First off can you state your name and what you do in the band?
I'm Dave and I yell.

You just finished up a tour with In Flames not too long ago. How was that?
It was awesome actually. We were very well received and had a good time with the other bands too.  The In Flames guys were real cool and I'm a big fan so I enjoyed watchin 'em live.  Scandinavians are usually awesome now that I think about it.

How was playing the Download Festival?
It was the best show we've had in years. Pretty surreal. There were around 13,000-15,000 people and I'd say at least a third of em were chanting our name before we started playing.  We've never really experienced anything like that before to be honest. We were all behind the curtain on the stage stretching n doing whatever when we heard it start. We just looked over at each other and started laughing.

You have a few dates lined up on this years Warped Tour. What are your touring plans for after that?
We're hitting the States on a headlining run with Zao, Evergreen Terrace and Maylene & The Sons of Disaster for about 5 weeks. Starts the 3rd week of August. It's called the "Pure Hostility Tour" and it's gonna be a rager so come out and hang with us.

You have been able to play Ozzfest, Warped Tour, and Sounds of the Underground. How do the three compare and differ?
There's a lot of similarities about American festival tours, like sunburn, heat stroke and boobs to name a few.  I'm not gonna point out why one fest is better than another cus we really did have fun on all three, but I think we took home the best memories from Ozzfest because we had so many friends on it and were also among the ranks of some legendary bands like Slayer and Sabbath.  It was killer.

Vendetta came out a while ago. Have you written any new material?
Yeah actually we've all written a lot of stuff individually on the road.  We've probably got 8+ songs worth of stuff written for the new record, and I've even put down some loose ideas for lyrics as well.  I've had a lot of shit happen to me the past several months, so I stepped out of the normal process of putting lyrics to a song after it is complete because I just felt like I had to get some things on paper when I was in the thick of it.  I think we're going to put an awesome record out early next year that will top what we were very proud of on Vendetta.

What are your views on today's Straight Edge community? For instance, what do you think about the kids who use violence to promote being edge?
I think they're assholes and they aren't welcome at our shows for starters. I'd rather they found another 'scene' altogether to be honest.  Bad apples are nothing new to our band or friends cus we've seen it over and over again for well over ten years. People like that bummed me out then and do just as much now.  To be honest, there's a lot of things I'm disappointed with in a lot of these straight edge kids that have been around for a few years and have become overly idealistic and elitist with something as simple as the choice to not use drugs, alcohol and other substances. It just isn't needed and not what it is truly about.  I will say, though, that we've met and received emails from a ton of great straight edge kids that remind us of the way we felt when we first got into hardcore and straight edge bands.  Fortunately, we've come across a lot more kids like that than we have dudes with bandanas on their heads and chips on their shoulders.

Dom was the last original member. Why is he no longer in the band?
Dom felt his time on the road had come to an end.  There's a lot that you put into and leave behind in a life that has you away from home for well over half the year.  He left the band last Fall and explained that it was just that for him, and he felt like he needed to move onto something new at home.  We're all still friends and while it was rough to have him go, we support him as friends should in whatever he does.

If you could play a show with any three artists, past or present, who would they be?
Tool, Pantera and the original Sepultura. I mean, I'd love to play with Ray Charles and Kelly Clarkson too, but I think we'd go over like a bag of dicks so I'll stick to the first three.

What is a typical day on tour like for you?
Hmm...well....I eat somewhere shitty like Wendy's and I'll typically order the chicken tenders with Spicy Hawaiian sauce.  Sometimes I'll treat myself to a kid's size frosty if I'm feeling a little adventurous or risque. I sleep in the van on the way to the show...i wake up...i work out with Ben and Scott (our guitar tech) in a parking lot usually and get sunburnt...i steal some of Ben's protein powder and make a vanilla smoothie...i go hang out in merch world or do a crossword puzzle...I'll change into a Demon Hunter shirt....play the show, get real sweaty, dry off, go talk to kids outside the show then go sit in the van til we leave and watch Family Guy on my ipod.  I get out to eat at a gas station and usually get string cheese and a green tea with no sugar...  I consume said items then sleep in the van til we get to the hotel. I drag myself to the room when we get there...I then shower, sleep and... repeat.

When you aren't on tour what do you do for fun?
I sneak into Wild Rivers with a bunch of my immature friends and we soap up all the slides and go down them twice as fast with no one in the park and with no lights on.  Yes, I've been hurt. No, I don't suggest doing this.  I hope the next question isn't "how old are you?"

