UN: Can you run through a brief history of how all of the members came together to form If Hope Dies? Have there been a lot of line-up changes over the years?

Thad: Well, the band formed in the summer of 98 . It was just five friends from school wanting to rock in a band. We played together up until guitarist Aaron Conti left to pursue photography school. So we got a new guitarist to fill his spot. That lasted for about a year and we got another new guitarist( Tim Seib) now were rocking the final and current line up.

UN: This sort of goes along with the last question. You guys have been together since 1998, have you goals as a band musically changed over the years? Did you guys known what you wanted the band to sound like or did it gradually come together?

Thad: Our goals musically haven’t really changed that much. We always wanted to be heavy. And we always tried to incorporate the whole single stringed melodies. I guess we’ve always had the same idea just now we are a little more capable of writing what we envisioned before.

UN: I haven’t had the chance to check out "Siege Equipment for Spiritual Decline” yet, how would you say it compares to the newer album? Do you feel like there is a definite progression?

Thad: Overall I like the songs on Siege Equipment... but I think the songs were a bit premature and we didn’t have much money for a good production. The songs were written with a lot of space between them, so it seemed to me like a slew of songs piled together for a record. However with the new record. We sat down with the intentions of writing a full length record. So the songs were more up to par with each other and definitely an upgrade from the previous record.

Alan: I agree, that there are a few decent songs out of that bunch. Vocally and lyrically however, I think that “Siege” is lacking compared to the new album. The fact that I was sick as a dog when we recorded the first full length definitely makes those songs harder to listen to. As Thad said, those songs were all from very different points in being a band, so they lack the cohesiveness that the new disc has.

UN: Speaking of the new album, are guys pleased with how it turned out? Hopefully all of the response so far has been favorable.

Thad: Hell yeah, We are very pleased with the new record. The songs, production, and overall feel of the new album has brought us all together as friends and as a band. And so far the response has been very positive and successful to our standards.

UN: Can you explain the meaning behind the name of the new album? Any connection between the name and the cover art?

Alan: The title of the album is a reference to the book Ishmael. What it refers to is the idea that western culture is like a poorly made air craft that is on a collision course with earth. Everyone sits in their seats oblivious to the crash that is soon coming; people keep tearing down more forests, dumping more toxins into the waters, reproducing in numbers that are far greater than what our planet can sustain; right now, we are on the downward trajectory of our failed flight, and “the ground is rushing up to meet us”, meaning that eventually we’ll drive ourselves to extinction. The cover art is supposed to represent this idea, that the markings of man (the gears), will eventually crumble because our way of life is not viable in the long run, and that if and when the earth heals from the damage we’ve caused, it will swallow up and grow over all that we’ve done (like the vines). The rust and cracks in the gears are the warning signs of our imminent cultural collapse.

UN: How did Ironclad Recordings come into the picture for the band? Was there ever a possibility of releasing another c.d. on Diehard? I’m not even sure if they are still around. Are you guys happy with Ironclad so far?

Thad: I think speak for the whole band when I say that we are very happy and proud to be on Ironclad Recordings. Ironclad took an interest in us around last May. It was right around the time we started working on the album. The label was more than well suiting for our needs as a band wanting to tour and anxious to release a new c.d. so we went for it right away. But as far as diehard goes. It was just a one time thing.

Alan: Trevor has done an incredible amount of work for us in such a short time. Ever since Ironclad, a ton of new opportunities and paths have been opened up to us that we never thought would be available, we try to work as hard for Trevor as he does for us, and we suspect we’ll have repaid him for all of his help somewhere around 2030.

UN: I know that you guys haven’t had the chance to tour as much as you would have liked, now with a new label behind you and a new album out are you ready to take the road for as long as humanly possible? Touring seems to be the best way to spread your name these days.

Thad: Your right about that. We all wish we could be on the road 365 days a year. but with college being a factor that couldn’t happen as soon as we would like. However starting this May we will be taking that next step and hitting the road full time for sure.

Alan: Not to mention how incredibly awesome and fun touring is. We got our first taste of cross-country touring back in the winter, and now I think everyone is going through van withdrawal. We all hunger for the lawless existence of life on the road.

