“I’ve tried to write happy songs, and I can’t write happy songs. There’s just something about it,” Mayday Parade lead vocalist Derek Sanders confesses in a new video interview with Zero Platoon.
As I mentioned when Music Mayhem premiered the last Zero Platoon video featuring Assuming We Survive, Zero Platoon is an organization that I started in 2013 in order to work with bands and other artists to reach out to active-duty military members who deal with mental health issues, and might not have the same freedom they’ve had before to go to shows and experience the community and the emotional outlet that a good concert can provide. So, through Zero Platoon, I try to bring the bands to them through acoustic performances, videos and interviews about how music can help us get through tough times.
“Writing music is, to me, it’s like very therapeutic,” Sanders says as he opens up about the different ways music helps him. “There’s a lot of stuff that I have a hard time saying. It helps me organize my thoughts and how I feel about stuff, he explains in the video right before performing an acoustic version of “I Swear This Time I Mean It,” off the band’s 10-year-old album, Anywhere But Here.
Sanders tells the story of events in his past that influenced the writing of that song, but also talks about how its meaning has changed over the past decade, but the power of the song’s meaning has not.
You can watch the full episode below, and subscribe to Zero Platoon’s YouTube channel to see videos as soon as they drop. Our next video is with Sincere Engineer and will be coming soon. While you wait, check out our past videos with Neck Deep, Matt Pryor from The Get Up Kids, Dustin Kensrue from Thrice, Frank Turner, and many, many more. And please, if you know anyone struggling with mental health issues like depression or anxiety, or just feeling down, share these videos and tell them about Zero Platoon––whether they’re in the military or not.
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