V. Franko: My question is, how exciting was it for you when you guys found out that you’re going to be part of the Projekt Revolution tour?

A. Varkatzas: This is Alex from Atreyu. It’s rad, you know what I mean? It’s a huge tour to do, like Linkin Park is a rad great band, so we’re really excited to be out there and play a rad tour.

J. Hasek: This is Jesse from 10 Years. The feeling’s mutual. It’s an honor to even be part of a tour that’s so big and to be along with Linkin Park, because they’re astronomically huge right now. So it’s going to be fun.

V. Franko: Do you guys have any like special production setup for the tour at all that you know of yet?

A. Varkatzas: This is Alex. Just basically in-your-face rock ‘n roll, probably a lot of sweating, maybe a tiny bit of blood, and maybe some ...; maybe a little ...

V. Franko: Very cool.

J. Hasek: This is Jesse. It’s pretty much just a rock show, going out there and giving 110%.

V. Franko: Great, thank you guys so much.

C. Childers: You guys play on the Revolution stage this year. I talked to the other guys who were on the main stage last year; they basically say that they know they have to bring it because there’s such a great amount of talent on the second stage this time around. I’m just curious what you guys are going to do in terms of your show and if there’s anybody obviously with the great lineup that you’re interested to see this year.

A. Varkatzas: This is Alex. I don’t know. We just want to shred. We want to get out there and jam, like – it’s an honor to be out there for us with some legendary dudes and legendary bands, so we’re just going to get out there and try to like be worthy of being out there. So as far as like gimmicks and stuff like that, like – or not gimmicks, like staging and stuff, like – I don’t know, like we play on a stage that’s a semi truck and it folds up at night. There’s only really so much you can do, so rock ‘n roll.

J. Hasek: This is Jesse. I think he pretty much summed it up. It’s just going to be an all-out rock show. Our band, as a goal we try to get up there and just sort of give everybody a run for their money, and it’s almost like competitive, like – it’s fun. You like to see the bands, and you see a lot of bands, and you watch – when they have a good performance, you know that you’ve got to bring your A-game just to stay at par with them. So it’s cool and I think we’ll all challenge ourselves.

C. Childers: Okay. Also, just because it is such a great lineup, you’re going to be seeing these people day in, day out, and touring with them all summer long. Any bands you’re really excited to see that’s part of the bill with you?

A. Varkatzas: I’m just really excited to see Linkin Park. I mean, outside from all the other acts, I’m not just … them, but Linkin Park, I mean, it’s going to be rad. I’ve never seen them before and I really, really like their new record so I’m really excited to see it every night.

J. Hasek: I’m going to try to pretty much see everyone, definitely Linkin Park, and to see just how big of a crowd. It’s amazing to see that many people come out for a band, but I like to see everyone, especially bands that I haven’t seen yet. I’m even curious to see Atreyu. I haven’t seen you guys yet.

A. Sculley: Alex, I’ll ask you this one in particular: You guys have had a pretty good deal of success here with Lead Sails Paper Anchor and a couple of singles have done pretty well. I wonder how you think that success is going to translate to being on this tour. It’d be easy to feel like you’ve got these big names out there with you; how do you get your own crowd to come out. But I wonder how you feel now that you’ve had some of the success about just what kind of exposure you’ll get on Projekt Revolution.

A. Varkatzas: Every step that you can take forward is a good step, and we definitely feel like this tour is a step forward with us, you know what I mean? I don’t know about us being like all that successful or anything, that’s going to affect how we play. We’re just excited to be on a great tour. It’s going to be huge. We’re just going to play to a ton of people every day that’s like a mix of all these different band fans; it’s going to be a rad time. We definitely hope that some of the kids who are into us come out.

J. Hasek: I think a blessing in disguise too is getting fans that come out for the bigger acts that might not have ever seen us. That’s our chance to win them over and to get new fans.

A. Sculley: Thanks much, guys.

G. Graff: I wanted to hear from you a little bit about what you’re planning to do in terms of set list. Jesse, if you can talk a little bit about the Division album and what you guys set out to do, and how much of that you feel like you’re going to be able to play during the show. Then Alex, is there going to be a different kind of balance now that Lead Sails Paper Anchor has been out? Also, do you guys have anything you’re going to put out new in time for the tour?

