"I can't even conceive of a million of anything," confesses bassist Patrick Dahlheimer when queried about Live's sales and musical evolution.

"Our original goal with this album was to take off from where we left things on [Mental] Jewelry," he explains. "We thought if the industry took notice, we could take it to the next level. I think that because the music is raw enough, without any pretentious attitude, that it translated well from us to the audience. I think a lot of people picked up on the emotions that we put into this band."

"Let's face it," continues vocalist Ed Kowalczyk, "when you're 13 years old and you start a band up, how serious can it really be? Now this band has been such a big part of my life, I don't know where I'd be without it. There aren't a lot of places to go in York, Pennsylvania, and small-town boredom does creep up on you."

RIP spoke to members of Live well before the band had sold any significant number of albums and again a mere two weeks after the band's latest album, Throwing Copper, was officially certified platinum. If you had heard either conversation, you could hardly have told the difference. The foursome -- Kowalczyk, Dahlheimer, guitarist Chad Taylor and drummer Chad Gracey -- are still loyal to their York, Pennsylvania, roots and musical vision, even as they garner high praise for their achievements on both Mental Jewelry (Radioactive) and Throwing Copper (Radioactive/MCA).

York, which has a population of 60,000 and is home to Harley-Davidson and the Caterpillar manufacturing companies, fits the middle- to lower-middle-class industrial-town profile exactly. And the same small-town attitude that compelled the band to write "Shit Towne" is probably the band's biggest asset musically.

When you're in such an isolated environment, influences are distant thoughts, making originality an even more natural occurrence.

"There are no real clubs to see bands come through here. There was no radio to listen to," Pat explains, "and there was really only one Mom-and-Pop store to buy music at. I think the only band that we really can cite as a direct influence was R.E.M. We liked their songs; we played along to them on the stereo. We could relate to what they were doing. We learned as we went along. Our drummer, Chad, only bought a drum set the week before we decided to rehearse for the band. We had to invent ourselves and teach ourselves everything along the way.

"That's an advantage now, because we don't have to 'decide' what we want to do in a song. It just happens because the chemistry is natural. It's hard to explain to people, but we hardly have to talk about what we do because we relate to each other so well and know both when to back off and when to push each other. If we weren't great friends, with such respect for each other, there's no way we could have lasted this long already," Pat acknowledges.

In this day and age, ten years is a long time for any band to be together; but in the eyes of the rock world, Live is just beginning to get a real leg up. It wasn't all MTV videos and glory in the beginning. There was a time when an employee of Radioactive Records, Phil Schuster, persuaded his boss to take a chance on a very raw, inexperienced but promising band.

"We were only 19," Pat remembers, "and we thought it was courageous for a label to take a chance on a bunch of young kids from a small town. I don't think at that time MCA [who now distributes the band for Radioactive] would haver understood what we wanted to do. They never would have signed us. Now I think they're quite happy with what we have done. I know Radioactive wanted to nurture us, bring us along slowly and not look for a hit but try to develop a career. We wanted to surround ourselves with people who were doing the same things we were, who believed in honesty and integrity. At that time, Gary Kurfirst, who managed the Talking Heads in their prime, recommended Jerry Harrison to us, and he became an integral part of making sure the arrangements were right for the album and helping us get better sounds. Jerry ended up producing both Jewelry and Copper."

Ed continues: "We really didn't even have a name for ourselves at that time. We knew we had to come up with one in order to be introduced to the mass public when we settled on Live. We felt, Let the music define us, not the name, as we felt the name was transparent enough to do that for us. We also had a good relationship with the label and could communicate directly with them. A lot of bands don't have that communication level. If you sign with a major, there is even more of a distance between the band and the label, and quite often you only get one or two chances to succeed and then your career is over. I feel bad for bands in that situation, but also they're the ones that signed those big deals."

The modern rock 'n' roll world has changed so much over the past few years, creating a climate where bands can explode much faster than ever before. In years gone by, wise men used to joke that it took years to become an overnight sensation. Now, with the media having become so expansive, bands can reach deep into society's psyche at hyper speed. In the past, bands that became platinum-selling artists or arena acts needed at least three years, three tours and three albums before success was assured. Today the same popularity can be achieved in three weeks if MTV is in your corner.

Yet there is a hitch to riding this "fast track" to success: The band has to be valid and real, because the scrutiny of a glaring rock nation can undo a band just as quickly as it deifies them. For every Pearl Jam there can be a Vanilla Ice. The success of Live draws a little from both of the above scenarios. At the tender ages of 23 or so, Live have now been together for over ten years. They took a career-oriented path by releasing an independent EP, Four Songs, before enjoying the distribution of a major label. Then when mainstream America got a real good look at this band in concert, on video and on the airwaves, the magic shone through.

Suddenly we had another "overnight" sensation. Hardly. The band's passionate, distinct, compact and honest style really struck an organic chord outside the grunge and punk worlds.

"There was quite a gap between the first two full records, and I think that helped us. When we actually went into the studio, I could really see how much we had improved as a band," notes Pat. "We have always made our records as live as possible. We'll all be in a room and do a few takes of each song and keep one. We don't make real big plans. When we were ready to record, we just called the record company and said, 'We got a bunch of songs. Can we make a record now?' There was no preproduction or demos. We went out on a small tour, played the songs and saw how they worked for us, how they went over. Playing a song in front of an audience before we record it gives the song validity to us. We sorted through them all and went into the studio and did them live. In the future I'd like to see us make a real studio album -- actually track it, see what we can do. But that's another day."

Somehow, Live seem almost too good to be true in so many ways in today's hype-filled, over-promoted music mileu. Has all the success sunk in yet?

"People keep asking us if Woodstock '94 was a big highlight for us," Pat responds. "It was cool. It was fun to be a part of, but it wasn't the pinnacle for us. Playing the David Letterman show was really cool. I've been watching him since I was a little kid, and that was fun. Playing on Saturday Night Live was fun, [but] I don't think we've had our pinnacle show yet. We've got a long way to go. We're all grateful that Copper did this well, but there is a story behind us. When it comes time to put out another album, it won't be premeditated; it will just be us and our songs. That's all we are. If it catches on like this one, we'll deal with that then.

"Live is just a band of four natural guys. Ed is the showman. He's a performer. He puts a lot of thought into everything he does. Chad, our drummer, likes to take care of business; he's a real straight-ahead guy. Chad, our guitar player, will talk to everybody, so I figure it's my job to lighten up the mood a bit, because everybody is so serious."

Live uses the metaphorical combination of Throwing Copper as an album title and as a pun intended to mirror the way gangsters talk about "throwing lead." In reality, though, they were dealing with another analogy. Their songs are like throwing pennies into a wishing well, hoping that they will be loved and understood. That wish has more than been granted.