What took you by surprise in regards to this whole process? Did you hit the ground running with Resurrection in a way that you didn’t with previous New Found Glory releases?

CG: I think we were really itching to record. After Radiosurgery, we did a lot of touring, and I think we were already itching to record and write new songs. We were in that zone, and then once everything happened with our band and an unexpected turn happened, music was our only expression. Because the band was already in a writing mindset and then everything happened, it was just…we had to get things off our chest. There’s some stuff not just about the situation, but relationship stuff. Ian had his own personal resurrection. If you follow Ian on Instagram, he’s really funny and fun and outgoing, and there were a couple of years before that where at the beginning of his divorce, he was impossible to be around—and he would tell you that. He was depressed and in this dark place and saying scary kinds of things, and he had this personal resurrection where he made amends with his ex-wife. He’s an amazing father and he’s a completely new person, so fun and positive to be around. I thought that came out in the record, too. We were writing at a time when we all had a lot to talk about beyond what happened.

Personally, Hayley [Williams, of Paramore] and I, we’d been dating for six years, and we hit a rough patch in our relationship, and it was great, being able to get that out in these songs. It made things better for us, you know what I’m saying? There was so much going on at this time that you can dig deep into the record. That’s another thing, what the songs of Resurrection are about: Looking at the challenges not as negative things but to really take them in a way that tests your value as a person.

Fuse Interview: New Found Glory’s Chad Gilbert opens up about NFG’s new era, making Resurrection and the importance of avoiding the “safe zone”