PZO: As a band what do you think your best qualities are?
Mike: Our humor.
<laughter>
Mike: Our mathematical skills.
Donald: I don't know.
Ryan: Good answer. That's a good question actually.
Donald: We've never been asked that one actually.
Ryan: If there is one skill...I think it would be our ability to--
Mike: Smooze and make people really believe--
Ryan: No, I'm answering.
Mike: Sorry.
<laughter>
Ryan: No, I'd say that we just don't--we've always stayed really positive. We've been a band since like '93 and we've been touring and we've done
four records and we go out on every show like it was the first show. We've been able to keep that stoke I guess.
Mike: The nostalgia of the first time.
Ryan: You can easily get discouraged in a band 'cause you obviously don't make any money and it just gets hard, you know? As you
get older just to be able to power it every time like it was your first time and keep that positive attitude is what I think is the best.
Donald: We go out and do it for fun for real you know what I mean? It's not like we're trying to attach ourselves to any kind of trend
coming through or anytime. We just go out and do our thing. Sometimes it angers people and I like that too.
Mike: Usually it angers security guards 'cause they like to hurt kids.
Donald: <laughs> They like to hurt kids.
Mike: They do. Security guards like to hurt kids.
Donald: It's on their application.
Mike: It says: Do you like to hurt kids? Yes or No. If you check "No" then you're not a security guard and you gotta work at the front desk.
Donald: That's right.

PZO: What keeps you grounded an optimistic?
<laughter>
Mike: The paychecks.
<laughter>
Donald: All the big bucks, fancy cars. I don't know.
Ryan: Maybe like to be able to just make a living off the band and that's the ultimate goal really. We've pretty much done it at this point, but
you know everyday I would love to be able to go home and not have to work a regular job and just be in a band all the time which is what we've
basically have been doing. It's you know...we're not buying houses or anything.
<laughter>
Donald: We basically just got off a year touring and ended going up to Canada and spent a lot of our wage.
Ryan: Spent a lot of our wage in Canada and now we're back.
Donald: We're back home
Ryan: and we're like...
Donald: "What happened?"
<laughter>
Mike: It cost a lot of money to go to Canada.
Donald: Fun place though. Good kids.
Mike: Extremely true.
Donald: Younger drinking age. Gets wild.
Ryan: Yeah, yeah.
Donald. The beer has more alcohol in it.
Ryan: Yeah, yeah that's true.
Donald: All the facts of Canada.
Ryan: Rolled in.

PZO: Is there a decision you hope you never have to make?
Ryan: Definitely don't want to be able to NOT play in a band because of money. That's my worst fear. Like being at home and "Oh, I can't go tour."
because I don't have any money.
Mike: Money should be the last thing you should worry about when you're playing 'cause when you start worrying about that kind of thing then you
kind of lose the labor of love of actually playing you know? It's more like a job.
Donald: Kind of do the same shit every night. Becomes routine.
Mike: Hey, watch your language. Come on.
<laughter>
Donald: It's online.
Mike: Still. This isn't censored right? <beeps>
PZO: Actually it isn't.
Donald: These guys are all worried as if we were doing it for Disney.
Mike: Hey,
Ryan: I like Disney.com.
Ryan: keep it clean.
Donald: Keep it clean kids.