J. Hasek: This is Jesse. The Division record, we really tried to challenge ourselves and go in a different direction than the last record, but – it’s still definitely the 10 Years sound, but we’ve got a lot of ups and downs, it’s like a roller coaster ride. We have some of the most aggressive stuff we’ve written that really translates well live, and then we have some more chilled-out melodic stuff. As of the set playing, I guess we’re a little selfish, because we’ve played the old songs for so long that – it’s going to be pretty new-song heavy, but it will be about 50/50.

G. Graff:  All right. Then, Alex, what’s the charge?

A. Varkatzas: Basically on this tour, the tour that we’re on now, we’ve kind of worked in playing a balance of new songs and select old material. So I think on Projekt Rev it’s going to be definitely the same thing; we’re going to play like 50% new material and 50% songs from the other three records.

G. Graff: Alex, with Atreyu, are you guys planning on putting out an EP or something, to be –

A. Varkatzas: On the 22^nd of April we have a re-release of Lead Sails Paper Anchor coming out with enhanced CD-Vue content and a whole bunch of crazy stuff like that. Then it also has a cover of "Epic," Faith No More; a cover of "Clean Sheets" by the Descendants, and a brand-new song that we recorded just for this re-release; it’s not from a Lead Sails session, called The Squeeze.

G. Graff: If you don’t mind, talk a little about that song, and also about doing those covers.

A. Varkatzas: The covers we did where they were part of a separate session that we did right after we did Lead Sails and we just had them, you know what I mean? And we ended up using "Epic" as like a bonus on the original release of the record, and we just saved Descendants. And then The Squeeze was just something new we wanted; if we were going to do a re-release, we wanted to actually have value to it, and the CD-Vue is awesome and gave it a lot, but we thought a new song would be really cool too, so we wrote a new jam. It’s pretty heavy, it’s pretty thrashy, it’s good.

G. Graff: All right, good, thanks, and good luck with that.

D. Kaye: This is for Alex, and Jesse, you can chime in too. Atreyu has done Warp Tour, Taste of Chaos, you guys – Family Values. You guys are definitely big festival-goers. What at this point makes for a good festival for you? At the end of a festival when you look back, what makes it a great experience?

A. Varkatzas: Being parked close to the port-a-potties usually helps me. Jesse, if you – we usually end up in a parking lot, to be honest. Like Linkin Park, we’ll be on the normal stage, and then we’ll be on a semi truck that like transforms into a stage in the middle of a parking lot. So the only thing that really matters is the shows; if the show is rad, then a positive experience, and there’s like good energy, then I walk away from that being like, dude, I don’t care. I’m sweaty, I’m a mess; there’s nothing to do, but that’s the way it goes. As long as the show is good.

D. Kaye: The other thing I wanted to ask, with the festival landscape being pretty crowded this year with a lot of – not just the traveling shows like Warped and the new Rock Star Mayhem tour and Projekt, but even some of the standalone festivals that are out there, how do you guys feel about kind of the competition and just for the advanced ticket dollars?

A. Varkatzas: I don’t know. Having done some of the other tours, I don’t think there’s that much competition. I think the people on the tours definitely don’t think of it that way and I don’t think the fans do. I just think that it’s more incentive for the promoters to put together solid lineups, and I think that this year’s Projekt drive is pretty solid, so it will speak for itself. Linkin Park, Linkin Park, Linkin Park too.

D. Kaye: Right on. Thanks, guys.

S. Perry: You mentioned that this was a chance to win over some new fans. How do you guys actually plan on winning them over, and will you be doing any meet-and-greets or fan discussions after the shows?

J. Hasek: Definitely, I’ve got to do as many meet-and-greets as I can, because I think when you do that personal – get on a personal level with fans, it means a lot to them and you’ll get more of a loyal fan. But winning them over, you just have to get up there and do what you do best and do the best shows that you can perform. Sometimes you have good ones, sometimes you have bad ones, but if you get up there with energy, I think that you can easily win a crowd over.

S. Perry: Excellent. Thank you.

T. Nydell: I was wondering what’s going through your minds right now as you are in the beginning phases of preparing for the show this summer?

