Mayday Parade is an American pop punk and emo band formed in Tallahassee, Florida in 2005, fronted by Derek Sanders since co-vocalist Jason Lancaster's 2007 departure. A Lesson in Romantics (2007) is the scene-defining debut every emo shelf needs — start there, no debate. Find Mayday Parade vinyl, CDs, and reissues at Wax Trax Records.
Mayday Parade formed in Tallahassee, Florida in 2005. They were initially a six-member band including co-lead vocalist Jason Lancaster (who departed in 2007 to form Go Radio). Derek Sanders has been the sole lead vocalist since Lancaster's departure. Their debut A Lesson in Romantics (2007) became a defining document of the late-2000s emo and pop punk scenes alongside contemporaries like the Wonder Years, All Time Low, and Hawthorne Heights. They have continued releasing material across multiple decades with touring presence in the broader pop punk and emo scenes.
Mayday Parade's sound combines pop punk, emo, alternative rock, pop rock, and post-hardcore with Sanders's distinctive vocal delivery, anthemic chorus arrangements, and lyrical content addressing relationships, heartbreak, and personal experience drawing on classic emo and pop punk songwriting traditions.
Fearless Records and Rise Records pressings of the Mayday Parade catalog have been issued in multiple color variant editions and limited deluxe pressings.
Listeners new to Mayday Parade typically start with A Lesson in Romantics (2007).
