With Good Things Festival bringing MxPx back to Australia for the first time in 13 years, Mike Herrera talks to us about the near-misses, the chaos behind their new album, stolen CD collections and a possible Scooby-Doo showdown with Simple Plan.
Mike Herrera knows it’s been too long since MxPx last visited Australia. Thirteen years, to be exact, and as it turns out, the band have been trying to get back here for much of that time.
“Dude, I know it’s been so long. It’s been so long,” he tells us.
“We’ve almost come back a couple of times and it’s been very close. Something’s happened just each time.”
Whatever those near-misses involved, the wait finally ends this December when MxPx join the Good Things Festival lineup alongside Limp Bizkit, Simple Plan, Bad Religion, Millencolin and a sizeable collection of punk and alternative heavyweights.
For a band whose last Australian visit feels like another lifetime ago, Herrera reckons the timing might actually be right.
MxPx have changed. They’ve released more music, spent another decade navigating the industry and are preparing to release their twelfth studio album, Living In The Chaos, on January 29th, 2027.
There’s also the possibility that Australian fans won’t have to wait quite so long for another visit.
“We’re gonna try to keep coming back after good things.”
It’s a welcome commitment, particularly from someone whose memories of Australia include a stolen CD collection, a drummer being thrown across a mosh pit and more than a few questionable decisions on the road.
But we’ll get to those.
Finding The Good Days In The Chaos
MxPx recently released ‘Panic Attack’, the first single from Living In The Chaos. Its music video is wonderfully ridiculous, throwing the band into police uniforms, a tattoo parlour and even an unexpected dental appointment.
Herrera sounds like he enjoyed every minute of it.
“Dude, the video was a blast to make. Like I haven’t had that much fun making a video in years and years.”
The video has the energy of the old MTV era, when bands could spend a few minutes making complete fools of themselves without needing to explain the joke.
There’s a pretty good contrast between that and the record it introduces.
MxPX “Panic Attack” video
While ‘Panic Attack’ comes charging out of the gates, Herrera says Living In The Chaos is also about the uncertainty people are dealing with and the relationships that help them through it.
One song he’s particularly excited about is ‘The Good Days’, the album’s opening track.
At the time of our conversation, Herrera says it’s only available on CD through the Vans Warped Tour compilation, rather than streaming services.
For him, it gets to the heart of the record.
“We’re gonna stick together while we can.”
It’s a straightforward sentiment from a musician who has spent more than three decades watching the world change around him. Herrera isn’t interested in pretending everything is fine, but neither is he particularly interested in surrendering to it.
Another track, ‘On Saturday’, approaches the same subject with considerably more humour.
Herrera describes a group of friends whose lives have drifted in different directions. Some are busy building careers or raising families. Others seem perfectly happy sitting in their basements playing video games.
Eventually, someone has to get everyone together.
“And it’s about everybody just deciding, let’s get together on Saturday and let’s make this happen.”
That idea extends beyond the new record.
Talking about Vans Warped Tour, Herrera says the festival still offers something familiar despite the enormous scale of modern touring.
“It’s a lot of friends getting to see other friends.”
For MxPx, who formed as teenagers in Bremerton, Washington, back in 1992, that sense of friendship has survived considerably longer than most bands manage.
Punk Rock Comes With Paperwork
Of course, keeping a punk band operating for more than 30 years isn’t quite as straightforward as plugging in your guitar and turning everything up.
Herrera has spent plenty of time dealing with the less glamorous side of making music.
“Growing up as a kid listening to punk rock, you never think, okay, when I get into punk rock myself, I’m gonna have to wade through all the red tape and sign all these documents and get an insurance policy and all that.”
It’s a funny image: a musician who grew up on punk rock now having to think about contracts, corporate requirements and insurance.
But it’s also part of the reality of running a band independently.
Herrera describes MxPx as a small business constantly dealing with corporations and government policies. Even after all these years, he still sounds slightly amazed by how much administration comes with being a punk musician.
The frustration hasn’t changed his enthusiasm for the work itself.
“I love doing music. I love being an artist. I love that this is my full time job.”
He’s less enthusiastic about trying to understand the decisions being made by the people in charge.
“I’m not trying to make sense of it anymore. I’m trying to make my own sense now.”
It’s probably as good an explanation of Living In The Chaos as any. The album’s title comes from a band that’s still enjoying the music, even when everything surrounding it becomes increasingly complicated.
