Derek Sanders did what every former teenage emo kid dreams of: he went back to the old mixtape, picked his favorite heartbreak anthems, and sang them all over again — but acoustically, because that’s how you know you’re grown up. “It’s something I’ve thought about doing for a long time,” Sanders says about My Rock and Roll Heart, his first solo EP outside the Mayday Parade bubble. “It’s been 14 years since we started Mayday Parade. If I don’t do this now, I probably never will.”
So instead of cranking out a self-serious singer-songwriter record about fatherhood or mortgages, he leaned all the way in on nostalgia: Jimmy Eat World, Something Corporate, Saves The Day — basically the musical Holy Trinity of every early-2000s Warped Tour wristband. “A lot of this music traces back to my coming-of-age years,” he says. “It’s the stuff that changed my world.”
But the real MVP of the EP is a cover of “Goodbye Love” by But Lauren — yes, But Lauren, the Tallahassee band you’ve definitely never heard of unless you too were hanging out in a sketchy Florida warehouse with a bunch of sweaty dudes trying to rhyme “heartbreak” with “cigarette break.” “Mike Hanson was in a couple bands in Tallahassee that never really broke out,” Derek says. “I love that people finally get to hear his music in some form.” He originally recorded the cover as a Valentine’s Day gift for his wife, whose name is (predictably) Lauren. Sometimes you really can write the soundtrack to your own indie rom-com.
For Derek, those Tallahassee days still loom large — a bunch of kids swapping warehouse practice time, playing shows together, dreaming of something bigger than Florida humidity and cheap beer. “It was a really special time and place. It inspired me in so many ways,” he says, sounding almost surprised at his own sentimentality.
But make no mistake: this isn’t just a retro victory lap. With the emo revival in full swing, Sanders is riding the wave like a true pro. “I feel like I was the right age when it all happened,” he shrugs. “It felt like an underground thing that just exploded.” If you squint hard enough, you can practically see the skinny jeans and studded belts making a slow comeback on TikTok.
Another highlight of the new EP is a stripped-down “A Praise Chorus” — a Jimmy Eat World staple that Sanders sings alongside Daniel Lancaster. “It’s just undeniable,” Derek says. “Bleed American is one of the greatest albums ever, but Clarity is my favorite. That’s my top three album of all time.”
When he’s not replaying the soundtrack to your high school heartbreak, Sanders is still busy steering the Mayday Parade ship — a band that, for the record, still believes in selling out vinyl for charity. “We pressed some old songs onto a vinyl and gave all the profits to the Gift of Adoption fund,” he says. “We didn’t want money to be part of it. We just wanted to do something cool.”
And yes, the new Mayday Parade album is coming, maybe even with a political edge this time. “Things are just so crazy in the world right now,” Derek says. “People listen to what we say. You don’t want to waste that.”
For now, the solo shows are just a handful of dates — Derek flying out with his guitar like the world’s most polite emo troubadour. “I’ll probably play one Mayday song at the end,” he says. “I don’t want the guys to feel weird about it.” Spoken like a true band lifer who still knows where the real paycheck comes from.
One thing’s clear: teenage mixtape nostalgia will never die — especially when you’re still playing those songs on acoustic guitar 20 years later. It’s not a phase, mom.
Listen to the interview above and check out the videos below.
