MVRemix: Why is it so important to you to play two shows today, with one being all-ages?

Tim: All ages shows are important, and we always do all ages shows. It’s a pretty strict policy with the band, with a few exceptions, we’ve always played all-ages shows. That’s cause I would never ever want to exclude anyone from what we do. Nothing makes me feel worse than if I get an email from a 16 year old kid that says, listen, your band has changed my life and I’ve been waiting for two years for you to come to my town, and now I can’t go. There is no point for a band like us to do age restricted shows. Except for today, where we give you the option. Punk rock, or at least the brand of Punk rock that we do, it’s designed to speak to a younger audience. Our hope is to get these songs out to people who can relate to them at a time in their life when they’re sort of figuring out who they are and are trying to identify with something out there. The songs that we have are so relevant to younger people, that’s my attempt in all the lyric writing is to try to relate to somebody else my own experiences in hopes that they might not feel so alone in their experiences. So, excluding them from the show makes no sense at all.

MVRemix: Do you remember any shows growing up because they weren’t all-ages?

Tim: All kinds of shows. I missed all kinds of shows, but Chicago has a pretty good all-ages scene, so their were venues that people would play, but I don’t remember anyone specifically that I missed. Although, Canada has an acoustic artist, Hayden, I was a big fan and he played a 21 and over show with Juliana Hatfield at the Double Door in Chicago. I remember going to the show and finding him, meeting him, and begging him to let me in. I was like 18 or 19 at the time, and I was like you gotta let me in. He said I can’t let you in, I’m sorry, and now playing in a band I understand that you just can’t let people in, especially if you’re serving alcohol, because it’s just such a risk. I can’t just sneak kids in, which is a bad thing, but that’s why we do all ages.

MVRemix: Since there are two shows today the crowd this morning was all kids, is there a different vibe?

Tim: I think where you get the different vibe is when you play the age restricted shows, like tonight, will be a different vibe. I’m sure when we play tonight it will be a more chill crowd. When you get an older crowd, there are people who don’t spend a lot of time at the front anymore, they kind of hang out at the back which is understandable, but the people at the front make the show, they make it happen. I’m sure it’ll be a little tamer audience, maybe a little drunker audience; they’ll be a little more rambunctious. It’ll still be a fun show, but the energy the younger kids bring to the show is just priceless.

MVRemix: I know you recorded your last album here. Have you spent much time in the city?

Tim: We spent a lot of time in the city. We stayed just down the street, at the corner of Robson and Beatty for three weeks, and hung out on Granville a lot just walking around.

MVRemix: So a couple of Vancouver questions. There is a link on your site to T.V turnoff week, which was started by the Vancouver mag Adbusters. What inspired you to put the link up?

Tim: I’m a big fan of Adbusters, I don’t have any affiliation with them at all, but I am definitely a big fan of what they do. Our website is simply a tool to spread stuff like that, and to get exposure for things like that. Obviously T.V Turnoff is a great campaign, whether they’re actually participating in it or not, just to get people to think about the role of television in your life. It plays such a huge role, and too big a role in a lot of people’s lives. And if people could spend a week with a book or hang out with their friends or family, or taking a walk, then you could really discover how you spend your time and where it could be spent. So it’s just a place to get more exposure for it.

MVRemix: Vancouver is a pretty Vegan and Vegetarian friendly town, how did you find it?

Tim: Yeah. Veggie hot dogs everywhere you go, which is so awesome. We just don’t have that in the states. We just don’t have hot dog venders that have Veggie wieners in the states; I don’t know what it is.

MVRemix: As a band you focus on keeping the music positive, but you are still a punk band that is pissed off about the way things are. Is it hard to balance that?

Tim: I think there is a way to be pissed off but still be hopeful. The stuff that we do, the lyrics that we write and the angle we take, and I mean obviously there are a lot of things that make us very angry and we’ve taken that and channeled it into some sort of positive energy. Our songs are hopefully motivating people to think about different issues, or change or social awareness. It’s just how you channel the anger.

MVRemix: Is the touring getting tiring?

Tim: We’ve been on tour for a long time, since last summers Warped Tour. It’s definitely tiring, it’s exhausting, and some days are better then others. When you’re here in Vancouver and it’s a beautiful day and we are here all day it’s just wonderful When you’re out in Nova Scotia and it’s like 10 degrees below zero and there’s 10 feet of snow, and you’re trying to get over a cold, that’s miserable. But that’s what we’ve decided to do with our lives, even though touring is hard and it’s long, and it drives you insane and pushes you to the edge; at the same time it’s hard to complain because I just played for 1000 kids an hour ago and it was an amazing experience that I never take for granted. The fact that we can do music for a living, that’s something I don’t take for granted. Even at its worst, it is hard to complain about it.

MVRemix: And you’re not done yet either, you are going on tour with Alkaline Trio…

Tim: Yeah. We’ll be in Europe in a week and a half from now with Alexisonfire, and then we’ll take most of June off. Do a few shows here and there, and then we’ll go out with Alkaline Trio. We’ll play Seattle and Portland will be closest to Vancouver, but it’s mostly a west-coast and south-east tour. Then we’ll go out and do the North-East U.S in August, and then we’ll probably do the international Taste of Chaos tour with The Used and Funeral For Our Friend, that’ll be in Japan, Australia and the UK. Hopefully at that point, which will be at the end of October, we’ll sit down and start writing some new songs.

MVRemix: Do you have an onstage philosophy?

Tim: The less I think about it, the better I am. If there is a long break before we go on stage, then you start over thinking it, but if you go out there and just do it, and be the most open and honest person you can be, then that’s what works. I always try to maximize my time up there, and there is so much I want to say and so little time to say it. And obviously you want to get some songs in there. If I talk to long, then we can’t fit all the songs in. We don’t have any pre show rituals that go on. I mean I warm my voice up for 20-25 minutes before every show. I wear the same clothes every show, which are these disgusting, disgusting clothes that you wouldn’t want to touch with a ten foot pole, and that’s about it.