Mayday Parade

Mayday Parade formed in Tallahassee, Florida in 2005, emerging from the same Southern pop-punk and emo scene that fed the Warped Tour circuit through the late 2000s. The band self-released an early EP and sold it by hand outside shows, an approach that helped build a following before their first full-length album.

The band came together from a merger of two Tallahassee acts, Kid Named Chicago and Defining Moment, whose members had practiced in the same building. Derek Sanders, Brooks Betts and Jeremy Lenzo came from Defining Moment, while Jason Lancaster, Alex Garcia and Jake Bundrick came from Kid Named Chicago. Garcia suggested the name Mayday Parade while they recorded their first EP.

Tales Told by Dead Friends, released in 2006, sold copies out of parking lots on that year's Warped Tour and moved more than 50,000 copies without label backing, catching the attention of Fearless Records, which signed the band that August. Their debut album, A Lesson in Romantics, followed in 2007.

Their music pairs bright pop-punk arrangements with unabashedly emotional lyrics about heartbreak, distance and adolescence, often shifting between full-band choruses and quieter piano or acoustic passages. Vocalist Derek Sanders has fronted the group throughout.

Mayday Parade signed to Atlantic Records in 2009 for Anywhere but Here, then continued through Mayday Parade, Monsters in the Closet and Black Lines before moving to Rise Records in 2018 for Sunnyland. Their most recent work is a three-part album released across 2025 and 2026, titled Sweet, Sad and Sugar.