Ashnoodle: Your new album is called Masterpiece Theatre . What is the meaning behind the title?

Marianas Trench: I always referred to the song writing style of epic songs like “Bohemian Rhapsody” and “Good Vibrations” as masterpiece song writing. Not literally, but I didn’t know what else to call that kind of song. I always wanted to write a song like that and was initially going to only write one song like that for this record so the working title was jokingly Masterpiece Theatre but it just kind of stuck.

Ashnoodle: Why did you wait two years to release this new album?

Marianas Trench: It seems like it’s been two years but we didn’t because, after we put out our first album, we had to tour for two years straight and only had about six months to put the new record together. It always seems longer to people on the outside but to me, it seems like we haven’t had a day off in five years.

Ashnoodle: You’re on tour to promote Masterpiece Theatre. How is this tour different from your other tours?

Marianas Trench: It’s more fun and we’re not fighting to make ends meet, which is really nice.

Ashnoodle: How did you decide on your band name?

Marianas Trench: A homeless man said “why don’t you call your band name Marianas Trench?” and I was like “thanks Chatty Joe” and we just went for it because he seemed to know more about the world than we did.

Ashnoodle: Who are your major influences?

Marianas Trench: There are the obvious ones like Queen or the Beach Boys but I’m also a fan of Ben Folds Five, very different from what I do, it’s more piano music. You are going to be eventually influenced by anything that you hear, you can’t help it.

Ashnoodle: What is your biggest challenge as a band?

Marianas Trench: There’s a new one every fucking day. When you’re just starting out getting fans can be a big challenge. Now that we’ve had a number one hit and have fans everywhere, our challenge is getting to the next level.

Ashnoodle: What advice do you have for someone who wants to start a band?

Marianas Trench: Try and do anything else for a living because it will be easier . If there is anything that you can imagine doing that will make you happy that isn’t being a musician, do that. If you still want to be a musician, learn how to write a good song first and don’t worry about writing a bunch of crazy, fast guitar licks because none of that matters.

Ashnoodle: What is the ultimate direction for your band?

Marianas Trench: I have no idea. It seems to change with every song that I write. With Masterpiece Theatre I wanted to have diversity. Pop music nowadays doesn’t have soul.

What I really resent are the pop acts who don’t write their own material or who can’t play music well. I’m talking about some of the top bands in Canada, whom I’m not going to name because they’re some of my friends. If that’s your job and what you do every day, you have no business sucking up on stage.

It makes me angry when some people don’t put in the work. I mean how dare you, you’ve been given all this opportunity and all of these people who come to hear your music and you don’t even have the ability to sing one of your own songs. It makes me crazy!