their relatability and musical freedom that have really transformed the Maine’s relationship with their fans. Since the release of Pioneer, the band’s first independently released album, fans have been exposed to the most authentic version of the Maine. Though the band have always been advocates for free meet-and-greets at shows, their independent artistry has allowed them to carry on the tradition. To this day, the Maine will not charge fans to meet them.
“I have a hard time wrapping my head around someone paying to just meet me,” Brock says. “It doesn’t make any sense to me. I just never thought that was a thing that should happen… Most of the time I’d like to think people can sniff through bullshit. When they’re able to know that we’re out there [signing]because we want to be out there and not because someone is paying [us]to be out there, it’s a totally different thing.”
It’s a concept that, along with the free tour, has people scratching their heads. Why would an independent band offer a free tour just a few months after releasing a new album? Brock can easily explain that one.
“Everything we do as a band is just a little bit off from what everybody else does,” he says.
The Maine follow their own path, and they march to the beat of their own drum. They are, and forever will be, pioneers.
