Anberlin’s former frontman Stephen Christian took his friendship with Memphis May Fire vocalist Matty Mullins into account when he tapped him to join the iconic act.
Longtime drummer, Nate Young, spoke with us during their Chicago stop last month at House of Blues during their Never Take Friendship Personal tour. The Dangerous Summer and Copeland joined as support.
Young took us around the venue to show us what a “day in the life” of a touring musician is. We walked and talked about the anniversary of their second LP, them re-recording the album with Mullins on lead vocals and naming it Nevertake, and what to expect from the band for the rest of the year.
While in the caverns of the parking area of HOB, Young explained that Anberlin was going to end with former singer Christian stepping away. That was until Christian approached the band about Mullins taking over, “I was like, that never works,” Young jokes.
“Stephen had already reached out to Matty [Mullins],” he explains. “he wanted to bring us a solution without just being like, ‘hey, I can’t tour, figure it out.’ Which is really cool of him and awesome. Matty's given us a chance to just keep things going.”
From there, the band met with Mullins and decided to proceed with the new lineup last year.
To hear the full story and get some BTS footage, check out our interview:
Anberlin kicks off the second leg of their album playthrough run in July and will also appear at Warped Tour Long Beach and Orlando, plus the Emo’s Not Dead Cruise in 2026.
You can also check out our interview with Matty Mullins and Christian McAlhaney from the 20 Years of Tears tour on our YouTube channel.
Video B-roll and images by Brian Rowe
Written by Lizzie Baumgartner