PZO: What do you remember the most about your childhood?
Mike: Getting shot.
<laughter>
Donald: He's got the scar.
Ryan. Show them the wound, man.
Mike: It's disgusting.
Ryan: It's not. <To Donald> What's yours?
Donald: Oh, my best memory of childhood?
Ryan: A best or just something that you remember?
PZO: Any.
Mike: What about that one you were telling me about your mom, you and your mom?
Donald: Oh, I don't know if I can tell this story.
<laughter>
Mike: It's one of the best memories I have.
Donald: I guess it's kind of cool. It involves my mom. She might be stoked. So um my mother was out of town and I had a friend over and we
had just divided up some hallucinogenic mushrooms.
<laughter>
Mike: How old were you?
Donald: Seventeen. We had administered about 15 minutes and my mom pulls up, and my friend leaves. So I got to go to McDonalds with
my mother peakin'.
<laughter>
Ryan: Long conversation.
Donald: I remember that actually. Me and Ryan tried to play under hallucinogenic once and our amps broke.
<laughter>
Ryan: One time. We stood there and looked stupid.
Donald: It was just a phase.
Mike: The moral of the story is don't use hallucinogenic.
Ryan: That's right.
Donald: We gave those up.
Ryan: When I was maybe 12 or something I was--my mom was kind of like a hippie, crazy child of the 60s I guess. I always remember to this day
that she was in the bathroom taking, you know, number 2 probably.
Mike: Uh-oh.
<laughter>
Ryan: No, no seriously. She was in the bathroom and she called me in and I had just gotten in trouble for drinking with my friend for the first time.
Like I came home drunk and I puked. I got really sick; it was bad. She was like, "Look, you know, if you ever want to do drugs or you want to try to
smoke weed or you want to try these drugs, whatever you do. I'd rather you come to me and tell me and I'll sit right here and supervise you. Like
I'll get them for you and make sure they're good," and I was like <laughter>, "Oh, okay." But still to this day I remember that. Of course I'm not going
to go do drugs with my mom. You don't want to do that when you are a teenager, but now that I am older I look back at that and go,"Wow."
Donald: He gives her a call.
<laughter>
Mike: Do you remember how it smelled?
<laughter>
Ryan: Do you really want to know, Mike?
<laughter>

PZO: What event on your life had the greatest impact on you?
Mike: September 11th. Seriously, that's when you kind of realize that things go down real quick and you have no control over that. It's kind of like an
earthquake. I think that changed me a lot. It made me look at life at a little bit different perspective and getting shot too. That was another thing.
<laughter>
PZO: How did that happen?
Donald: Mike got shot by a Boy Scout. You gotta tell the story. It's good.
Mike: I got shot by a Boy Scout when I was 12 years old.
Donald: He sued him. He now finances the band.
Ryan: He handed him the gun and the guy shot him.
Mike: Got smoked.
Ryan: That's a serious story. Show them the wound.
Mike: I can't, man.
Ryan: Something that changed my life was--if it's recent history like in the last year or something that really affected me was the bombing that just happened in Bali because we had a couple of friends who were there. One of them was actually in the bar that the bomb was in. He's in the band El Centro. He ended up breaking through a chain linked gate to get out as the place was burning. He broke his shoulder and he's totally burned. He lost half of his hearing and he was only there for vacation. He was there surfing. Our record label is owned by Volcom and they had a couple of stores there and those stores were destroyed. A bunch of people that work for the company are missing still. September 11th was a definite impact, but that hit really close to home. I was getting coffee this morning and there's all these news clippings on the wall. The guy who died Steve Webster, he lived in the next city over from us and he had kids. Just seeing how that affected people in my community was like, "Man." It angered me more than September 11th angered me. I felt tingly when I was looking at it this morning. This is ridiculous. The sniper stuff. It's a terrible time. I want to turn it around. Anyway, that's it I guess.
Donald: That's good. I can't top that. Next question.
<laughter>


PZO: Have your intentions changed since you started out, as far as why you wanted to be in a band?
Mike: Not for me.
Ryan: No.
Donald: I don't think so.
Mike: I think once it does change, I need to quit.
Donald: Not necessarily.
Ryan: It's gone from being more of like we want to play guitar to like actually want to be successful musicians.
Donald: We've done it for so long now and written so many songs together that it's just part of something that we do regardless of what happens in the future. theLINE is the kind of band that if we had to stop playing or play less we'd still get together to play shows. It's kind of gotten to be a religious thing that we do not in any kind of God aspect, but something if we don't play for a couple of weeks I'd miss it, so it doesn't really matter about money or anything like that or even people being at the shows.