A. Varkatzas: To be honest, I’m excited, but there’s really not much that needs to go on. We’re kind of always touring, so we’re just basically getting ready to go out there and just play another awesome tour, and we’re real excited about it. If you can gather at Linkin Park like 10 Years, all these great bands, and like – dude, it’s going to be a great experience. So I just sit and stare at a Linkin Park poster and I just do push-ups.

J. Hasek: This is Jesse from 10 Years. I think when you‘re in a band and you’re touring day in and day out, you don’t really think too far ahead; you just take it a day at a time, because you’re traveling to a new city every single day. So you just sort of take it a step at a time and it just happens. I don’t think you really – I don’t personally do any kind of yoga or anything for it.

T. Nydell: Push-ups.

J. Hasek: I do push-ups, I’m not going to lie.

A. Varkatzas: Yes, I might do a couple too.

T. Nydell: All right, thanks, guys. Hope to see you guys out there.

M. Chaiken: I was talking yesterday to Mike of Linkin Park and he was talking about Projekt Revolution’s connection with Music for Relief and how a lot of the tour is very ecologically conscious – biofuel busses and things like that. And as bands and as role models for the kids out there, how important is it for you to be on a tour that’s so ecologically conscious?

A. Varkatzas: I think that’s great, that’s a good thing. I’m going to be honest with you: I don’t know if our bus is going to be bio-friendly. That might be a financial alternative that my band cannot afford. I don’t think that’s as inexpensive as it should be, unfortunately; you know what I mean? But I will be doing some moderate to heavy recycling throughout the tour.

J. Hasek: I think we fall in the exact same category. I mean, it’s cool that technology is going in the way of protecting the environment, but I don’t think every bus out there is going to be ecologically friendly. Every step we can take forward is a good direction.

M. Chaiken: Okay, thanks, guys.

S. Baldwin: The public has always heard about the camaraderie and the non-compete atmosphere that the Projekt Revolution tour offers to the bands involved. Now, you’ve all been involved with different tours. What do you think makes Projekt Revolution tour different for the bands involved, and is this part of the draw to join the lineup?

A. Varkatzas: I can’t tell you because I’m not on the tour. I don’t know how I would be able to do that, other than to say that we’ve just heard real positive things about the Linkin Park camp and that’s very attractive when you’re getting offered a tour, besides the huge honor of being offered it. So we kind of were like, yes, let’s do this. Let’s do this one.

J. Hasek: It’s really hard to determine what it’s going to be like until you’re in the middle of it, so I can’t say yet. But it’s definitely an honor and it’s going to be a pleasure to play this thing. We crossed paths when them in Japan a couple times, and it’s just amazing, the amount of people that come out to these shows, and that’s what I’m really excited about.

S. Baldwin: Thank you very much.

G. Graff: With the way the music industry is going and with the problem with CD’s selling fewer copies but downloads and things being up, how important is it for – what kind of role does this type of tour play for you guys in terms of getting people to turn on to your music, whether they wind up buying or getting it in some other way?

A. Varkatzas: To be honest, we never started the band to be concerned with those things, and at times you’re worried about your sales and you think about that kind of stuff, but I’m not going to start getting concerned with them now, you know what I mean? Maybe I should, maybe that’s kind of stupid of me, but the way that I was brought up in the scene, we came up and we just played music. We just want to like – … ram that stuff down your throat, that’s going to be my sales approach, you know what I mean? I don’t need the Internet, I don’t need anything else. I need a stage and I need my friends there with me to rock, and that’s what we’re going to do.

J. Hasek: I think that times are changing, but it’s just like going from records to cassettes and eight-tracks – you’d have to harness change. If you don’t accept change and go with it, you’re to get lost in the mix. I think that the Internet is a very powerful thing for exposure. There a lot of bands – look, like YouTube and stuff – you can’t sneeze without it being on the Internet somewhere. So you’re definitely overexposed, and that’s a good thing.

G. Graff:  What kind of plans do you guys have after Projekt Revolution? What’s this going to be a springboard for?

J. Hasek: Our album is coming out May 13^th, so I just know that we’re just going to be touring for at least a year or two straight, probably anywhere from 18 to 24 months. So that’s what we’re getting prepared for.

A. Varkatzas: After Projekt Rev, we have a bunch of stuff lined up that I can’t really say yet. But it’s going to be rad, and we probably won’t stop touring until spring or summer of next year.

