Girl at the Rock Shows

A few months ago, My Chemical Romance announced that they would be coming through Minneapolis next year. I know that’s a long way away when you think about things, but really, I’m already counting down the days. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve seen MCR dozens of times and even before they were really anything to write home about, but that doesn’t mean I’m not excited to see them again. Why am I confessing my love for MCR to you right now? Because “Obituaries”, the new song from New Jersey-based Young and Doomed reminds me of MCR. It took me down a rabbit hole of nostalgia, but also set a fire under my butt to get to know more about this young band with such a classic (and flawless) sound, so I jumped on the opportunity to ask them some questions.

We’re going to start off with a two-parter- Pick between It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, The Office, or Parks & Rec L

Tyler: I think It’s Always Sunny is the funniest one, but overall, The Office. I’ve watched the entire series front to back probably 10-15 times. It was my comfort show for a long time and would often leave it on in the background almost 24/7 when doing stuff/hanging out in my bedroom 

Now that you’ve picked, please assign each band member as a character from said show: 

Tyler: I would probably be Michael, Thalia would be Pam, Elliot would be Toby, and Seb would be Ryan 

Do you have a hidden talent? If so, what is it? 

Elliot: I can imitate animal noises pretty good 

Tyler: I can clap really really fast LMAO 

Sebastian: I am really good at playing pool. If the venue has a pool table it’s a field day for me. 

Everyone says that every crowd is their favorite but, what city has the best audience and why is it Minneapolis? 

Thalia: I wish we’d gone to Minneapolis. Definitely somewhere we want to hit. So far though, it would probably be New Brunswick. Everyone there just likes to have fun 

Tyler: We haven’t played in Minneapolis yet, (hopefully we do one day soon!) but I think New Brunswick has the best audience. Everyone is there to have a good time and have fun which makes performing more fun for me as well! 

How would you describe your music to your grandparents? 

Elliot: None of my grandparents are alive anymore but we make music that would probably scare them even though it’s not super heavy 

Thalia: Oh god, my grandparents are old Hispanic people. I’d probably just tell them it’s really loud so they don’t try to listen and get scared by how aggressively I sing

Tyler: My grandma has one of our shirts that she wears which I think is really cute. I’m not sure if she really knows what genre we are but if I had to describe it to her, it would probably be easiest just to call it rock music 

Sebastian: My grandparents are old hispanic folks too so I would probably tell them its heavy music and if they want to listen to it i’ll show them so they can ask me why I enjoy my music. 

If you could compare yourself to an insect, what one would it be and why? 

Elliot: I would probably be a roly poly, cruising around in the free world and trying not to get squished 

Thalia: I feel like I’m a bit millapede-esque. Not all the legs but mostly because it’s a pretty chill insect who likes to keep to itself and when it gets scared it curls up. 

Tyler: I think I would be an ant. Just a little dude wandering around and taking crumbs every now and then you know? Man’s gotta eat! 

Sebastian: I think I would be a spider. Just tiny and out of the way but people shake when they see me. 

Favorite lyrics of all time?

Thalia: Okay so it’s actually a pair of lyrics from 2 different songs!! The first one is from The Futile by Say Anything: “Love, I shall not love, yet I’ll still sing about it”. And the second one is from Ew Jersey by Say Anything: “But I’m too far gone in love with love to care”. I’m a huge Say Anything fan and I just adore the connection between those two songs 

Tyler: Two lyrics that immediately came to mind are “Ain’t no mystery why I’m in misery” by Misfits from their song “London Dungeon” and “Juliet loves the beat and the lust it commands, Drip the dagger and lather the blood on your hands, Romeo” by My Chemical Romance from their song “The Sharpest Lives” 

If you were to rob a bank, what would be the song playing in the getaway car as you escape? 

Thalia: Na Na Na – My Chemical Romance 

Tyler: I’m not a big KISS fan but probably Detroit Rock City. 

Elliot: Bootlicker by SPY

Sebastian: Whatevs by Ayegy 

What’s the best concert you’ve ever been to? 

Tyler: Probably IDLES at Terminal 5 in 2021. IMO that’s when the band was at their peak and I have such fond memories of that show. I actually called out of work to see them play at Terminal 5 again the very next day cause the show was so good! 

Sebastian: I went to see Brutalismus 3000 at avant-gardner in brooklyn and it was the biggest and loudest standing room venue i’ve been to period. The speakers were literally breathing on us. 

Does pineapple belong on pizza? 

Elliot: I feel like I’m the only person that hasn’t tried it yet 

Thalia: We need to focus on the real pizza criminal: olives 

Tyler: You couldn’t Zelle me to even fathom trying that abomination 

Sebastian: Grow up and put the pineapple on the pizza 

If you could have dinner with any musician, dead or alive, who would it be and why? 

Tyler: Alive I would pick Frank Iero from My Chemical Romance. He’s the reason I started playing guitar to begin with and I would love to pick his brain. Dead would be Freddie Mercury! 

Sebstian: For me it would be Garrett Russell from Silent Planet. I am not a song writer but that guy has a crazy talent for writing lyrics that make you feel and paint the picture. 

What’s the worst concert you’ve ever been to and why? 

