Mat Devine: It’s been cool to see this group of bands come together and the turnouts for the tour have been solid as well. When you develop a tour like this, figuring out what bands you want on a tour is easy. Trying to work out schedules can be agitating and the record labels behind the bands can sometimes convolute the issues. We’ve seen that happen with other dream tours we’ve tried to do in the past, but it never came to fruition. This time around, we looked at relateable up and coming bands, and it just happened to work out.

MyCityBuzz: How does a tour like this compare to touring with Velvet Revolver (in 2007)?

MD: During that tour we had 25 minutes and our attitude was to play six of our heaviest songs and try to kick as much ass as possible. We wanted the songs to be heavier because we wanted to avoid getting tomatoes thrown at us. A lot of fans would drive hours to see us on that tour and were disappointed to hear us play five or six songs each night. It was just a different crowd for us and this tour is the polar opposite of that. We’re playing deep cuts off our earlier albums and really satisfying the long time fans of the band on this tour.

MyCityBuzz: How smooth has the transition from Atlantic to Roadrunner Records been?

MD: Honestly, it’s been pretty smooth so far. It’s maybe an anomaly in this industry because they have been really easy to work with. We met the Roadrunner international crowd when we were drinking with them and they seemed to have a genuine interest in the band. With Atlantic, after the last touring cycle, we weren’t too sure what was the next step with the label and what they wanted us to do. Thank god our lawyers don’t get much sleep, because we would have never got off Atlantic if not.

MyCityBuzz: Does the band still take part in doing DJ gigs at home in Chicago?

MD: We’re still doing them, and they’re really cool to do. Our bassist Greg (Corner) is way into it. But when I do it, I look kinda lost compared to him. I usually just bring in a bunch of CD’s that I am into. I try to make it like the feel of a dorm room in college and be more subtle about it. We also do some DJ gigs on off days as well and plan on doing some in the future.

MyCityBuzz: The album has been out since 2007, are there plans for recording new material?

MD: We are demoing some new stuff in the tour bus. My arms and hands are always scribbled with new lyric and music ideas. My voice mail box is full on my phone because I am always calling myself with new ideas. There’s probably a less ghetto-ish way to do it, but it works. My mindset for the next record, is to shed the burden and dark cloud of pressure in the recording process. For once, I want to go back to the way it began and have that artistic integrity that I had at the beginning. It got weird in the past, but you would have some 50 year old suit giving making your ideas sound like crap. I am looking to spread our wings again, and stop worrying about 3-minute songs that will get us on the radio. We’ll be doing to Japan and Australia later in the year, and probably getting back into the studio early next year.

Kill Hannah will be headlining the “Hope for the Hopeless” tour when it hits Pontiac's Crofoot Ballroom Tonight. Tickets are $15 and are available at www.ticketweb.com. Additional dates can be found at www.killhannah.com.