Punk-pop outfit Boys Like Girls is back with authority this fall. They’re releasing a new studio album and touring alongside the All American Rejects, The Ready Set, and Parachute.
They’ll be rolling into Philadelphia on September 15th to play a show at Xfinity Live so we chatted with drummer John Keefe about the upcoming album, tour, life on the road, and which band member is expecting a baby.
Independent Philly: Who came up with the name “Boys Like Girls”?
John Keefe: Martin (Johnson) had a big list of names that we’d all put together, and that name seemed to stick out on his piece of paper. So, we were just like “this is interesting and hasn’t be done before”, so that’s the really wild and crazy story, it was just a big list on a piece of paper.
IP: You have a new full length album, “Crazy World”, coming out this fall. What can fans expect from the new album?
JK: They can expect new songs they haven’t heard on the other albums. I’m joking. It’s just a different range of stuff. I think we really grew a lot on this record and we tried so many different other things. Martin produced it, we spent about six to eight months recording it; it was definitely a whirlwind experience. I think it’s one of those listens that you can listen to again and again. You’re going to pick up more and more stuff (each time).
IP: You released the EP for the album in July, how has the response been to that so far?
JK: The response has been good. We did a video for one of the songs. Yeah the response has been really good. The kids have been awesome and we’ve been doing a lot of online social media stuff, you know, trying to stay current because we’ve been away for a little bit.
IP: If you had to pick a personal favorite track off of the new album, what would it be?
JK: Personal favorite…that’s a tough one because they’re all like our kids. I’m a big fan of, playing live, I really like playing “The First Time” but probably my favorite song is “Life of the Party”.
IP: You’re gearing up for a fall tour, how do you guys prepare to head out on the road and are there any items you can’t tour without?
JK: Yeah we all have to have our laptops and our clothes and stuff like that. As far as preparing we go and work out and try to eat healthy and get our bodies ready for it. It’s pretty strenuous on your body to be playing every night, especially as a drummer, so just a lot of trying to stay healthy, and working hard to play the best show we can.
IP: We’ll be seeing you in Philly on September 15th. What can fans expect from a live “Boys Like Girls” show if they’ve never seen you perform in person before?
JK: Since we’re in Philly we’re thinking about just ordering 1,000 Philly Cheesesteaks and just throwing them at the fans while we’re playing. Like instead of balloons coming down, we’re just gonna have Philly Cheesesteaks come down.
IP: That sounds delicious.
JK: Yeah so I think we might do something like that. It’s up in the air. It’s a new show every night for us; we never do the same thing. You never know what you’re going to get, it’s always a different experience.
IP: As a music fan, if you could pick three bands to see perform that you’ve never had a chance to see, who would you pick?
JK: Nirvana, The Beatles, and I’ve never seen The Killers, I should probably go and see them. They’re one of my favorite bands of all time and I’ve just never gotten a chance to see them. Hopefully this year.
IP: Is there a specific charity that you’re passionate about that you’d like to plug?
JK: We do some stuff for the “Make a Wish” Foundation, that’s always a big thing with our band.
IP: Tell us something that would surprise or even shock our readers…
JK: Paul (DiGiovanni) is having a child in like 9 months. I just found out like five minutes ago.
Independent Philly 
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