Dianna: Thank you for letting me do this, it really means a lot!

Rob: No problem at all!

Dianna: Do you think that your new album, Youth Games, is what pop needs to give it back its good reputation?

Rob: I would like to think so. I find a lot of pop I hear on the radio these days sounds phony and not very genuine. I think really good pop music comes from a place of honesty, and that’s what I would like people to take away from our record. There's nothing contrived about our band, we are just 5 fairly regular dudes who just love writing and playing pop music. I don't think someone is going to be able to dismiss us quite as easily as a pop star who is clearly just sort of a fabrication by a record label, who looks good, sings decently well, and has been paired with a team of professional songwriters to write a few hits

Dianna: So was it tough coming together as a band when you have such different musical backgrounds?

Rob: It can be. Mike for instance, is a big 60's and 70's classic rock guy. I love classic rock too, but I also absolutely love a lot of the 80s pop that influences our songs, like the Cure, Hall and Oates, Duran Duran, Tears for Fears, those sort of bands. So with Mike sometimes it can take some... maneuvering to get him to see our vision of what we want a song to sound like. But one thing we can all agree on is that we love playing high energy, fun music that people can sing along and dance to, and that is what we get to do night after night, so in the end we all go home happy.

Dianna: Was it a hard transition to go from Ska, and pop punk bands, to now playing pure pop music?

Rob: Not particularly. Pretty much any band I have ever played in has had a pop element to it (except when I was a teenager and playing in hardcore bands. Left Standing forever!) Anyways, ultimately it was really cathartic to just stop the entire pretense that we were anything but a pop band. Once we did that we let go a lot of the limitations we had imposed on ourselves as far as what we were willing to try when we are writing a song, and we've become far more productive and focused songwriters as a result.

Dianna: David stated once, “I’d say I’m rather a manic showman, and I feed off the energy of the audience.” Can you explain what you meant?

Rob: I think we all are afflicted with a sort of collective manic personality when it comes to playing live. If the crowd is moving, singing, and clearly having a good time, then we are going to be even more energetic and determined to show them something special. It can be tough sometimes to bring the kind of energy that our songs require to come across well live, if we are playing to an empty room, or a lethargic crowd.

Dianna: How did it feel to tour with bands like Simple Plan and The Bravery?

Rob: Well it feels good to have a built in audience that we can know with a relative degree of certainty is going to be there to see us. It is also really helpful to be able to watch a band that has been working at a professional level for years, as you inevitably end up learning a lot of tricks about various things, from different ways to involve the audience, to ideas for how to survive for weeks and months at a time living out of a suitcase and constantly being on the move.

Dianna: How does it feel to have someone in the band that was honored as Cosmo Girl’s Hot Guy of the Year?

Rob: I'd say I feel more jealousy and resentment about that than anything else. I want to be Cosmo's Hot Guy of the Year! I'd say if I have one goal that I want to accomplish when all this is said and done, that would be it.

Dianna: What is the most important thing to remember while recording?

Rob: The most important to remember is just to relax and do your job without concerning yourself with other things that don't matter in that exact moment. If you are trying to record a guitar part, for instance, and its taking a few more takes than you thought, you can start thinking things like, 'how much time are we wasting right now," "how much is this costing us," "does the producer or the rest of the guys want to strangle me because I can't seem to get this part right?" Then all of a sudden, your palms are sweaty, your mind is elsewhere, and its going to affect your performance.

Dianna: What are the main influences for the lyrics?

Rob: Well the lyrics are more Dave's department but I will do my best to answer for him. Youth Games is a coming of age record, so thematically, the lyrics touch on things like, love, loss, heartbreak, growing up, etc... pretty universal themes for all of pop music, but I think Dave adds a more personal touch and a some darker undertones that you might not necessarily expect.

Dianna: Is your debut album, Youth Games, all you hoped it would be in the end?

Rob: Well our main goal was to make a classic pop record, so I don't know if we'll know whether we succeeded until we can see how people react to it. But what we wanted was a fun, dancey poppy album with no filler and big choruses, and I think we have done that.

Dianna: What is the best thing about touring? Worst?

Rob: The best thing about touring is just going out night after night, doing what we love, meeting people and having a good time with your friends. But it can be tough to be away from your home and out of contact with your family for weeks or months at a time. And it can really wreak havoc on your personal life. Its not easy to find someone that is willing to put up with their partner being away for long periods of time, and almost assuredly meeting and playing for female fans every single night. Which is understandable of course, but that can lead to a lot of drama and bad vibes. But ultimately I think anyone that is committed enough to try and play in a band at a professional level knows that that is going to come with the territory, and has pretty much accepted it.

Dianna: What made you all decide you wanted to write songs that made people sing along to the choruses?

Rob: This goes back to what I mentioned earlier about the collective manic personality we have as a live band. If we are playing songs and people are clearly enjoying themselves and singing along, then we are going to be all the more determined to show them something really special. Of course, we could write really downer, shoe gazer type songs, and play for crowds of jaded hipsters with their arms crossed, but to me, that doesn't sound very fun at all.

Dianna: Thanks again for letting us do this. Have anything left to say to all of your fans?

Rob: Please check us out on our myspace, www.myspace.com/themissiondistrict and if you ever have any questions or comments or if you just want to reach out to us for any reason at all, we will do our absolute best to get back to you. The fans are the primary reason that The Mission District exists, and we feel like its the least we can do to try and interact with them as much as possible. And we hope to see you all at a show sometime this year!