G. Graff: Are you at all thinking about the follow-up to Lead Sails Paper Anchor?

A. Varkatzas: No. You know what I mean? … three full-lengths, you know what I mean? Three full-lengths, an EP and a demo, we’ve been doing this for kind of a long time. I’m no more nervous than I would be just … record, you know?

G. Graff: Sure. Okay, thanks.

C. Childers: I’m sure you guys saw plenty of festivals when you were growing up. Can you talk about when you were seeing shows, like the first time you were going out and that experience, what that was like for you?

J. Hasek: The festival shows are – it’s an all-day event for the fans that come out, and that’s why there’s more than one stage. It’s almost like a summer camp in a way, when you come out and see all – there’s just so many bands to soak in. I remember before I was even into music and going to festival shows; you’re running from one stage to the next, trying to catch all the bands that you want to see. So that’s my experience of before I was in a band.

A. Varkatzas: I didn’t actually catch that whole question there.

C. Childers: Just asking, I’m sure when you were growing up and seeing shows, I’m sure you caught a festival or two in your day or have seen that in your time. Do you remember what your experiences were like, going to see these all-day shows?

A. Varkatzas: To be honest, my first festival show ever was the first OzFest that we played. I’d never been to a festival show before. I’m not a real big fan of tons of people and being crowded around them like that, so I just kind of always avoided that. I was green to it until I got into it, and OzFest is a good way to cut your teeth, I guess, or break your legs, more like it.

C. Childers: Okay. Another question for you guys: I know major league baseball is one of the sponsors for this year’s tour, and I was just curious, are either of you baseball fans at all?

A. Varkatzas: I’m not.

J. Hasek: I’m probably – that’s my worst sport, so, no.

A. Varkatzas: We’re both just like, nah.

C. Childers: Thank you.

S. Baldwin: In order to make the tour more accessible to the fans, Linkin Park is covering the service charge fee if they’re fan club presale purchases. How do you feel about this, and do you think this might be a trend in the future? What are your thoughts on that?

A. Varkatzas: I just think it’s a great – you know what I mean, like that’s really cool. I don’t think there should be a service charge, so maybe if bands figured out a way to get rid of it completely, they wouldn’t have to cover it. I don’t know, like blackball TicketMaster. I don’t know, can I even say that? I probably just did something bad.

J. Hasek: Any time you can make it where the fans are paying less, I think it’s a cool thing, but I don’t know all the details to it so I can’t say too much except it’s cool that they’re helping the fans out.

A. Varkatzas: Any time a kid’s got to pay less for a ticket, that’s cool. And that a huge band is covering the cost for their fans, that’s really cool. I mean, if it were me, I’d buy them all the tickets, but I can’t.

S. Baldwin: Thank you very much.

D. Kaye: Jesse, how much new material do you guys plan to play? The album will be out; maybe you can give us a little idea of how the new stuff will fit into your live show and what fans can expect to hear.

J. Hasek: Since we’re on the Projekt Rev tour here, we’re going to have a shorter set list than like a headliner or anything. So you have to come out and really give as much energy as you can. So a lot of the stuff’s going to be very upbeat and energetic and aggressive, and there’s a lot of stuff on the new record that’s very up-tempo and aggressive. But the record is like a rollercoaster ride, it’s got highs and lows. It’s got some acoustic stuff on there. But that stuff we probably won’t play live on this festival show.

D. Kay: Cool. Thanks very much.

A. Sculley: I think there’s one more for both of you. I’m curious: You’ve got a very diverse lineup here for both stages in Projekt Revolution and I’m curious what each of you think your band will bring that’s a little different from the rest of the lineup when you perform those days. I don’t know if you see yourselves as really standing out in any way from the rest of the bands on the tour.

J. Hasek: Even on the second stage that us and Atreyu are on, our sounds are totally different, so we’re definitely going to stick out from each other. But it might be a cool thing where we get some Atreyu fans and they get some 10 Years fans, so that’s always a good thing, to be exposed to people that wouldn’t normally see you or don’t know who you are.

A. Varkatzas: That’s definitely the way I look at it. I look at it more as like a – I don’t know, I think every band brings something, so it’ll just be rad to get out there with so many bands offering so much different stuff, and just a real diverse show.

A. Sculley: Okay. Thanks again, guys.