FROM THE ARCHIVES: Taking Back Sunday (2002 & 2018) interviews with Darren Paltrowitz

In January or February 2002, I interviewed 3/5 of Taking Back Sunday (Adam Lazzara, John Nolan, Eddie Reyes) at a TGI Friday's in Massapequa, New York, prior to the release of the group's debut album "Tell All Your Friends." A fun and sometimes-inappropriate conversation, likely rooted in our pre-recorded discussion about "Opie & Anthony," but also refreshingly honest. When I asked about the band's goals for "Tell All Your Friends," one of them joked that they hoped to sell 500,000 copies of it or less they would never work with producer Sal Villanueva again. Well, the album sold 500,000 copies in the U.S. alone (gold status) before the end of 2005.

A month or two later in 2002, I interviewed a very tired Adam Lazzara by phone as he did press from then-label Victory Records' office in Chicago. Things were starting to take off for the band around this time, but mainstream exposure was still quite a way's away.

On April 30, 2018, I wound up interviewing Adam Lazzara and John Nolan as part of a part for Live Nation's "National Concert Week" junket. A few questions about the group's Long Island roots and long-term success were asked.

Here is a collection of my Taking Back Sunday interviews -- not including my 2004 interview with John Nolan, shortly after he started Straylight Run, or my 2016 interview with drummer Mark O'Connell (http://www.downtownmagazinenyc.com/long-beach-a-year-round-new-york-destination) -- with a few edits along the way. A nice time capsule of the early 2000s Long Island "emo" and punk scenes. Theme song by Steve Schiltz.