UN: The first thing I wanted to ask was where exactly did the name of the band come from? It had me thinking that maybe it was a city name or possibly a street name. Honestly, I have no idea. Why did you guys decide on this name? It's definitely unique.

Mark: You were right on with the city name... Spitalfield is a town in London. It's actually the town where Jack the Ripper was from. Our first guitarist, Blake, came up with the name way back when we first formed, in 1998. The name kind of has some dark undertones to it, which we thought was kind of fun, since we're more of a pop band.

UN: I don't like to bring up the far too overused influences subject, but when listening to your new album I couldn't help but think that you guys must be fans of Jimmy Eat World. You guys definitely are unique, but you guys use hooks similar to Jimmy Eat World, and you both have a knack for crafting well thought out but still very catchy songs.

M: I, for one, am definitiely a big fan of Jimmy Eat World. The one thing I've always loved about that band is how they fit into so many different music styles, and pull it off well. The influence is definitely there. They're a band I've been listening to since 1997 - and I've always been a fan of their stlye. There's that grey area between pop punk, hardcore, and straight up pop rock- and if I had to sum it up, that's a sound I'd say that we generally shoot for as well. We as a band have influences accross the board- since we all listen to a variety of different styles of music. Some other bands that have heavily influenced our writing are the Promise Ring, Braid, Rainer Maria & even the Police.

UN: Remembering Right Now is a very easy album to get into. From the first time I listened to it I was hooked. When you guys were putting together the songs for the album did you have the feeling that you were creating something special? Are you guys pleased with how it turned out?

M: We were definitely excited while we were in the studio about what we were creating. The one thing about recording we find is that no matter how much time you're given, it never feels like enough time. Looking back, are there some things we'd do differently? Sure. Are there some things we'd do the same? Definitely. As a whole, we're very pleased with how things turned out. Working with Sean O'keefe as a producer was a very new experience for us- and the studio (Smart Studios- Madison, WI) was quite an experience! As we tour in support of this album, we can't help but be excited about what we'll do next. Though we've been a band for over 5 years, this is just the beginning.

UN: One aspect that I love about the album is that it has a very complete feel to it. You put it on and before you know it it's over. It flows so well. Did you guys take a lot of time trying to make sure this sounded like a complete album? Did you spend a lot of time trying to get the song order right?

M: We went in to demo the songs a few weeks before production began on the album. We had about 13 tracks that we felt were strong enough to put on the cd. The finished product is 10 tracks long, and clocks in at just over a half hour. We spent a long time deciding which tracks would go where and why. We definitely wanted to give the cd more of an "album" feel, and less of "a collection of songs". We had never really done that to this extent with previous releases. I'm glad we did with this one.

UN: The booklet to the new album has a really interesting look to it. I was curious to ask how the pictures of the cities and the dates and times related to the name of the album?

M: Our guitarist, Dan, came up with "Remember Right Now" as an album title, and we loved it. We had been thinking of ideas for a while- and that struck a chord right away with all of us when we heard it. The title itself can have many meanings, and can be applied to different situations. For us, I think it was intended to mean "... regardless of where we are - and how we grow, as a band, as individuals, as friends, and as people - let's never forget where and who we are right now." As you grow older, people always tell you to not take your youth for granted. It's unfortunate that it's not until you reach a certain point in your life that you understand exactly what they meant by that.

That being said... the album photos were taken by Chris Strong. He is one of our favorite photograhpers, and we're very fortunate to have been able to work with him. We wanted to the cd to have a very "Chicago" feel to it. And that it does. The pictures and places chosen are all very specific to the city that we've grown up with- and anyone from the area can definitely relate to the photos in some way or another. And if you can't relate to the pictures, at least they're very pretty. Haha.

UN: Things came together for you guys with Victory. You signed with them in January and went it to record and your record came out only a few months later. Did you ever feel rushed, or did things just happen to come together quickly? Were you guys surprised when Victory showed interest in the band?

M: Right after the release of our previous effort, "the cloak and dagger club ep" - we went through a line up change, which resulted in the addition of our current bass player, TJ Minich. Part of the reason things moved so quickly for this album was because rather than just teach TJ the old songs- we figured the best way to get to know somebody musically is to write music together right off the bat. The fundamentals for "Am I Ready?" (track 7 on the new cd) was actually written at our first official practice with TJ. So in short, yes, we moved quickly with this cd, but I don't think we really felt too rushed. Things just came together quickly, and we were excited to get things moving right away.

Were we suprised that Victory showed interest in the band? Yes, but I'd say that we were more flattered than anything else. Victory is a label that we've grown up with, partially because they're also from Chicago, but also because we've been heavily influenced by their bands over the years. Bands like Snapcase, Strife & Refused had been in our cd players long before we were even a band. It was very exciting to even talk with the label, let alone sign a record contract.

UN: Has it been a struggle to get a solid line-up for you guys? I read that you guys had a lot of line-up changes in the early days. Do you think the current line-up of the band will be around for awhile? No inner turmoil at the moment?

M: There have been a few line up changes over the years, but we've also been playing together for a long time. The changed occurred decently far apart from one another as well, so we were always able to change and adapt in some way to make things work out. As of this moment, I'd say we're the happiest we've even been as writers and as a band.

UN: I haven't had the chance to check out any of your earlier stuff yet. Do you think that your Remembering Right Now album may be the first thing people get the chance to hear from you guys? Is the earlier stuff any different? Were those released while you still considered the band a side-project or was it the full-time band then?

M: Remember Right Now is definitely the most accessible thing we've released, being that it's on Victory Records. Our previous releases are available as well, though harder to find. The earlier stuff is different from the newest album, and of course, the further back you go, the more different we sound from where we are right now. We've matured as a band in some way with every release. Starting from demos- to our first release on an independent label- to what we've just released on Victory- we're constantly growing as song writers. If you're interested in our previous releases on Sinister Label, check out www.interpunk.com - they our first full length cd from quite some time ago, as well as the EP we released just a few months before signing with Victory.