SM: Have you guys had problems with one time fans that no longer support you as the result of a move to a major label?
T: We had that problem when we were from Green Flag records signing to Sub City.

SM: So this is nothing new to you then?
T: I think a majority of our fans are really supportive of us. They know that this album is different, but all of our albums are different and the people who have stuck with us expect...I don’t think its more radio friendly or anything like that. We’ve always included more melodic songs on our albums. The kids that get upset about a band getting bigger or more listeners or being on MTV...I understand why. I have the same feeling about bands. I feel really connected to a certain band and I want it to be mine but at the same time, that’s so selfish.

SM: Who are some of the bands you’ve wanted to keep to yourself?
T: Ummm...I actually...I can’t really remember. I remember Metallica being that way for me but they’ve always been pretty big. I just think now, seeing it from the other side, the bands that I love...I try to share them. People will be like “Oh, I love your band!” and I’ll say “Check out this band. This band is something that I love or I draw influence from.” It’s important, if you really love something, to share it with other people because keeping something that’s really cool, to yourself, is a waste.

SM: You guys have a local tie to Vegas and a little bit of history with local act Curl Up and Die (CUAD). Describe the relationship.
T: We played our first show with CUAD in Santa Ana and then we had another show with them. At the first show, I was so scared of them ‘cause they were so Metal and Hessian and then at that time we were all into hardcore music but at the same time we hadn’t really experimented with writing so much of that stuff. We liked the metal and the punk rock and something a little bit more melodic. I don’t know exactly how to describe what we were doing at the time. They were just so intimidating. I didn’t know that they were just the nicest guys. I was super shy and I didn’t want to talk to them. Then we played another show with them at the Living Room in Santa Barbara, started talking to them, and they seemed very similar to us in that they were just a bunch of friends making music and they didn’t care about necessarily what anybody thought of them. We shared a lot of common views on things like how crappy the music scene can be sometimes-what I was talking about before like cliques and negati vity. We really connected and since then have just kept playing shows with them. They’re just awesome friends. Actually, the guy that sells our merch used to sell merch for CUAD. Amazing people...I wish we could somehow bridge the drive from here because I love hanging out with those guys.

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