PZO: Do you have any superstitious beliefs?
Donald: Ooh. I kind of do. I kind of have a bunch of them.
<laughter>
Donald: One of the more interesting ones in particular. I don't really like to practice a night before the show like having to do with the band. If we play good it makes me nervous 'cause sometimes we suck the next night. I'd rather we practice and suck and at the show we fucking rock. I'm also about 50/50 on full moons.
<laughter>
Donald: I definitely feel weird. I'm not by any means a religious guy but sometimes I'll be like, "Fuck, what's wrong tonight. I'm not cutting it," and I go
out and the God damn fucking moon is full.
<laughter>
Mike: I have to tie my shoes six times before I play. Tie, un-tie, tie and un-tie. Six times on each shoe and then I change my shoes to slip ons.
<laughter>
Mike: Nah, I don't have any weird things I don't think, yet.
PZO: I agree on the practice one.
Donald: Do you?
PZO: Yeah, I feel that way when I play golf. We practice and the next day we have a game <shrugs>.
Ryan: That's it.
PZO: Yep.
PZO_Camera_Friend: I don't like to practice 'cause then I play really good.
Mike: Practice makes perfect.
Donald: We as a band--
Mike: Well golfing is different. It's more of a mental challenge than anything.
PZO: A moody sport.
Mike: It's a moody sport. You're right.
Ryan: We crack the whip at practice. <angry voice> "You missed a half beat!"
<laughter>
Donald: We enjoy the perfection aspect of it.

PZO: What is the most misunderstood song lyric, in your opinion, in one of your songs?
Mike: What is creature? I don't even know what it is. What is it?
Donald: I think people understand that one.
Ryan: Yeah, <mysterious voice> 'cause if you don't the creature...
<laughter>
Ryan: can be anything.
Mike: It could be your golf game.
<laughter>
Donald: Yeah, that's true.
Ryan: it could be your golf game, it could be anything.
Mike: It could be this hair on my cup. See that hair? It looks like a pubic hair. Someone's got their balls on this table. I'm holding my cup.
<laughter>
Ryan: I don't know if it's misunderstood, but it was breeding. What are you breeding?
Donald: Monsters. They thought it was like Sci-Fi.
Ryan: An old old. A song we had on our first record called "Police, Beer and Heroin" got a lot of reaction.
Donald: It wasn't even about any of that stuff.
Ryan: It didn't even involve any of that stuff, but that was the title and people were like, "Why?"
Mike: "Pigs Will Fly." They think it's about police officers. No, no, no.
Ryan: Yeah, I'd have to go with "Police, Beer and Heroin" the reason why is because it had nothing to do with the song lyrics. But those are three things that can lead to trouble.
<laughter>
Donald: The song is about trouble.

PZO: What is one thing you would not do, no matter how much money you were offered?
Ryan: Oooh, that's a good one.
Donald: I don't know a good political answer for this.
Mike: I wouldn't do anything that would compromise my beliefs.
Ryan: Ooh, solid.
Mike: There's a lot of things I'd do for money, but there are certain things I don't do.
Ryan: I definitely would not have sex with a man.
Donald: Eh, you're still young.
<laughter>
Ryan: Right now, I wouldn't do it.
PZO: Did you go to college?
<laughter>
Ryan: Nah. Not that that's wrong, I just wouldn't do it.
Mike: I went to college and I still didn't have an experience with that.
Ryan: Right now, for a million bucks, nah I wouldn't do it. But go right ahead. I'm sure Mike would.
Mike: Nah, that's on the list of things not to do for money or to do in general. <laughs>
Donald: I wouldn't quit the band.
Ryan: That's a good answer.
Mike: Survey says.
Donald: Everything else I would do for money.
<laughter>
Donald: <points to guy at the next table> He wants me. He wants to buy me a cup of coffee.
<laughter>
Ryan: He's cheap.
Donald: I'm a cheap man-gina.
Ryan: That's sick.

