New Found Glory encouraged by fans to drop acoustic album
Life has moved pretty fast for pop-punk band New Found Glory.
After releasing its debut record “Nothing Gold Can Stay” in 1999, the Coral Springs, Florida-based group was fast-tracked to being one of the second wave of pop-punk’s most widely known acts, while other rising bands in the genre such as Something Corporate, the Starting Line, Sugarcult and the Story So Far rapidly followed suit.
In the early to mid2000s, New Found Glory could be seen jamming out on MTV’s “Total Request Live,” causing havoc as staples on the annual Vans Warped Tour or headlining its own massive tour dates, and the band put out almost a dozen more records over the span of two decades.
It was a wild ride that’s still very much in motion. However, nowadays, the quartet prefers to move at a more glacial pace. Everything changed for the group in December 2021 when guitarist and songwriter Chad Gilbert was found unresponsive in his bed at home. He was rushed to a local hospital, and doctors found an 8-inch cancerous tumor. He was diagnosed with pheochromocytoma, a rare type of cancer, and after a stint in the hospital and surgery, Gilbert said in January 2022 that he was officially cancer-free.
During Gilbert’s recovery, New Found Glory was forced, for the first time, to take things slow. That moment allowed the guys to take a deeper, more retrospective look back at their lives and career. New Found Glory’s latest album, “Make the Most of It,” mirrors a bit of that. The recently released acoustic offering features seven brand new songs and seven unplugged versions of the band’s classic tracks, including “All Down Hill From Here,” “My Friends Over You” and “Hit or Miss.” Though the new content primarily reflects on Gilbert’s near-death experience, the decision to go acoustic was ultimately encouraged by its fan base.
“We’ve always had acoustic things here and there but never a full-on record with the intent of writing songs that way,” frontman Jordan Pundik said. “We would put YouTube videos up of older songs done acoustically, and fans would always comment, ‘Release an acoustic record already.’ And right around Chad’s diagnosis, we were obviously on a break, and I think it just came together naturally to finally put it together.”
“Chad wanted to turn this really hard situation into one that was heartfelt and relatable for fans,” he added. “Basically, just taking something bad and turning it into something good.”
To support the album, New Found Glory is hitting the road, but trading its typical fiery mosh pit energy for a more intimate acoustic experience. On top of the content from the latest album, Pundik said that the set will also include tracks fans have been eager to hear acoustic versions of throughout the years.
“We wanted to make sure the stops were at all seated theaters, where we could produce a great light show with some other elements,” he said. “For this one, we just wanted to pour our hearts out there.”
Later this year, New Found Glory will hit Las Vegas for the second edition of the When We Were Young Festival. The emo and pop-punk fest will return in October with a new roster of artists. Pundik describes the bill like getting a gang of friends you haven’t seen in years back together. That includes Green Day, Thrice, Blink-182 and Good Charlotte, all bands Pundik considers good friends.
Though life has thrown New Found Glory a couple of tough punches, Pundik said they’re ready for whatever the future holds and they’re going to continue to enthusiastically move forward.
“After everything, we’re still going full steam ahead this year,” he said. “At this point, anything can happen, but that’s what makes it so exciting.”