R13: Hi, can you introduce yourself first?
JI: Yep. I'm Justin, doing guitar and vocals.
R13: Are you also responsible for the lyrics?
JI:Yeah. Well whoever is in the room with me actually. Whenever I need words I just ask them and they say 'Write this.'
R13: You formed in 1999. In 2003 the bassist and drummer left; what happened then?
JI: At first it was just the guitar and bass players. But Sean (guitarist) is back now. What happened is that we were home for a couple of months, we were not doing anything. We came back slightly broke you know, and the bassist had an opportunity to play in another band. Sean lived in Las Vegas and I lived in LA. Alex (former drummer) at the time worked with another band. I was just sitting around writing out an album, I was in my own world. Everyone was drifting into his own stuff. And when the time came to get the band together it was like 'Hey guys do you wanna continue doin' it?' A year's gone by and here we are. I think it's just a matter of boredom, sitting around, we didn't have much of a plan and no money so everyone had to focus on work of any kind.
R13: What was it that gave you the will to start all over again?
JI: Well, for a year I did the album by myself and everybody seemed to be a little disinterested. Everyone said it would be hard to give up a job, to give up our stability and go back on the road, because when you're on tour you give up EVERYTHING, you know. So when the album was getting nearer completion and things were starting to move along, Paxton (new drummer) came in and he and I really started to work on it. Sean and Mike came in as much as possible and they had to work a lot. So yeah, it was just us talking to each other. We are long time good friends so it just worked out.
R13: And, of course, you're on a very good label as well now.
JI : Yeah. I've been a fan of Roadrunner for a long time, like in the 90's. And now all of a sudden we get to hang around with dudes at Roadrunner so it's awesome for us. And in the US, we're on Trustkill, we've also been Trustkill fans for years. It's been slow for us but at the same time we made proper decisions about a lot of things.
R13: So neither label is putting a lot of pressure on your writing?
JI: Oh no no no. I mean Trustkill, they were supporting us from the beginning although they are more into more heavy stuff. But no, just as with Roadrunner - it's very stress free. Our manager at Trustkill really loved the hard stuff. 'Dream' (2003 album) had more metal into it. This album (You and Me) has more focused on the vocals, songs and guitar riffs. Both record companies are stress-free... And Roadrunner is making us come back here.
R13: So you'll be back soon in England!
JI: Yeah, we'll be back in June.
R13: For a concert or a festival?
JI : We're doing Download Festival on the Black Sabbath stage. Any excuse to come back here and play is good.
R13: So now all your dreams are coming true; headlining slots, the Black Sabbath stage..
JI: We also just supported My Chemical Romance in front of 27,000 people, quite amazing. Yeah- so far, so good. It's going well. I can't complain.
R13: But now you're the headline act.
JI: Yeah it's the first time we ever headlined a show. We're not only headlining but we're headlining in the UK! This is really big, I can't explain this feeling.
R13: What has been your best memory so far?
JI: Last night's show with My Chemical Romance was awesome. There were so many people. The audience was very open and supportive. We didn't know whether they would be as they had come to see My Chemical Romance. And, of course, the guys were great as well.
R13: So there are no bad memories?
JI: Nope. Well... not a bad memory, just a scary one- We played at the Astoria and to us it is a legendary place. That was pretty scary.
R13: Thank you for taking the time to talk to R13 and good luck for the show.
JI : No, thank you!