PZO: What is the worst advice you've ever been given?
Mike: It started around Kindergarten and ended about 12th grade I believe was the worst advice.
<laughter>
Donald: That's horrible. We have good public schools.
Ryan: Come on now.
Mike: Some teachers were total assholes. Sometimes they just don't like the way you look. They're still
people. So you know what? School teachers suck. Some of them are cool, but for the most part suck.
<points at camera> Maybe I just gave the worst advice.
<laughter>
Donald: Don't go to school. Drop out.
Mike: No, no don't stop going to school, but don't believe everything your teachers tell you.
Donald: Worst advice given to us recently was, "You guys could use a manager."
<laughter>
Mike: That was the worst advice. Take it from us.
Donald: We got one for six months.
Ryan: We were getting screwed.
<laughter>
Donald: That was bad advice.
Ryan: That was.
Mike: They're sharks. I'm not going to mention who they are, but they are. They're a couple of pricks.
<laughter>
Mike: They're going to get there's if you believe in karma. Something is going to get cut off of them. I'm not going to do it or anyone I know is not going to do it. I just have a feeling something is going to fall out of the sky.
<laughter>
Donald: He's put a lot into this.
Mike: Nah, hopefully nothing bad happens to them, but I've been putting all my negative energy into..nah, nevermind.
Donald: Twelve days, no nicotine. Cut him a break.
Ryan: We've had a lot of bad advice.
Mike: We've gotten a lot of good advice, but not from those two guys I was talking about.
<laughter>

PZO: What is your best 'caught in the act' story?
<laughter>
Donald: I've never done anything wrong.
Mike: One time I was...I can just make something up.
<laughter>
Mike: I don't know.
Donald: You can never reveal the best stories.
<laughter>
Mike: Good question. I'm trying to think.
<silence>
Donald: Oh, I got one! <To Ryan> You tell her. The El Paso border. But I don't want to get too drug related.
Mike: No, that wasn't even caught in the act.
Donald: Yeah, we were.
Mike: No, we weren't.
Ryan: When we got caught with some weed?
Donald: Yeah.
Ryan: Yeah, well it happens.
<laughter>
Donald: I haven't been caught that much. I'm pretty slick.
<laughter>
Donald: I am.
Ryan: Next question.
<laughter>
Donald: That's a good one though.
Ryan: Yeah, it's a good one.
Donald: She's tough.
Ryan: She is.
<laughter>

PZO: Have you ever been arrested or detained by law enforcement officials, if so for what?
<laughter>
Mike: No, I never have. I've never been arrested.
Donald: Mike's our angel.
Ryan: I've been arrested numerous times. Drug use, drinking...
PZO: Same state?
Ryan: In multiple states.
Mike: So he's an outlaw.
Donald: I've had a couple problems, but nothing too bad.
Ryan: It's nothing that I am proud of though.
Donald: Yeah, it's stuff you do when you're young.
Ryan: and when you get older it happens.
<laughter>
Donald: Jail sucks never go there.
<laughter>
Mike: These are good questions. Really good questions.

PZO: Is there a band that you wish would just call it quits?
Mike: Yeah.
Donald: Yeah, but it wouldn't be nice to name them.
<laughter>
Mike: Anything that is like put together by a record label or they don't write their own music or just general assholes.
<laughter>
Mike: I'm sure there's people that wish we would break up so.
Donald: There's plenty. I think Maximum Rock and Roll wishes we'd break up. That's part of the fun of keeping putting out records and sending it to them.
<laughter>
Donald: I love that more than anything when it pisses them off. Then of course they review and give The Starting Line who ripped off our name
5 years later a great review. That shows how cool their magazine is.
<laughter>
Ryan: We don't like bands that have "the" and "line" in their name.
Donald: I have a friend that was in a band called The Fourth In Line. I mean he's my friend, but I don't like him for that.
Mike: There's just that little quirk about him.
<laughter>

