So this is your second time playing in Baltimore?
Yeah, it�s our second or third time actually. We�ve played the Sidebar twice, once right after the September 11th crap.

Did that have any impact on the show?
Yeah, it did. Actually, we were in Pennsylvania when the actual attacks happened, and we were like a couple of minutes away from the county (Summerset, PA) where one of the planes went down. And we had to cancel a whole week of dates because of that, which really sort of put us out. But the next show actually that was scheduled was that show at the Sidebar, and that was with Stretch Arm Strong and a couple other groups. And when we got there, you could tell that the people who showed up were excited just to get out of their houses and try to return to some form of a normal way of life. And sort of leave all their problems at the door and come have a lot of fun. And it was a really great show. There was a lot of energy, and it was just a really responsive show.

So would you say Baltimore is a good place to play then?
That particular show was. It may have been because of the circumstances somewhat, but you could tell that the people out there just wanted to get out of their house and do something.

What is the music scene like in Florida; what�s the most prominent type of music coming out of the area?
Well in the last couple of years the South Florida scene has sort of blown up in a way. I mean you have New Found Glory who has sort of a big status now and of course our former singer who does Dashboard Confessional. We�re friends with a lot of talented groups down there (like) Rocking Horse Winner, Seville, Legends of Rodeo (formerly Recess Theory), and ___ ___ Struggle. There�s a lot of awesome talent in South Florida and for a long time we were just one big community and it just seemed like none of us ever went out of the state and ever really toured the country. But I think that it has been more prevalent in the last couple of years and I think it�s brought South Florida a little bit more into the forefront of the music scene, apparently.

Do you like any of the bands on Vagrant Records, and what do you think about all the attention that they have been getting lately?
I haven�t really taken the time to listen to most of them. I�ve heard a little of Alkaline Trio�s record, I guess it was their latest, and it was definitely tolerable for me. It was a little dark and a little bit different from a lot of the pop punk. We�re actually about to tour with Hot Rod Circuit, who�s now on Vagrant, but their release (on Vagrant) hasn�t come out yet. So I haven�t really studied up, I just know that they (Vagrant) have apparently blown up in the last year or so. Dashboard�s helped that out, and Saves the Day�s helped that out a lot. I think the label is just really trying to do everything and anything that�s beneficial for the bands, but like I said, I don�t know the �ins and outs� of the label. But I think they went out of their way this last summer just from talking to Chris (Carrabba). Just getting the bands buses and just treating them like they are on a bigger level, and hence they have been and are now. They did the big Vagrant Tour Across America and they seem to work really hard for their bands, I�ll give them that.

How was it when you guys toured with Dashboard Confessional last December, was it weird for you guys?
No, we�re all cool with Chris now. I mean obviously it was weird for awhile when the break-up first happened, but I think we�re all where we need to be now. I think Chris is a lot more comfortable and suited doing what he does now. And with Jason now, he fits the band like a glove. So I think we�re both doing well. It was a fun tour, we got to hang out, and if there was any amends that weren�t made, they were then, cause we had a great time with them (Dashboard) and they�re great guys.

Did you guys ever jam with each other on stage?
Chris came up on stage and sorta did a duet with Jason on a couple shows and sang some of the �old� songs.

What is your favorite song to play live?
As far as our album, well we only play our songs because we don�t do any covers, I would say probably �The Moon is Down� and �A New Desert Life�, the first and last song off of the record. There�s a lot of stuff going on there musically.

Are you guys writing anything now?
Yeah, I�d say we have about half of the new songs done musically for the next record, which we�re going into the studio June 1st to start recording. And as far as Jason, he�s got about two songs done lyrically, one of which we�ll be doing tonight. We�re pretty slow in our writing process because we always constantly evaluate and make changes and stuff. But we�re definitely excited about getting the new stuff out so people can see the new entity with Jason.

Does he have a big impact on the writing process?
Well he�s the sole writer of the lyrics and pretty much places them in, but we�ll always help him along with that. It�s definitely going to be interesting, I think it�s a very pivotal record for us since it�s like the �post-Chris� record. And we want to sort of separate ourselves and be like, �Hey, we wrote the music on the first album and the music is still there.� And we�re going to have a new taste vocally.

Your songs don�t follow any traditional song structures and are just so interesting and complex. Do you try to go for that when you�re writing or does it just come out like that?
Well I usually write the structures and I tend to write more with the guitar than with the bass or rhythm. And because the guitar is very fluent and has a lot of movement, it tends to create a lot of transition and crescendos and the lyrics sorta keep a pop-sensibility to it. But as far as writing musically, I tend to write a little more unorthodox, so I guess that�s how that goes. We just try to keep it interesting and not just a carbon copy of something else.

I�ve seen you guys wearing Element 101 t-shirts in a lot of pictures. Have you ever played a show with them?
Yeah, we�re really good friends with them and we�ve done a couple of tours together. We�re actually going to see them in a couple of days on this tour when we get up to Jersey. But we�re really good friends with them, they�re a great band, really talented and we have the utmost respect for them and we keep in contact all the time. I urge anybody to go out and see them when they come to town.

Who is the girl in the �Wearing Thin� video?
I have no idea (laughs). They (Tooth & Nail) made the video and I saw it recently and apparently she�s some sort of model.

Do you like it?
Eh� not really. I mean, it�s a start but even if MTV got the video, I don�t think I�d want it aired. It�s just like a starting point for doing a real video, which I think we may actually be doing in the near future. But I�ve only seen it myself twice and I imagine the girl is some they just hired to learn the words and act out a sort of storyline situation.

Do you ever miss hardcore and do you think you�ll ever go back to playing in hardcore bands?
Not really. Musically, I�m getting a little older, and it�s a wear and tear on your body. But as far as the crowd response and the energy of the shows and the �heart on your sleeve� kind of aspect, yeah of course there�s a lot of fond memories of that and they�ll always be good times. But I think we�re doing what we wanna do now and we�re playing the music that comes out of us naturally and we don�t try to push ourselves into any kind of label or classification. I feel more free doing what we do now, but at the same time there�s some great memories of what we did.

Is there any significance with the whole pink color theme of the album?
No that just sorta how it came about. The guy who did the layout, it was just his idea. And at first I was like �eh, I don�t know about that,� but I sorta came around and it just grew on us and it seems to be a good moniker that fits the album. I guess it sort of stands out a little with the color. A lot of people try to say it�s very similar to the Sunny Day (Real Estate) �Pink� record, but that wasn�t the intention at all. It�s just the colors that the guy doing the layout happened to use and we thought it looked good.