Any pre-show rituals?
Nothing unique really. I stretch...I sing along to select songs from some CDs I like and then I get up and yell at people for 45 minutes or so.

Are there any individual fans that stick out in your head over the years, and why?
I think Mike from Apple Valley who has "Throwdown" tattooed across his chest in 4 inch letters along with a handful of other TD inspired pieces sticks out.  His friend has it across his back. There's a ton of people really, but those two are pretty tough to forget to say the least.

What has been your favorite or most memorable tour/show for you so far?
Ozzfest was the most memorable tour and Download Fest was definitely the most memorable show.

What are the best/worst parts about touring, in general?
The best part is I get paid to do what I love and see the world in the process, I eat a lot of awesome food along with a lot of shitty food, I can get a bunch of tattoos and no one fires me for it, I meet a lot of interesting people and I don't have to wake up in the morning...ever. The worst part is that I leave my family and loved ones at home for months on end while I do all that.  Sometimes, believe it or not, it doesn't feel worth it.  I'd say if we didn't have so many great fans we wouldn't sacrifice what we do to play music.

What would you be doing for a living, if you didn't choose the path of being a musician?
I dunno. I hate that question. I went to college and got a degree in...somethin er other...  I'd probably do something affiliated with snakes or palm trees. I like both those things a lot.

 Do you have any political views, such as the war on terror, George W. Bush, abortion, etc?
Yeah but I don't really wanna share em to be honest. haha. Sorry man.  As a band we do support a number of causes that aren't so much political as they are humanitarian.  We've always wanted to use the music we make to help others in some form or another or help evoke change in an issue that gets under our skin.  We've got a handful of different political views within our band, so we usually make it a policy to not spout them off personally and give people the idea that is what our band is about.

Some people associate being straight edge, with also being agnostic, or atheist. How do you feel about that generalization, and do you have any religious affiliations?
That generalization, like most, is a hasty one.  I know a lot of straight edge kids that are religious, our bass player Matt, for one, is Christian, as is Dom our old bass player.  Straight edge has about as much to do with religion as it does vegetarianism...which is nothing. I guess I'm 'agnostic' if you had to lump me into a category, but I don't like doing that too much. I think I'm gonna look into Nihilism after watching The Big Lebowski for the past three years.

There are tons of metal/hardcore bands that have originated from Orange County, CA, have you noticed that, and if so, would you have an idea as to why that is?
Yeah, definitely. There are a lot of great bands in general that have come out of Orange County, not just heavy ones too... Bad Religion, Black Flag, No Doubt, Thrice to name a handful.  I dunno why to be honest. I think it's just a breeding ground for music and art here for whatever reason. I don't question it really, just proud to be a part of it.

The band is fairly inked up, are there any particular tattoos, that you feel are meaningful, or especially important to you?
I think Matt's "Life Is Sweet" tattoo with an ear of corn above it is pretty important to him. haha. Umm, yeah i mean I think we all generally get tattoos that have a lot of personal meaning to us. My arms are all Japanese art so there's a lot of important symbolism in the images for me. One full arm is a tribute to my parents/family and what they've taught me and mean to me. The other is about someone very important that is part of that sacrifice I mentioned in the kind of life that we lead.  Im getting a rattlesnake tattoo next time, though, not cus it means anything in particular but just because snakes are fuckin sweet.

The album Haymaker, was a huge influence for my (Matt) decision to become straight edge, how does it feel as a person/musician to know that you have made an impact in peoples lives?
It's awesome, and thank you for that! That truly is what puts the most meaning into what we do.  If we wanted to write music just for ourselves then we wouldn't bother playing it for other people all year and putting so much time into recording an album to be released.  We always try and write songs that can build a bridge between the band and the fans and write lyrics that can hold a different meaning for each person who listens to them, regardless of the specific meaning it has to us.  It's awesome to hear that someone gets meaning out of a song we wrote or has been changed by it in the same way that the four of us have all been changed in different ways by bands growing up.  It's very fulfilling to say the least, man.

If you were not doing this interview, what would you be doing right now?
I'd be giving my undivided attention to "Mr. & Mrs. Smith" and eating trail mix.  In fact, no offense, but I hope we're toward the end cus this part has a bazooka and Angelina Jolie in something tight in it... and I'm starving man. haha.

We would like to thank you for taking the time to do this, and hope to see you again, next time you roll through one of our cities. Do you have any last words to the readers/fans?
No sweat dude, thank YOU. I'm bad with last words, I usually like to say "thanks" to people who make all this worth it for us. So...'thanks'! We'll see you on the road.