Josh: I will start by saying that you're one of the first bands that got me into Fueled by Ramen as a label.

Jamie: Cool. Cool.

Josh: I don't know if any band really has more releases than you on Fueled by Ramen, but I have more CDs by you than any other band on Fueled by Ramen.

Jamie: Yeah, the only other one I think is maybe Less Than Jake, but they have small 7" stuff. But we're very happy to be a part of Fueled by Ramen, they're our family. I've been on Fueled by Ramen since the days of Animal Chin, which was in '96... So, a long time for me to be working with those guys. They've been great and always been able to do almost everything we've wanted to do within the means of the size of the label and the size of our band. It's a really good relationship and it's been great. We're kind of at a weird point right now where we're kind of out of our contract, but we're still... It's just so easy to work with them, we haven't signed anything and it could have been a weird in between phase. But that's probably of no importance to anybody.

Josh: Were you disappointed that Cadillac Blindside broke up?

Jamie: Yeah, I mean, I saw that band when they were just a trio and the only original member now is Zach. They grew into a pretty great, solid touring unit. It's definitely sad to see a band like that go. I'm not big on the whole punk rock thing that they do but they had some really good songs. It's sad to see any band go, especially one that cares as much as they do about what they do as they did.

Josh: Why do bands from Minneapolis feel the need to sing about it?

Jamie: Oh, I don't know. I kind of have a weird love/hate relationship with Minneapolis. I like the city and culture, the way it looks and I like being there. Don't like the weather and I really don't like being a part of the music scene there. I don't want to go too deep into it, I'm not gonna name names or anything, but... It's so much easier to be on an international level like we are than to just be in our hometown and a band like we are. When I wrote a song about Minneapolis, it's just kind of slagging the music community. It's not my nature to punk out people and dog them, but I'm not doing anything different than Bob Dylan singing about something that he believes in. And it's just kind of tongue in cheek. To me, Minneapolis feels like the kind of place where you have to sort of buy your way into credibility. Just to join, you're automatically in debt. You have to do all this stuff for everybody and kiss everyone's ass to be a part of their little world. And it's just so competitive, and to me, it's like, what are we in competition for? None of the bands are that big. Nobody's pulling in thousands of people. We pull in a couple of hundred people there and bands want to play with us because of that. It's a very strange place. It's got a real lack of support for all ages shows. It just seems like a wanna be L.A./wanna be New York and I really don't get into that. I like music communities where everybody's supporting each other, not standing in the back with their arms folded drinking a beer.

Josh: The first song on Rewind + Record seems to be a thank you to anyone who listens to it.

Jamie: Or just supports us, yeah.

Josh: There seems to be a lot of that going around.

Jamie: All the music I have ever made in my life has not been for anyone other than me or my band. IN my mind, I don't- as a listener to music- want to listen to someone who is playing what they want to and saying what they want to say, not someone who is playing something they think I might want to hear. A lot of the times you hear bands say they do this for the fans, but I don't buy it. I want them to do it for themselves, you know, "what's your dying expression that you want to make?". It doesn't have to be super ultra political or anything, it could just be about your day, I don't care. I just want to have some sort of look into what you're doing... Some ideas of your sense of humor, and that's what I try to do with our music. It's not a reflection of what I think people want to hear, it's what I want to hear. With that song though, I just wanted to get out a little message on the record. For anyone who hears it and thinks it maybe about them but isn't sure, it is. It's for you. I do this for me, but I share it for them.

Josh: I want to talk about Tell Your Football Dad No!. Do you think kids should be required to take gym in school?

Jamie: I guess I haven't thought about it. I guess I could see both sides of the coin, but I don't know... Some kids aren't physical, but some kids are. Some kids would like gym when they were younger. I don't know. I've been to Europe, and the opinion I get from other countries towards America is that we all have guns and we're all fat. There could be some traumatic things that would happen in high school or grade school, and I don't know if it'd be safe to say it's because of gym. That's a hard question to answer. I didn't have such a bad time, I had fun in my early years but as it went on I thought, "this is fucking stupid".

Josh: This is the completely random part. I'd like to read you a Drew Barrymore quote and you tell me what you think.

Jamie: All right.

Josh: Drew says, "I'm obsessed with ice cubes. Ice is very much like a flower; it just dies at a certain point. But you know what's weird? You can bring it back to life just by freezing it. I worship it".

Jamie: There's a certain poetry to what she's going at, but it just sounds kind of... She's right, she's not... I see what she's saying. I'm one of those people that likes to give people the benefit of the doubt, and I'll give Drew the benefit of the doubt there. I'm sure I say shit that's even stupider than that.

[ to be continued... ?]