What inspires you?
A lot of different things. Sometimes it will be a song that I love, or just a random song that I hear and it gives me a good idea. Sometimes it will be a movie or picture. You never know what’s going to inspire you. As far as idols go, I never had direct idols. I look up to creative and successful bands. Anyone who can play music every day of their life and make a living. That has always been my goal. Just play music and enjoy life.

Does “emo” define your band?
The word emo is short for emotional. I think any great band puts a lot of emotion and passion into what they do. We’ve been referred to as many different styles of music and I’m fine with any label that people want to put on us. We just consider ourselves a rock band, and yes, we put a lot of emotion into our music and shows. So I guess we can be an emo band.

Why are you changing to be more rock n’ roll?
We just write music that we want to hear. We never set out to write a certain style of music. As long as we love what we write, that’s all that matters. Of course we will always play some sort of rock music. I guess we’ve just gradually progressed more toward rock n’ roll.

You have been touring a lot.
I’ve learned a lot about music from touring around the world. The main thing I’ve learned is that music is the universal language. It doesn’t matter what language you speak, or where you live, we can all be brought together through music. I’ve found that most countries around the world really love American music. It’s a great feeling to travel to the opposite side of the world and have people sing your songs back to you.

What is your favorite gig?
I love playing Australia and Japan. They both have the most amazing fans and the most beautiful cities on the planet.