Elliot: When I saw A Day to Remember I almost suffocated after someone fell on me at the barricade 

Thalia: Falling in Reverse. Just not for me. 

Tyler: I saw Destructo Disk at a house show in NYC a few years ago, and what made it awful wasn’t the band, but there were so many people packed into this small upstairs studio, and the floor was legitimately bouncing for the entire set. My friend Shawn and I thought we were going to fall through the floor any minute so needless to say it was 30 minutes of anxiousness and fear

Sebastian: I saw the band Dragged Under at the meadows and what made it not the best is that it was empty. It sounded great and they were great but the room was really not filled so it was not as fun. I still had a great time 

What’s your favorite method of listening to music?

Tyler: I had a pretty sizable vinyl collection a few years ago. I enjoyed that way of listening to music, but didn’t use it enough to warrant the amount of records I was buying 

Sebastian: I have a huge cassette collection along with a walkman and it is the coolest format in my opinion. I love the inserts that bands would have. 

Have you ever read obituaries just for fun? 

Thalia: A couple times as a teenager. Sometimes I was curious. 

Tyler: I only check obituaries to see if someone I haven’t seen/talked to in a long time has passed. You never know! 

What a great segway into your new song, “Obituaries”! Can you tell me what this song is about? 

Thalia: It’s about a lot of things with the main one being contemplating killing yourself because you want to know how the people around you would react. The “you” that I’m talking to in the lyrics is actually me. It’s a very teenage notion of “if I disappeared, who would care?” And the answer is always “a lot of people”. 

What came first, the lyrics or the music? 

Thalia: The lyrics! I got the first 3 lines of the chorus stuck in my head. The second line of the chorus is actually a reference from a broadway musical that I listened to during my show tunes era. I called Ty in a frenzy because I needed a riff to attach it to immediately and he luckily had already written one that fit. From there, I actually used some lyrics from an old song I wrote called “Wounds” and it turned into what it is today! 

Who was your biggest influence when it came to writing this song? 

Elliot: No one specific but listening to a ton of hardcore inspired the small licks in my bass parts 

Thalia: Probably “My Way Home is Through You” by My Chem 

Tyler: Riff wise this one’s pretty heavily My Chem inspired. It’s also got a bit of an L.S. Dunes vibe in the guitars!

If you had to assign a color to this track, what color would it be? 

Elliot: Indigo 

Tyler: I’ve always seen this song as a red 

What’s your favorite line from this song? 

Thalia: “But not a thousand men or even Shakespeare’s pen could give you a tragic end” Tyler: “The civil blood will stain our teeth, it’s morbid curiosity” 

Elliot: Same as Thalia lol 

Now turn that into a Dr. Seuss-style line for me: 

Thalia: You can get a thousand men, or try to write with Shakespeare’s pen, but you won’t get that tragic end 

There’s a subtle darkness to this song where there were times when I felt the weight of the world. With that being said, when was the first time you felt truly Young and Doomed? 

Thalia: I feel like everyone has a teen angst phase, but my very first Young and Doomed feeling was probably when I had my first friend break up with my best friend of 8 years. 

I get a very My Chem influence here so, of course, I have to ask, if a modern-day rap star were to cover this song, who would you hope it is? 

Thalia: Oh definitely Teezo Touchdown. I think he’d have fun with it even if it’s a darker theme 

Tyler: They’re not around anymore but BROCKHAMPTON would kill a cover of this song 

“Obituaries” is going to be part of a new EP dropping in just a couple of days! (CONGRATS) Any chance you have some insight into some of the other songs on the EP that you want to leak? 

Tyler: The concept of this EP was to capture things that are terrifying in a realistic sense, but using the “horror” in the title as a euphemism. When you think of horror you probably think of monster movies and stuff like that but the REAL horror (horror at its very finest) are things that people experience like anxiety, suicidal thoughts, addiction, etc. Lots of heavy themes on this EP, but I’ll let you find the others for when you listen 🙂 

What’s next for Young and Doomed? 

Tyler: We’re going to continue playing shows anywhere that takes us. We love playing in our home state of New Jersey and will continue to, but this past year we’ve gotten to play in New York, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Maryland, etc. I would love to continue that momentum and travel more to play shows 

Elliot: We’d love to get a tour going, hopefully around spring/summer. There have been attempts but it’s a lot harder than someone would think but it’s something that’s worth the effort to branch out our audience and play in new places 

Is there anything else you want everyone to know? 

Tyler: This latest EP is our best work to date. It perfectly encapsulates who we are as a band, and where we’re moving sonically. Catchy choruses and hooks with booming riffs that feel like a punch to the face. Our live performances are where these songs really come to life. I encourage everybody to follow us @younganddoomednj on Instagram and stay up to date with where we’re playing so you can catch a show! We really value the idea of it being a show versus just some local band at a venue. Our energy is off the charts and our performances are memorable. Come out and see us!

I know that a band saying that their “energy is off the charts” is nothing new, but I have a feeling that I can believe it when Young and Doomed says it. There’s just something so lively about not only their sound, but also their personalities when it came to answering my off-the-wall questions. I feel like every answer made me fall a bit deeper in love with this band and left me craving a chance to see them live sooner rather than later. Although I don’t know when that will happen, I know that I will be listening to “Obituaries” and their brand new EP on repeat for the time being.

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