How has being from Maryland influenced your career?

Just growing up in Maryland and being from Maryland and D.C., I think that kids from our area have a different look, a different view on things, just like kids from the Midwest have their own way of thinking, kids from California have a different way of thinking, kids from all over different areas are different. The kids from the Maryland/Virginia/DC metro area are all the same; we have all our own way of doing things & way of thinking, and we're all affected by things that other kids across the country aren't affected by in some ways, like politics. The demographics of our area contrast so much, and they just give you a different perspective in songwriting. It makes you write a little differently, and the way you carry yourself is a little different. I think the east coast is a little harder, and everyone from the east coast has it a little harder than the rest of the country.

When you were first starting out, what do you feel made you stand out from other local bands like Jimmie's Chicken Shack, Cactus Patch, and Vroom?

The same thing that distinguishes us from every other band in the whole world: it's just Good Charlotte. We've got our own way of writing songs and performing. The other bands in our area are great; we're friends with all of them, and we're all different, and that's what great about it. We played in a music scene with bands that are great bands, but different from us. We all played in the same music scene, and that's a beautiful thing. The thing that sets us apart from every band is that we're Good Charlotte. I can't explain it; we're just Good Charlotte, and we've got our own thing.

Do you feel yr location put you at a disadvantage, as opposed to being from a big city? Was it harder to get exposure in southern Maryland?

Yeah, because we're from Waldorf, and down there, there's nothing; no music scene. That's why we moved to Annapolis, because there was something there. We lived there for a little while, and even that was limited to what we could do, because as much as we're proud to be from this music scene, a lot of people didn't pay attention to us here for the longest time. There were kids who didn't even know we existed, because their eyes aren't open to new bands. Hopefully we opened some kids' eyes to checking out other local music, because there are a lot of good bands out there that no one knows about because no one really pays attention, and we were one of them. There are a lot of local bands who get a lot of local attention because they have some local guy that works for them, but we weren't that band; we were just five kids who were doing it ourselves.

Your new drummer Dusty was in the local D.C. bands The Misery and Jesuseater. Did you specifically search in the D.C. area for a drummer, and was it intentional to keep the local aspect intact, or did Dusty just work well with the band as a drummer?

It just worked out that way. We're friends with the D.C. bands, and we're friends with some tattoo guys that hang out in D.C. who knew Dusty. We're from the same scene, and he was hanging out in the same circles of people that we were hanging out with. We had two days to find a drummer for Warped Tour, and Dusty said he'd come over, so we gave him our CD, and the next day, we went over there and played with him. He's a great drummer, but his attitude at first was just so great; he's such a good guy, and he just wants to play music. That's what we wanted to find because that's what we needed in our band-we needed someone who was more like us. The four of us [guitarist and backing vocalist Benji; bassist Paul; and guitarist Billy] just want to play music, and we don't want to be rock stars, and we don't want a lot of the things that people chase. We just want to play music and have fun with the kids that come out. And that's what it's all about; it's all about the live show, and that's what Dusty embodies. He's such a nice guy, and he was so excited and enthused to play. We played with him twice, and we were like 'Ok, come on, we'll bring you on Warped Tour and see what happens.' We took him on Warped Tour, and ever since then, we just want to play with Dusty. It looks like he's permanent now. We can't really officially say anything, and we haven't really thought into it because we haven't stopped since then. But right now, we're not looking for anyone else. We're really happy with what we're doing, so it looks that way.

Do you consider the radio stations HFS here in Maryland and Y100 in Philadelphia to be a big part of your success?

Yeah, HFS and Y100 are corporate radio stations that went out of their way to show us love and support, and those are two stations we'll never ever, ever, ever forget. The fact that we listened to HFS forever, and they got behind us, and they did some things they didn't have to, and hopefully, we can show them that it was worth it. Same with Y100; they're two great radio stations that didn't have to play us, and they did.

A lot of your fans say you're the hardest-working band out there, since you're constantly on tour. Do you ever feel overworked, and does back-to-back touring ever take its toll on you?

Yeah, yeah, all the time. Especially right now, we've been on the road for about 16 months now, and we've been working our asses for five years straight. We know that we're one of the hardest-working bands around, in whatever genre you want to say. We appreciate that our fans notice that too, because they're just as big a part of it as we are. It gets overwhelming sometimes, but then you'll have a show and you'll meet some kid who's been inspired by you or loves your music, and it makes it worthwhile and gives you new energy. There's been a couple points where I was exhausted and thought I was going to have to check myself into a hospital cause I was so exhausted, but you just keep going. Our work is not even close to done; we have so much work left to do, you just have to keep going.

Since you formed the band six years ago, a lot of your newer fans think your success came to you overnight. What is your reaction to that, having been working for years as a band?

