I’m genuinely interested to read you point of view on this but if it seems too contentious, you don’t have to answer it. You guys went from being a straight edge band to a non-straight edge band, have you found that you’ve been treated differently as a band because of that? I for one prefer to focus on a band’s musical output before anything else; do you find that other people are the same?

Straight Edge was a big part of the band in our early years… It was a movement we all connected with and a philosophy that we all stood behind… But one thing that we always preached was about breaking down the barriers that separate us… This music is for everyone regardless of the way you look, the music you listen to, or what you do in your personal life. As time went on, we all went our different ways, and people made the decision to no longer be straight edge. This is not something that we tried to hide from anyone… We were very clear went we started playing that we were no longer a straight edge band… I think some people were disappointed, other let down, but there were also a ton of kids just happy to have us back playing music that we love with a strong or powerful message. A lot of people talk about being “True Til Death” and to me, I would rather have someone be true to themselves, and live the life that they want to live instead of living to uphold a commitment they made when they were 16 years old… We all respect the Straight Edge lifestyle (I am still Straight Edge), and we are happy that we played a positive influence in many people’s lives.