Enjoy them while you can because according to pop-punk quintet The Academy Is…, they aren’t going to be around for much longer.
Despite selling out their Toronto show — the only Canadian date on their current tour in support of latest EP Lost In Pacific Time (Fueled By Ramen) — and a chart-topping third effort in 2008’s Fast Times At Barrington High, the Illinois-based act will be taking a hiatus very soon.
“People throw out the word hiatus but that’s not what we’re doing,” declares bassist Adam Siska, defusing the hyperbole. “This is more vacation time; the off-season for us. When a band says they’re on hiatus, they’re breaking up. Hiatus means you’ll see them in five years on the reunion tour or when they come out of retirement. We’re just taking a step back. People can benefit from it sometimes. “
Essentially, Siska notes that while The Academy Is… might be off the road for a long time, they’re not disbanding. On the contrary, they’re hoping the step back will bring them closer together. After a seven-year schedule of record/tour/repeat, they’re desperate to break that chain. A vacation would recharge personal creative batteries and ensure that while it will still retaining their inherent sound, this eventual fourth album is far from a retread of its predecessors.
“In the past we haven’t taken enough time off before making a new album” he admits. “We dove right into new albums right after tour. We’re proud of all the records we’ve made but in order to make our best work, we could use some time to go sailing or something; see the world and come back with a new lease on life. That’s healthy for anyone, no matter what job you do. You have to step away and come back with a better viewpoint.”
Still he notes The Academy Is… (completed by guitarists Michael Guy Chislett and Mike Carden, drummer Andy Mrotek and vocalist William Beckett) aren’t beholden to a break should their muse find them by tour’s end in late November. The only stipulation is that entering the studio mustn’t be forced. And, he chuckles, they have to finally be happy to see each other again.
“That’s when the best records are made — when a band comes in ready, hungry and confident,” he concludes definitively. “We want every record to be our best. After all of this, I don’t know if this’ll be any better or worse for some people but it’ll be better for us. That’s the big picture. Whenever it’s done, if we don’t feel the record is our best, nobody will ever hear it. We wouldn’t put out something that we didn’t feel was a step up for us. That’s when the ‘hiatus’ would come into play.”
In Concert
The Academy Is… plays The Guvernment Friday.
