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You came from Orange County, but a lot of the other band members were in Colorado. How did you all come together to make this unit?

Ryan and Zack didn't want to start OneRepublic until they moved to LA. They picked up Drew shortly after that. A little bit after that, one drummer leaves, then they picked me up. Then the old bass player left and we picked up Brent, who benefits us with a cello. It all works out because we're all brothers, we're all family. All of our wives and girlfriends love each other; we're all just one big happy family.

Amen. You guys have been doing some dates out on the road. It's probably a nice experience—or maybe nicer than it had been before you hit this kind of fame. What's it like on the road this time around?

We're hooked up with a wonderful tour bus. We stop at cities, and we literally walk in for soundcheck into an arena. We just played the Tacoma Dome, and the Target Center out in Minnesota. Tacoma Dome is out in Washington, it's pretty surreal. Today we're playing a club out in Pittsburgh. We're excited about it because arenas are so big and so grand, sometimes we question ourselves and if we're at that scale yet. We just rock it and give it our all, and it allows us to be better musicians.

How have your friends and family taken to seeing you in places like that, seeing you on TRL?

My family is excited. They are very proud. I mean, I'm a musician, and I'm here and there and everywhere and no one can really locate me. They all contact me through email, and MySpace and they're starting to text message now. It gives them excitement and fulfillment too.

I was listening to your album, and I know the songs themselves are grand and very lush. I was hearing a lot of U2 and even some Coldplay in there. What were some of the influences that you brought onto the album?

For me, one of my huge influences is a band called The Verve. Even before "Bittersweet Symphony", they had an amazing sound, and an amazing way about them. My friend and I call them a PSG, which is a "Pot Smoking Groove." I try and incorporate the Brit rock feel with what we do. That's kind of what my influences are. I've also grown up listening to hip-hop. You know, I incorporate the alt rock sound with Brit rock and hip hop, and Ryan brings in the Pop. It all meshes well together.

A lot of your inspiration comes from a great UK band, and you've had a lot of success in the UK. How has the reaction been to the music worldwide?

It's crazy. It's actually hard to keep up. We hear things everyday about some station playing our stuff a hundred times. In, I don't even know what city, what country. We're trying to keep up, but playing here and playing there, we're losing that battle. It's a hard road.

Speaking of being out there and keeping up, where can we see you now?

In February we're going to tour in London, Germany and the UK. In March we're going to be touring in Australia with Maroon 5.

"Apologize," is the first single, you're working it hard, but do you know what the next single is going to be?

Yeah I do. It's actually being serviced in the radio right now, more on the West Coast. It's "Stop and Stare."

Great. Is there anything you'd like to say to your fans before we go?

We are humbled and we want to thank you. Keep checking in, hit us up on our Myspace page. Myspace.com/OneRepublic or our website, OneRepublic.net!

—Chas Reynolds
01.30.08

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