Brand New Day For The Mavericks

Eric Dahl speaks to The Mavericks about their new album, Brand New Day.

- Eric Dahl

The Mavericks first formed as a band back in 1989 in Miami, Florida and although they took a hiatus from 2004 to 2012 the band have come back stronger than ever during the last four years. Besides gathering Americana Music Awards since their return, they also decided to leave Big Machine Records and form their own label Mono Mundo. I recently caught up with lead singer, songwriter and front man for the Mavericks Raul Malo here in Nashville.

Eric Dahl for Maverick Country: How is “Brand New Day” different than previous Maverick albums?

Raul Malo: The obvious difference is on the business side. This is our first studio album on our very own label. We’ve taken over all aspects of our business and that was the last piece of the puzzle. Not because there were problems with Big Machine or anything like that - they were actually wonderful. However, on the business side it has made more sense for us to do this for many reasons. Before, the label would dictate; you’re recording in March you release it in June and boom you’re out. Our idea was to release the record and let it resonate with people, get written about, talked about, and do some smaller shows. Don’t start your official Brand New Day Tour until it resonates with people for a minute. Creatively, since we took over all aspects of our business, the record was written and recorded in the course of a year. Which creatively was more conducive for us and me as a writer I was able to re-write, edit, (laughs) ponder, pontificate. Because we were able to take our time and write songs at our own pace it really dictated the tone of this record. I’m grateful for it that we haven’t had that luxury before and so it was nice to have that time.

Maverick: Do you feel the title to the new album is representative of the band now?