YELLOWCARD Exclusive Interview! Ryan Key on Better Days, Ocean Avenue, and WHATS NEXT!

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Joe Vulpis

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4.9 • 4.5K Ratings

🗓️ 5 November 2025

⏱️ 72 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Ryan Key, the legendary frontman of Yellowcard, talks about the band’s legacy and their return with the new album "Better Days". We talk the stories behind their biggest hits and what it’s like performing for a new generation of fans. From 'Ocean Avenue' to today, Ryan reflects on how the band’s music continues to inspire. Tune in for an inside look at Yellowcard’s journey, passion, and what’s next for Ryan Key!

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Episode 391

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For fans of: Ryan Key, Yellowcard, Ocean Avenue, Ryan Key interview, Yellowcard interview, pop punk, rock music, early 2000s bands, Yellowcard reunion, Ryan Key podcast, Joe Vulpis interview, behind the music, Warped Tour, alternative rock, emo revival, pop punk nostalgia, Yellowcard tour, Ocean Avenue anniversary, Ryan Key live, music interviews, punk rock legends, alternative music scene, Yellowcard hits, songwriting, band stories, Ryan Key 2025, pop punk history, emo bands, Yellowcard new music, Ryan Key Yellowcard

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Transcript

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0:00.0	For anyone watching this that isn't aware that we broke up, we dissolved our LLC.
0:05.0	Oh, you went to the government level of ending it.
0:07.0	Correct.
0:08.0	Like, closed the company, you know, empty apartment from Ocean Avenue.
0:10.0	The only thing that changed from that we wrote it on a couch somewhere and to the album was the electric guitars.
0:15.0	We were just trying to get our heads around what was happening.
0:17.0	We had in a very short period of time gone from putting the last few days of the studio
0:21.9	on on our on a credit card to we're at sunset sound in Hollywood with a food with a meal budget.
0:29.1	You know, there's a book that's like this thick sitting in the lounge in the studio in studio three
0:33.2	of Sunset Sound that's just every menu in Hollywood. And you just say, let's have this for lunch today. And someone says, okay, and they go get it and bring it. 25 years with Yellow Card. Yes, this is my 25th year. 11 full albums and nine years since the last release. Yeah. How do you process all this happening this week? This is album release week. Yes. How do you feel about that? So I've spent a lot of time in the past eight or so years since the band broke up, which
1:00.7	should be covered.
1:02.0	We decided to step away in 20, well, we made the decision in 2015.
1:08.6	We spent a year planning this final tour and
1:12.9	Get you know figuring out making one more record and for anyone watching this that isn't aware that we broke up or maybe thinks you know like I think I think bands can do that and from a fans perspective when the band comes back
1:25.8	It's like oh well that was planned all along. We dissolved our LLC. Oh, you went to the government level of ending. Correct. Like, closed the company down. Had, you know, the storage unit with gear was like anything you don't want in here. If you don't take it now, it's getting donated to music schools and liquidated yes wow so we really
1:45.7	thought it was over were you okay with that no no no it was it was a really dark time i knew it needed to
1:50.7	happen there was a lot of discussions that went into it but it was i think for me it was less about
1:57.1	losing the band and more about having no idea who I was without the band.
2:03.5	And so it's been a long road from there to hear, but to answer the question of like,
2:09.1	how do you process what's going on right now? I have spent a lot of time in the last
2:14.3	eight years, however long that's been, really focusing on understanding
2:21.5	myself as a person and mental health. And so processing is actually something I don't
	...

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