Posted July 29, 2004.
What a difference a year can make. In the spring of 2003, Long Island, N.Y. natives Taking Back Sunday had reached a career high, fresh from selling out large clubs all over the United States and Europe, the band was going to be playing in front of thousands daily on the main stage of the Vans Warped Tour that summer. The band had gained a massive fan base and unheard of record sales. Without any help from mainstream radio or MTV, Taking Back Sunday sold 200,000 copies of their debut "Tell All Your Friends" through a grueling tour schedule, an explosive stage performance and word of mouth.
Suddenly all the hard work came crumbling apart when two founding members left the band for unknown personal reasons that are still rumored about and discussed. When the dust settled the band was left without a background singer, guitarist or bassist and Taking Back Sunday dropped from the Warped Tour.
The remaining members started the search for replacements. They decided on Fred Mascherino, from the band Breaking Pangea that played the Tavern in 2002, and bassist Matt Rubino. The newly restored band was able to play the last three days of the 2003 Warped Tour and helped sell out all three dates, which bassist Matt Rubino could only describe as "ridiculous and amazing" in an interview at this year's Warped Tour in Denver.
For the new guy, it can be intimidating to join a band that already has a large and loyal following. But for Rubino it was no big deal to step into his new role in the band.
"I had never seen Taking Back Sunday before I joined it," said Rubino. "People say that my stage performance is a little bit more involved, more physical, like moving around a bit more [than my predecessor]."
In addition, Rubino brought his vast musical knowledge to the recording process of the band's latest "Where You Want To Be," which hits stores Tuesday.
"I've been making music professionally for the last six or seven years in different bands and playing on different records," Rubino said. "I've had a lot of experience just recording music. I think I brought a new level of professionalism to the band while still making it balls out and exciting on the stage. I think the bass parts are more involved in the new songs compared to older material."
Before joining Taking Back Sunday, Rubino was a professional musician most known for playing on Lauryn Hill's multi-Grammy-winning album "The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill." To Rubino, the experience was valuable, but not better than his work with Taking Back Sunday.
"[Working with Lauryn] compares with Taking Back Sunday as working for an artist rather than being the artist," said Rubino. "If she said no on something I wasn't going to play it. So being in Taking Back Sunday versus being a working musician is way more fulfilling and gratifying because the only person I have to please is myself and my bandmates. And that in itself can be a real headache sometimes, but we ended up with something we really like. People say 'that Lauryn Hill record sold 20 million copies,' but I am more proud of the new Taking Back Sunday album and the fact that I was a part of it."
After recording the new record, the band embarked on the biggest tour in its history - opening for Blink 182. However, although this was biggest tour, it wasn't their best, according to Rubino.
"Some of the members of Taking Back Sunday didn't really like the tour," said Rubino. "We all loved hanging out with Blink 182, we loved the big audiences, it was a total trip and totally exciting. But they were mainly seated audiences, and we are used to craziness, like people flying all over the place, knocking each other down, running all over and dancing. With an amphitheatre setting with security guards and rows and rows of seats all over, you don't really get the same energy out of a crowd. You have to play differently."
The next big event for Taking Back Sunday came in the form of a big-screen superhero. A song from the band's new record was chosen to be included on the soundtrack for "Spiderman 2."
"We submitted some songs for them and they seemed to think that 'This Photograph is Proof' had some lyrical reference to the plot," Rubino said. "So we were psyched when we got this phone call that we were going to be on it."
Now Taking Back Sunday is back in full force for the entirety of this year's 10th Anniversary Warped Tour. Taking Back Sunday will perform at the nearby Nissan Pavilion in Bristow, Va. with the Warped Tour on Aug. 4.
Rubino said that the Warped Tour can be grueling but in the end is an awesome experience.
"It is so much fun because it's a great feeling to wake up every day and know that you are going to play in front of thousands and thousands of kids in a nice beautiful place and with a lot of great bands," said Rubino. "I'm having the time of my life"
