Please list all of your band members and their roles in the band.
Joel Beckwith (Bass)
St. John Faulkner (Drums)
Max Gaeta (Lead Guitar)
Kristian Wood-Gaiger (Vocals, Guitar)
For starters, what bands were you guys a part of prior to Maple Hill? How long has the band been around?
Kristian: St. John and I have been playing music together for like 10 years, since we were kids. We've been in a bunch of bands together. We recruited Max and Joel when they both auditioned for lead guitarist in a band we had for 2-3 years called Starts on Friday.
Joel: The four of us stuck with Starts on Friday for a while, but as we were changing and developing as a band, we started to feel like we needed a rebranding.
St. John: We formed officially as Maple Hill in the summer of 2014, so we're still fresh!
What's the origin of that name and have you changed the band's name before?
Joel: When we decided we needed a name change, it took us nearly 6 months to come up with something that really resonated with us. Maple Hill is the name of the part of Ithaca (our hometown) that Kristian lives in, and we spent a lot of time there bonding as a band. We came up with it early on in the process of recording our debut album Headspace. After living with it for those amazing couple of weeks, we knew it was the one.
Who writes your songs? What are the main themes or topics for most of your songs and do you think these topics will change over time?
Max: We all contribute to the writing of our songs. There's almost no song that doesn't have everyone's input. On our new album, a lot of the lyrics speak to growing up, and the insecurities of transitioning from a teenager to an adult. The themes/topics of our songs will most likely change as we grow older and gain new experiences, and our perspective of the world will almost definitely develop and morph over time.
What bands are currently inspiring the music that you're making?
St. John: The best thing about this band is how vast our influences are, and how they fuse to create our own take on whatever kind of music you might call us. I'm personally pretty stoked on all of the good music coming out right now. I've been really into the new Pentimento, State Champs, and Twenty One Pilots records.
Joel: We've looked up to legends like Green Day and Blink from the beginning, but some of our more recent inspirations include bands like Mayday Parade and The Dangerous Summer.
Kristian: I am currently getting a lot of inspiration from Citizen and Moose Blood. Those are probably my favorite bands right now.
Was there a particular band/artist or concert that inspired you to start a band?
Max: When I was younger, Led Zeppelin was the chief inspiration in my music. They are probably the reason I began playing the guitar and eventually started playing in bands.
Kristian: We were all really into All Time Low when we were younger. They were just killing it and having so much fun at such a young age. Once we started getting into making music together, we went to a lot of their shows, as a group. I think seeing them play fairly often and feeling those vibes together definitely contributed to how we wanted being in a band to feel.
What do you do to prepare for a show? Any flexing, exercises, etc ...
St. John: Usually it's a lot of nerves and running around, making sure everyone and everything is ready to go. But right before we go on, we always huddle up and rap freestyle or chant something funny to get the mood going.
What has been the biggest highlight of the band's career so far?
Getting the opportunity to make a record at The Panda Studios (The Story So Far, State Champs, Basement) over the summer was invaluable. We had just made a lot of tough decisions about the band and how it would change, and this was the first big thing we did together with this new vision in mind. Living and working in the studio for two weeks, all while getting to meet some talented and inspiring people was the best bonding experience we could have had. We're so proud of the record we made, and had the best time making it!
If you could tour with any bands, past or present, who would they be and why?
Kristian: Green Day or Blink for sure. Or Jack Ü. That would just be too much fun.
Joel: I'd love to tour with Knuckle Puck, they're doing great things in the scene right now.
St. John: I had an Every Avenue phase when I was younger. It would have been pretty cool to get taken out by those guys.
Max: Touring with The Story So Far or State Champs would be awesome, because it would be a great opportunity to learn from these successful bands.
Is there anything else you would like to add?
We're on the internet! Find us! You should also listen to our album Headspace once it drops on February 5th. If you're reading this, we think you'll really like it!
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MapleHillNY
Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/Maple_Hill_NY
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/maplehillny
Bandcamp: https://www.maple-hill.bandcamp.com
Soundcloud: https://www.soundcloud.com/maplehill