With only 3 days until the release of their eighth record, All Time Low are still dropping tracks. Today it’s the title track off the record – “a song so groovy we named the album after it“.

By now fans know the drill – 12:30pm PST/3:30pm EST, someone is taking to Instagram live to get closer to fans and [hopefully] plug the song. With only a few minutes until showtime ATL tweets out the [not so subtle hint] “Hawaii will be in the house” – which of course means one thing, bassist Zachary Merrick will be taking over All Time Low IG Live!

Of course the difficulty of bandmates living all across the U.S. means timezones are quite the bitch – with a bit of a late start we were finally up and running and fans were beyond thrilled to see their favorite boy-band-muscle-man at the forefront.

Despite starting the live 15 minutes late, Zack was quick to get to the point “does anyone have any questions about the album?“….This open ended question had left other members at a bit of a stalemate but there’s something about Zack that makes fans just open up.

Zack took us out on a casual stroll on the island as fans starting firing off all types of questions – everything from “if you had a pet turtle, what would you name him” [Quick] to “what song do you wish you guys played live more” [“Drugs & Candy“] – we followed along and learned a little more about the ‘quiet one’ of All Time Low.

The highlights include:

Fan: Whats your favorite All Time Low song? | Zack: Weightless

F: What’s your favorite song off the new record? | Z: Melancholy right now – that’s what I’ve been jamming on my 5-string

F: What’s your favorite lyric off the record? | Z: ‘Can’t be 100 when you’re only giving 95’ – cause when you want something you have to give it 100, sometimes even more than that

F: Favorite ATL album | Z: This one! There’s something about a new record that’s shiny to you – but also just this whole process was great…the colabs…there’s a big part of my heart [in this record]

As the minutes ticked on, we saw 2/3 of Zack’s remaining bandmates creeping in the comments – with Jack pointing out, “Hey I noticed you didn’t have me to host this“…we wonder why, Jack. While Alex announced his presence in the most subtle way with, “HI ZACK YOU ARE HANDSOME” – with an introduction like that, Zack had to invite Alex onto the Live.

With Alex we got a better insight to what this song – and ultimately this record – is really about, “It’s pulling yourself through the end of a dark time …make that change…and hopefully see the light on the other side.” Everyday we each go through our own struggles [especially now], its sometimes necessary to remember that “somebody loves you for yourself” as we often ask ourselves “are we living well in a living hell“. As Alex jams out in his living room and Zack literally stops to smell the flowers on his walk back home, the track slows but Alex is quick to shout “We’re not done, we’re not done! We get weird for the bridge here!” So there you have it – the first 5 tracks of Wake Up, Sunshine.

Since the beginning, COVID-19 has taken a disastrous toll on the music industry – from postponed/cancelled tours to albums releases being pushed back to thousands of people being out of work. It’s become quite apparent that now more than ever, we need something to smile about. As fans are off locked away in quarantine, they couldn’t help but ask when we could expect to see our favorite Sunshines back on stage – to which Zack promised, “once this is all over we’ll be touring as much as possible.” Currently All Time Low are schedule to headline Sad Summer Fest which kicks off July 17 in California – heres hoping it all goes according to plan. Until then – stay safe, stay healthy and most importantly, Stay The Fuck Home.

#LeakYourOwnAlbum