Canadian Mike Liorti takes cues from the music he listened to growing up—from Millencolin to Blink 182 to Green Day—in the tunes he creates under the monicker Rosedale. Liorti learned to play piano as a child, but it’s on the guitar that he writes his introspective, catchy pop-punk songs—it’s a little bit emo, but without the goddamn earnestness. (“I usually call it Aggressive Pop,” he says.)

In 2012 he released Rosedale's debut album, Real, all by himself. He also started playing the Vans Warped Tour … all by himself. “I'd drive all night, set up facing the lineup, play to the early crowd in the morning, then set up my light show and play to the departing crowd at night.” After a couple weeks, he was invited to play inside—on stage. Now a veteran of various Vans Warped Tours and national tours, (both solo and as support for the likes of New Found Glory and A$AP Rocky), Rosedale is embarking on a European tour with pop rock band Time & Distance as he prepares to release his upcoming self-titled LP, out on February 23. (Preorder it here.) Myspace helps Liorti kicks off 2016 by premiering “Written By Video,” which pays homage to his influences growing up. Watch the video below and read a little more about it below.

Hometown: A suburb of Toronto called Brampton.

Homebase: Kind of all over. I still have a bedroom and my studio at my parent's but I'm on the road a lot living out of my van/trailer.

Why do you call yourself Rosedale?

There's a street in Brampton that has a lot of ironic, meaningful memories. I spent a lot of time walking down Rosedale Ave. to the local music store so on a level it represents the road to who I am today.

What is “Written By the Artist” about? I know your influences such as Blink 182 inspired it, but why pay homage to these acts in the video?

Blink is definitely a big influence on my music. But “Written By The Artist” is more about how the industry and technology killed the spark that true artists once had on fans like me. Music hand crafted by the artist(s) used to be so appreciated and cherished by all listeners. You used to have to just make an awesome album and people would listen and support. For whatever reason now albums are becoming extinct. It’s so easy to make a great sounding record with modern technology, that we no longer care to listen? Nowadays there’s so much saturation with technology, that if you're not on some hit reality show or making the most interesting rendition/cover of the top 40 pop song, or even do something drastic and edgy totally non-music related (i.e. a sex change) very few people will even give a chance to the art you pour your life into. Not that I’m against a good cover or using story as a marketing tool, I just miss the good old days so I wrote a song about it.

Talk about the first time you realized you wanted to sing and perform for others.

I was pretty young so I don't remember the specific moment. I was just always inspired and influenced by the bands my brother and my cousins would show me. I was already playing piano a lot (my mom had put me and my brother in lessons at a young age) so I felt like I could get vocals and guitar down pretty quickly and convince my friends to start a band. Then I'd bring my guitar to school and stay inside at recess to play Green Day and that Smooth Criminal cover!

Do you remember the first song you ever wrote?

First song was called "Just Me." It was about a kid making a fool of himself at school in front of his friends and them just laughing at him. I don't know why I wrote that, it was completely irrelevant. But I bring back a little homage to the main lead guitar riff on the end of one of the songs on the new record coming out next month.

Aside from the ones you pay homage to in “Written by the Artist,” who are your musical heroes that mean a lot to you?

I looked up to a lot of home-grown bands that had the same goals as me; Moneen, Hello Kelly, Alexisonfire, Sydney, Inserenerepublic, Fallen Year, The Junction. They all grew up within an hour from me and some of the greatest nights of my life were going out to those local shows and getting so inspired. I also listened and looked up to (and still do) The Postal Service, Death Cab For Cutie, Lagwagan, Story of The Year, Underoath, Radiohead and many more.

Why is your upcoming album self-titled?

I decided to make this album self-titled because so much of it is about Rosedale itself - what I'm all about and why. There's a lot of story in the lyrics and the songs are very nostalgic to my life as a kid and an artist. I want people to hear this record and be inspired to give their life to what they're truly passionate about. That's what it does for me when I listen to it. And I want people to think of Rosedale when they're feeling judged or doubted, worn out or down in their luck. It’s all part of building something great.

You tour with Time and Distance a lot; they’re a totally separate entity from you, right? You only join forces to tour?

Yeah you could definitely say we join forces. Greg McGowan and I have a lot in common as artists. We've been at it a long time, we know how to accomplish the sound we want, and know we could both help each other out with touring it. But he writes and arranges his own songs with his bandmates in Charleston, West Virginia. I have no part in their recorded content and the same goes for them with Rosedale. I've always been a fan of that band and I've enjoyed watching them grow so I'm glad we have this brothership that we both benefit from.

You discovered pop-punk at the age of 12; what drew you to the genre?

Skateboarding was my favorite hobby growing up - pop-punk in the early 2000s went hand in hand with it. They'd have awesome little local skate contests with touring bands performing at the parks and I'd get stoked if they sounded like Blink. Then I started going to Warped Tour and just loved finding new bands. My skate pop-punk interests definitely progressed into more of the alternative Emo scene in early 2000s. I was never really drawn to a certain genre though. There's not many pop punk bands I actually listen to. Pop-punk fans are often shocked when they find out I don't enjoy their favorite bands.

What's the craziest thing a fan has ever done for you?

A fan in Potsdam got a Rosedale Tattoo as her first tattoo. sometimes my fans will drive 4-10 hours to come see a Rosedale show and bring me tea, honey, nuts, grapes .... It’s so amazing that those people exist and it’s one of the top reasons I could never stop Rosedale. And my Kickstarter for the new album-- it was uplifting how generous my fans were. To spend your whole paycheck on helping an artist make a record is probably the craziest yet best thing you can do.

What are you up to in 2016? Any new year’s resolutions?

Not really a resolutions guy. If I have a resolution I just start it right away or as soon as I can. I've been finishing up the new Time and Distance video while adding more to the Rosedale making of/ documentary film and preparing for the big album release February 23rd. Rosedale is also currently on tour in Europe with I Set My Friends On Fire, Time & Distance, and Confessions of a Traitor.

And that’s a pretty extensive touring schedule. What do you love or hate most about touring?

The best part of touring is meeting new people and showing them my music and show. It’s so rewarding and I feel so productive and accomplished every time I meet a new fan. The worst part of touring is the driving and all the gear I move and set up. Though, if I could teleport to every show and have a crew set up all my gear, I don't think I'd feel as accomplished meeting those new fans.