UN: I was curious to ask if you guys consider yourselves a hardcore band or a metal band. There are a few riffs that remind me of the heavier side of hardcore but to be honest, you guys are 110% metal to my ears. I guess that’s why they came up with the sub genre of metalcore, so you’d have something to call bands that play metal but come from a more hardcore background.

Alan: Hardcore is what inspired us to start the band, and we play mostly hardcore shows, so I think on that basis we would consider ourselves a hardcore band. But, like you said we definitely have metal elements all over the place…metal would describe our sound, hardcore is what defines our ethic. If someone needs a way to describe us though, they usually say metal or metal core, and when we’re pulled over by the cops and going to a show that’s usually what we say, since describing the concept of hardcore would be a pain in the ass, although I think with the amount of tickets we have we ought to start calling ourselves “Inspirational Christian World Music”…maybe then we’d get a break. As with most bands, I think we just want get our music/message out there, and the more people who listen to it the better, regardless of what musical genre they align themselves with.

UN: This goes along with the last question in some ways. I was wondering if a metal label say like Century Media or Metal Blade was interested in signing the band, would you sign with them? Basically I was wondering if you’d want to stay with a more hardcore based label. I’m sure you’d sign with a bigger metal label though, if the opportunity arose.

Alan: I'd say almost definitely. But, sometimes bands sign to a bigger label and get lost in the shuffle if a label's roster is so big. Some bands become priority for a label and get pushed forward while others tend to fade to the background, being on Ironclad, where there's only 2 active bands at the moment pretty much ensures that we will get the attention we need. We would love to get our music out to more people though, I'm pretty sure that if we had an opportunity like that we would strongly consider it, because it could turn out to be quite fortuitous.

UN: You guys just shot a video for the song Shop Till You Drop. Tell us about it. Is the video just mainly going to be live clips edited together or is there an actual concept behind the video.

Alan: Well, part of the video is going to be live clips from a show we played in Syracuse in February. I haven't seen the footage from it yet but supposedly it's amazing, the show itself was amazing, people were going off pretty hard so it should be pretty intense. The plan is to intercut the live stuff with the "plot" which we're working on finishing right now. The video is going to tie in with the idea of the song, which is a criticism of consumerist lifestyles, but we're hoping to address it in a semi-comical way, just so it's more fun and to show that we don't take ourselves too seriously.

UN: Do you guys think it’s important to have the melody along with the heavier riffing? I love heavy mosh riffs, but you need to break them up and I think that the more melodic riffing and harmony leads does that perfectly. Do you think some of the more melodic stuff might have been influenced by In Flames or the Swedish scene? I definitely hear a lot of In Flames influences in If Hope Dies.

Alan: Dude, In Flames totally rips us off. Just kidding, yeah they are obviously an influence on our sound. What doesn't make sense though, is that Thad is a huge wuss and listens to mostly indie and emo stuff, and for this album (The Ground...), he wrote all of the guitar parts. So I'm not sure where he gets his mastery of Gothernburg rock. I love big break downs though, so I like the mix we have going, too much in either direction is likely to produce a boring listening experience, so it is good to mix melody with moshiness.

UN: I was also wondering how the songwriting works within the band. The songs don’t seem to follow a set pattern of verse/chorus/verse. It seems more like a collection of parts. Is it more important to just have a song that flows from beginning to end then to worry about having a catchy chorus?

Alan: Songs that flow well are of prime importance. We like to put in a variety of tempo changes to keep things interesting and the transitions from part to part are key, I just handle the lyrics and vocals, but I think the other guys do a great job of making the songs smooth, there's nothing jarring to my ears. As far as individual song writing duties for "The Ground...", Thad and Brandon came up with the structures of the songs or the central riffs and everyone else just bounced ideas off of each other to finish them off. A few songs in there have strong choruses, and it seems that in writing, certain songs tended to lend themselves to that style more than others and that's when we decided to implement them. It's more intuitional than intentional as to how a song ends up being put together.

UN: What’s next for you guys? Just trying to get the name out there and sell some albums? Would you guys like to become a household name one day?

Seib: We would like to end up on the cover of Teen Beat at some point, and I want to go out with Hilary Duff and Lindsey Lohan.

Alan: Yeah, I guess we ought to get famous for Seib's dream to come true, he wants to be the next Aaron Carter. Yes, touring, selling albums, that's the big plan.

Seib: If Hope Dies lunch boxes.

Alan: I hate you Tim Seib.