Whatever they want to think is their own thing, and we have nothing to prove to anyone. We're not out to show people we work hard. We talk our talk and we'll say we're one of the best live bands and we say we're one of the hardest-working bands, but that's only when you ask us. We're not out trying to prove anything to anyone. If they want to see how good we are live, they can come to our show, and if they want to see we've been together for six years, they can read our bios or research us. We don't have to go around shouting out how hard we work or how long we've been together. The people who don't know are ignorant to the facts, but that's cause they never really heard of us. One day when they do get interested in us and they read up on us, they'll see that we've been together for six years and working our asses off, and if they check us out, cool, and if they don't, we're not worried about it.

What is the hardest part about being away from home for so long? I miss my dog Cash.

He doesn't come with you?

No, he can't. It's too hard for him. He's a little baby. He stays with my mom; she takes care of him. You miss your family, your dog, and it's hard to have relationships. It's just what would work; if you want to have a relationship, you just learn it's one of those things that's almost impossible.

You've been on tour with some bands you cite as your biggest influences, like Rancid and MxPx. What's that like?

It's cool. I'm not a very starstuck person. I've never really been nervous around them, but it's just cool to be around people who influence you, and be able to talk to them. Rancid and MxPx and a lot of other bands we really love, we're best friends with now, and I talk to them on a regular basis. It's weird, because you never think you'd have that, but now we learn a lot from them. Their like our big brothers, and they teach us a lot.

You've been on tour with some bands you cite as your biggest influences, like Rancid and MxPx. What's that like?

It's cool. I'm not a very starstuck person. I've never really been nervous around them, but it's just cool to be around people who influence you, and be able to talk to them. Rancid and MxPx and a lot of other bands we really love, we're best friends with now, and I talk to them on a regular basis. It's weird, because you never think you'd have that, but now we learn a lot from them. Their like our big brothers, and they teach us a lot.

You named this tour the Uniting the States Tour, and you recorded a song with Mest and Goldfinger called "The Innocent," so obviously the terrorist attacks of September 11 have had an effect on you as a band. How did it impact you personally?

Yeah, we have lots of friends who have family and friends who died in both the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, and I think it affected everyone personally. Whether or not you had someone who died, I think every American took it personally. We wanted to write a song for those people and their families, and for all the kids in America to say that we're proud to be American, and no one can scare us. No one can take away our freedom or our pride. That's why this whole tour is called Uniting the States, and our backdrops are all American flags, and everything is all-American. We're trying to show the kids it's good to be patriotic, and everyone should be proud to be an American right now. It's the best time to be an American.

Is there a reason you recorded "The Innocent" with Mest and Goldfinger?

They were there, and they're friends of ours. We were talking to John [Feldmann, of Goldfinger] and just came up with the song, and kind of just fell into it.

You opened here a year ago for Newfound Glory and Fenix TX, and it's a very different atmosphere tonight compared to back then. How do you feel your life has changed since then?

Well, I'm not homeless anymore, and I'm not broke, and I have food to eat every day, so that's a big difference from the last year and a half. We've matured a lot, and our band has realized a lot of things. We're a really happy band right now, and we're really excited about where we're going. We've got new goals and priorities, but they're good ones. We're excited about our fans and what we're going to give to them in the next year or two.

What's it like having your first headlining tour? Is there anything different we can expect?

It's exciting. It's going to be a Good Charlotte show. A lot of our fans have seen us open for bands, so it's going to be same energy, it's just going to be a longer set. It's going to be our show. We're going to play some new songs that are going to be on our next record, but basically, it's just going to be a Good Charlotte show. We're really excited.

What is your reaction to your fans viewing you as a role model? Do you feel that you deserve that?

Oh, I don't know…I don't think I'm a role model, I just think that like a lot of kids, I have a lot of life experience. I grew up fast, so I talk about it, and it's cool if kids take something good from that. Some of my songs aren't that positive, but kids take positive things from them, and it feels good that they got something positive from a song that I thought was really negative. I don't really think I'm a role model, but I try to live my life the best way I can, and hopefully, kids will try to do that too, and just live the best way they can.

If you could take one band on the road with you, who would you pick and why?

I think the two bands we have right now [Mest and the Movielife]. We chose them ourselves.

You chose Mest because you're good friends with them, right?

Yeah, we're really good friends with them.

Why did you choose the Movielife?

They're amazing live, they've got great songs, and they're really nice guys. You're going to hear a lot more of them. We're open to open some new eyes to them because they're a really great band.

Are you going to rerelease your old songs that were not put on the record?

You might hear some of them on our next record, or we're thinking about releasing all the old demos to our hardcore fans, but we're not sure.

What's next for the band?

We're going to be on this tour for the next 10 weeks, then take a week off for Christmas, then go back into the studio to record our new record on January 1, and start off the new year with a record.