PropertyOfZack had the chance not too long ago to interview Brad Wiseman from This Time Next Year. Brad and I discussed the wait on the band’s new album, how working with Chad Gilbert of New Found Glory was, touring, and much more. Read up and check out Drop Out Of Life!

For the record, could you state your name and role in This Time Next Year?
My name is Brad Wiseman and I play guitar in This Time Next Year

The band released “Drop Out Of Life” in April, which made fans expect a release for the album sometime during the summer, but that didn’t happen. Can you discuss the delays with the album?
Having the album come out in September wasn’t so much a delay, as it was playing our cards right. We recorded the record when Chad had time and we put a new song up because we wanted to let people listen to what we were working on. When we put Drop Out Of Life online, we had no idea of what the release date would be. A summer release would have been ideal for this record but this past summer was dead, compared to other years, for touring. Everyone was at home, recording, or doing Warped Tour. Touring opportunities that made sense for us didn’t exist. While recording, Chad had mentioned the possibility of the fall NFG tour and now it’s happening. This is the best scenario we have been in, while releasing a record.

How was the initial reaction to the first few songs that were released?
It’s been going well. Every song we’ve put online has a different twist to it and I think people are going to enjoy the record as a whole.

This album was obviously produced by New Found Glory’s Chad Gilbert, which adds a little bit more of a punch to the release. The band had to drop off of a tour to work with him, which means it was probably an unexpected situation. How did that come about?
Our original plan was to record in Baltimore, MD, but that ended up not working out at the last minute. We had a tour booked out to the east that ended in Baltimore but it didn’t make sense to do a tour that ends in Baltimore and then drive straight back to CA to record. The idea of having Chad involved on this was something that had been in my head for a while. I got his email from a friend and hit him up discussing all different types of scenarios and with his schedule and ours, it didn’t look like it was going to work. During all these conversations we were working on demos and I thought ‘maybe I’ll just send these to Chad for some feedback…’ - I ended up sending them to him and he liked the songs so much that he figured out a time to do the record. A month later we were recording.

How was it actually working with Chad as a producer?
He is a really talented guy, especially when it comes to our genre. We had a blast working with him and Paul and I really hope we can do our next record with him. Chad can go record everyone from Lisa Loeb to TTNY to Trapped Under Ice and kill it in the best way. Chad is obviously a music lover of all kinds and it really shows in the different records he does. I’m not sure how he does it but, it seems like he takes a genre, gets to know it front to back, and then destroys it (in a good way).

This record almost seems more open than some of the past material. Has the band diversified the way it writes over the past few years?
The only thing to really say to is that we’re trying new things. You can’t write the same song 10x over. We tried to push ourselves and make these songs awesome and we did that.

On first listen, the production on the record sounds like a monster improvement from past releases. Do you think that will be shocking to fans? And how proud are you guys of the upgrade?
I think it will have a better first listen. To me it’s a perfect middle ground of raw and polished and I think that’s what people want to hear. I will always be proud of everything this band does.

This Time Next Year will be heading out on what probably is the largest tour of the year soon, but all of the gear in your trailer was recently stolen. How much has that set you guys back?
I’ve been smashing my head in a wall for about 2 weeks now. I had never been so prepared for a tour in my life, ever. Everything was great and looking up and when we found out the trailer was gone, it was like hitting a huge ‘restart/fuckyou’ button and I’m still dealing with all of the bullshit.

Regardless of that big set back, how stoked are you for that tour?
Beyond stoked. Every band on the tour is already friends with one another and we’re all looking forward to spending time together. I’ll get texts from different people who are going to be on the tour saying something like ‘pop punks not dead! party! stoked!’ It’s the perfect set up for a perfect tour and I’m so glad were involved with something like this.

Should we expect a good mix of the new songs to be worked into the set?
We’re playing a good amount of old with a few new songs. Everything we’ve released online we will be playing. It was really important to us while we were picking this set list to include a good amount of old songs. Who wants to go see a band and have them play all new stuff…no one.

It certainly has been a minute since This Time Next Year have toured. Do you think you’ll be working off the rust in the beginning of the tour?
Nah, we’ll do great. We were practicing up until the gear got stolen, but in about 3 hours we’re going to practice again. We’re all pretty good at remembering our songs and don’t really fall off or forget. It’s smart to practice. If someone called and said, “You need to be here in 20 minutes to play a show” and we hadn’t practiced, I wouldn’t be that nervous about how we play.

Did you not want to do heavy touring without the new album being out?
Yes. We have dates booked through the end of the year; they just can’t be announced until a certain date. It’s all cool stuff, people will be stoked.

Following the Pop Punk’s Not Dead Tour, what can we expect? Are there plans to head overseas in addition to more US tours?
Lots of touring, we’re working on getting back to the UK and possibly going to Australia right now. Whatever opportunities arise and if they make sense, we will do them. This band is everyone’s first priority.