Stolen CDs, Flat Whites And Fletcher From Pennywise
Ask Herrera what he remembers about Australia and things take a fairly entertaining turn.
“You know, I love the lingo, I love lemon squash, I love flat whites.”
He remembers discovering Australian coffee culture, seeing kangaroos in the wild, visiting Hanging Rock and travelling through the outback.
There were booze cruises on Sydney Harbour, too.
Then the stories get considerably stranger.
On one Australian visit, Herrera recalls drummer Yuri Ruley being thrown across a mosh pit by Pennywise guitarist Fletcher Dragge.
On another occasion, the band’s campervan was broken into while they were in Sydney, with guitarist Tom Wisniewski losing his entire CD collection.
Herrera’s touring memories aren’t restricted to Australia, either.
During a Warped Tour run in the 1990s, an MxPx roadie was accidentally left behind at a petrol station. This was before mobile phones were widely available, leaving the stranded crew member with a particularly unusual problem.
His solution was to call Herrera’s mother in the middle of the night and have her contact the tour manager.
Somehow, the band managed to retrieve him.
Herrera laughs about how mobile phones have changed the experience of being on the road.
“Absolutely. Yeah. That that’s now that cell phones exist, it’s it’s a different kind of chaos, but but usually not that.”
It’s the kind of story you only collect after spending years touring in vans, and Herrera has no shortage of them.
The Great MxPx Vs Simple Plan Scooby-Doo Showdown?
There’s another part of MxPx history that doesn’t always get the attention it deserves.
Back in 2002, the band recorded the ‘Scooby-Doo, Where Are You?’ theme for the soundtrack to the live-action Scooby-Doo movie.
Simple Plan, meanwhile, recorded the theme for What’s New, Scooby-Doo?, giving both bands an unexpected connection to the animated franchise.
Herrera happily acknowledges that Simple Plan have probably become better known for their involvement.
But when we suggested the two bands should settle the matter with a Scooby-Doo showdown, he’s immediately entertained.
“The Scooby-Doo off. I love that. I love that. That’s not a bad idea.”
The conversation quickly turns to Simple Plan drummer Chuck Comeau, the possibility of getting the bands together and what such an event might actually involve.
Herrera isn’t promising anything, but he certainly doesn’t rule it out.
“I don’t see why we don’t do Scooby Doo next.”
We take the idea one step further and suggest a Scooby-Doo wall of death.
Herrera has already worked out what he’d wear.
“I’m gonna wear the Scooby suit.”
For the record, there is no confirmed collaboration between MxPx and Simple Plan, but you just never know right? Got to put it out there.
Although Herrera does finish the interview by suggesting he’ll speak to Chuck about it, we’ll see whether anything comes of that.
Thirteen Years Later
As the conversation draws to a close, Herrera remembers there’s one more piece of news for Australian fans.
MxPx have finally opened an Australian online store, meaning local listeners can pre-order Living In The Chaos without paying international shipping costs.
For a band that’s spent 13 years trying to return, even the merchandise has taken its time getting here.
Herrera sees the funny side.
“So finally got it together. So that’s what took us 12 years is getting that store put up.”
It’s a good note to finish on.
After three decades of making records, touring the world and dealing with everything that comes with it, MxPx are still finding things to laugh about.
Australian audiences will get their first look at this latest chapter when the band return for Good Things Festival in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane this December.
And if Herrera gets his way, the next visit won’t take another 13 years.
MxPx release Living In The Chaos on January 29th, 2027. ‘Panic Attack’ is out now, with album pre-orders available through the official MxPx store.
MxPx — Good Things Festival 2026
- Friday, December 4th – Melbourne, Flemington Racecourse
- Saturday, December 5th – Sydney, Sydney Showground
- Sunday, December 6th – Brisbane, Brisbane Showgrounds
Tickets and information: Good Things Festival.
Living In The Chaos Tracklist
1. The Good Days
2. Mind Control
3. Panic Attack
4. On Saturday
5. Wrecked My Day
6. No Kings
7. Complaint Department
8. Not Me
9. Don’t Say Goodbye To Me
10. Never Apologize
11. Watching The Sun Come Up
12. Once In A Lifetimes (Vinyl/CD Exclusive)
13. Nervous Energy (Vinyl/CD Exclusive)
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