It’s just over a month until Pop-punk’s own Man Overboard release their next album and less than that until they land on our shores for the Slam Dunk fest taking place in the Academy on May 29th. Ahead of this however the band are out on their Suppy Nation tour.
“A friend of our named Brandon Wood invented the word “suppy” as a term for hello, goodbye or simply being agreeable or pleased with something. Our friend James Corbi is credited with the popularity of this word among our friends and Man Overboard, with the Suppy Nation tour is credited with the proliferation of the word around the world” Justin told us.
The band have become synonymous with the term, ‘Defend Pop Punk’, and what started out as a joke has blown up into a massive fan craze.
“Haha that was sarcasm… we have defend pop punk shirts and everything but that started as a simple t-shirt design and snowballed into this larger movement that kids stand by…. we didn’t mean for that and we don’t think that pop punk needs defending BUT punk rock is about community and it seems to bring kids together so we are all about that.”
Although for a band that find themselves defending their genre, and throwing the term around a lot, but “pop punk” seems to have lost a lot of meaning over the years.
“I honestly think we get lumped into the pop punk thing a lot. I think it’s clear why (our defend pop punk logo) . I guess I wish people just saw that as a logo and thought of us as more of a plain old rock band not like POP PUNK. I love “pop punk” but I don’t even know what the fuck the term means anymore, I just wanna be catchy/depressing/cute.”
Pop punk has always had a very DIY mentality to it, particularly in Ireland. It’s one of those genres where you band seems to work hard and never stop touring.
“The biggest issue I find when talking to younger bands is that they are so caught up with getting a manager, getting a booking agent, getting a tour manager ect. I think the key has always been to make friends with kids doing it the same way in other states. Things will happen if you work hard. Don’t go chasing waterfalls ya know?” Nik (a clear T.L.C. fan) told us.
Man overboard play the Academy alongside Four Year Strong and loads of others including Dublin’s own Wounds and Jody Has a Hitlist in May.
“We met FYS (Four Year Strong) on Warped last summer and had Alan play our holiday show last year. The Early November, The Wonder Years and Fireworks have been our friends forever… same with Senses Fail, Handguns, The Story So Far and a bunch of the other bands that are playing… it will be a good time. It’s always fun to see your buds in a far off place” said Justin as we wrapped up.
Catch Man Overboard in The Academy on May 29th and if you’re short a few quid to catch them we have a competition running for a pair of tickets too.