R: Who produced the new album? Was it somebody you had worked with before?
DK: We went with a new guy this time. The last two records were produced by Bill Stevenson and Stephan Egerton of The Descendents, who have their own recording studio in Colorado. They've done a great job for us, but I guess this time we wanted to do our own thing and have more control in the production. We really felt that the only way to do that was to do it semi-locally - we did it at Woodshed Studio in Detroit with a guy named Tim Pack, who is a great guy. The thing with working with these legends like The Descendents is that no matter how strong you feel about somebody, out of respect to them, things kind of always lean their way. With someone that you look up to to that degree it's pretty tough, so with this record we definitely had more say in the way things were done and the way things sounded. We've been doing this long enough to where we know what mistakes we've made in the past in the studio and that sort of thing and know we have the opportunity to change those things.

R: How's the Warped Tour going?
DK: We just had an amazing show today in Boston. We went on a little early but we had a really great stage and there were fifteen hundred kids going crazy. The thing about the Warped Tour is that every day you sort of get a random assignment - you could be playing first, you could be playing last, you don't really find out until about ten-thirty in the morning. So it's just like, 'You're on!' They just sort of hit you with it. Headlining the Warped Tour is a big mistake because you when you play last everyone is so burned out. So it's great to play for the kids while they're fresh. As long as they can find ya.

R: What other bands are you digging on the tour?
DK: Without a doubt, Andrew W. K. He's great. Pure genius. He has this fierce obsession for what he does. It's completely different music but I can really, really relate to where he's coming from. His whole thing is just like, pure positive energy, and you know that he enjoys what he's doing, and that he's doing it for the music and that sort of thing. Every day he does autograph signings when he's done with his set and he'll be there an hour after the doors close, signing autographs.

R: Will there be a CD release party in Michigan?
DK: Yeah, the big one is at Kalamazoo State Theatre September fourteenth. We're really excited that we can do it there. Our fans will be able to buy the CD there before it's actually released and in stores. The State Theatre is such an amazing venue - it was definitely our first choice for where to put the CD release show.

September 2002