PZO: What's something mean you'd like to do to someone, but never had the guts to do?
Donald: When we think of something, we do it.
Ryan: Yeah.
Mike: I've always wanted to do this. I wanted to take pictures with my penis in donut holes. Like a whole box of donuts and send it to
them in the morning and have them eat the donuts.
PZO: Wasn't that in a movie?
<laughter>
Mike: Okay, yeah that was in a movie. What movie was that?
PZO_Camera_Friend: Van Wilder.
Mike: But I have known about this for a long long time. I wanted to do this in high school actually to this guy called Mr. Carter. I wanted
to send it to him and he'd open it up and he'd see my penis with the donuts. It would just be my torso not my face of course, but they
would see they were eating dick touched donuts.
<laughter>
Ryan: They might like it though, Mike.
Mike: You never know. The receptionist might have a crush on me.
<laughter>

PZO: If you were to have your own 1-800 number what would you want it to be?
<laughter>
Donald: I'd rather have my own [web] site. Just kidding.
Mike: 1-800-HotLeather
<laughter>
Ryan: 1-800-HotMike
<laughter>
Donald: 1-800-Karaoke You call and type in a number and you can sing any song.
Mike: They record it and then send it to you on CD.
Ryan: For the closet karaoke fans.
Mike: I would have 1-800-555-1212 That's the 1-800 information and they would be calling for information, but they'd get me and I wouldn't
give any. I'd have the shit talker answer the phone.
<laughter>
Donald: Explain the shit talker.
Mike: I can't. 'Cause we might use it on someone that might see this interview.
Donald: Nevermind.
<laughter>


PZO: What's your favorite curse word and why?
Donald: Fuck. You can use it anyway. I guess it's not very original though.
Mike: Mine is ass.
Donald: Mine is Shiza 'cause it's German for shit.
Mike: Ass is like you can be an ass. I like ass. Quit being an ass. You smell like ass. You are an ass.
Ryan: Let me see your ass.
<laughter>
Ryan: It can be used sexually, offensively.
Donald: I don't cuss.
PZO: You're not a very good liar, are you?
<laughter>
Donald: I'm a great liar. I don't cuss. I've been saved.
Mike: By the Bell.
Donald: I've been saved by the bell. <laughs>
Ryan: That was a good show.
Mike: Yeah, it was.
Donald: California Dreams.
Ryan: Slater, Zack.
Mike: I like that new show that's on Saturday mornings about the skate shop. Have you ever seen that?
PZO and PZO_Camera_Friend: Yeah.
PZO_Camera_Friend: I don't know what it's called though.
PZO: I think it's called SK8.
Mike: S-K-8?
PZO: Yeah.
Ryan: Yeah, that would be perfect if it was.
Mike: I liked the pilot though when they used rollerblades and realized how stupid it was.
<laughter>
<Rollerblade discussion occurs and how stupid Rollerball was>

PZO: Who is the most famous person you have programmed on your cell phone?
Mike: I don't have a cell phone actually.
Donald: I can't afford the bill.
Mike: Let me check it out <whips phone out> We could call up Byron from Pennywise.
Donald: I've got Liberachi.
<laughter>
Mike: He's dead.
Donald: He's got a phone though.
Mike: Oh, I've forgot about this guy.
Donald: Mikey, won't admit it that he has Ricky Martin.
Mike: The most famous person I have programmed into my cell phone is Bill Clinton. He's not even famous.
Donald: I've got what's her name's number. Monica Lewinsky. Let's call them up.
<laughter>
Coffee_Shop_Employee: Sorry to interrupt everybody, but we are getting ready to close. Sorry to interrupt your interview.
Ryan: Well, whatever, man.
<laughter>
Ryan: Just kidding.
Ryan: Alright, so do--
Mike: Should we mosey or--
PZO: There's one more left.
Mike: Oh, okay.
Donald: Perfect.

PZO: What question comes up in almost every interview that you are tired of being asked?
Mike: That one right there that you just asked. <laughs>
Donald: Noooo.
Mike: The worst one is "What's your name and what do you play?"
Everyone: Yeah.
Ryan: You should do your research. That's the moral to that question.
Donald: Plus you feel like a jackass saying it.
Mike: <mumbles><dumb voice> What is the most exciting moment ever that you can remember playing a show?
Donald: They're all exciting. That's why we do it.
Ryan: Let me say that this interview is top quality I must say.
Mike: Yeah, very very good. Hands up.
<applauses>