The members of Live, in one form or another, have been together since they were in sixth grade. With R.E.M. and U2 as idols, the group steadily grew in popularity. While the band does not break a lot of new ground musically, a lot of people are attracted to their high energy, highly emotional music. Patrick Dahlheimer, bassist for Live, spoke with citysearch's Matt Hilburn.

Why do you let Ed get away with doing all the press?

Ed actually rose to the occasion. He allowed me to sit at home for a whole week while he went to Europe and did press by himself. He and I have been doing a lot of the press. We've just been splitting it up to keep it more focused. If you talk to any of the four of us, you're going to get the same answer. We've known each other for so long. If you hear from one person, you're pretty much going to hear the same thing from the others. Drummers are usually less articulate. [laughing]

Is it basically Ed and then the rest of you guys?

I don't know. I guess they'd have to wait for a solo record. I would say that they obviously don't know the inner workings and don't see the writing process. On the other hand, I can see people thinking that. He is the front man. Ed is the front man, and most people expect him to be the mouthpiece for the band. But four people make up Live, and if you lose one element, we'd have to change our name.

Walk me through the songwriting process.

This time it was a little different. This time Chad, Ed and I sat at home for a little while by ourselves, and decided that we would just demo our ideas and send them back and forth to each other and work on them that way. When we got to rehearsal, we pretty much had things worked out to where - at least with arrangements - we wanted them. Whereas before, we would just stroll in with a chord progression. So it was a little more focused this time. Again, Ed is the leader of the band, and none of us wanted to toy with that.

I've read that the lyrics read like schoolboy poetry. What would you say to that?

I'm not a poet. I don't think Ed claims to be. I know what Ed does is to try to convey emotion. If that's somebody's spin to it, I don't take insult to it. Everybody takes things different ways. I could look at a Picasso and say that's gobscheit. Someone could look at Ed's lyrics and say it was schoolboy poetry, but there's still an honesty and an emotion there that I can't deny.

Why do you think you're so popular?

I don't really know. MTV cut us s huge break early on, even before our first record came out. They had this thing called "Buzz Bin," and they put these four bands in there that no one had heard of. It was Live, Pearl Jam, Nirvana and Soundgarden at the same time. I knew we didn't fit into that niche, but people were exposed to us, allowing the alternative trend to be heard on radio and television. I've since come to find that with the record cycle, I see phases that come and go. I've seen these other bands come and go, and we're still plugging away. I guess we're doing something right.

You guys have played a lot of pro-Tibet shows. Why did you pick that particular issue to champion?

I think with the spiritual side of the band it seemed natural. We've been asked to do a lot of support and awareness things, and this one seemed to be real to us. It seemed tangible. We knew what was going on as far as the situation, and it hit us and seemed to work. We're happy we did it. We've done it twice now, and we would do it again.

Do you think shows like the Tibetan Freedom Concert really help? How?

I don't know. If you've got 20,000 people, you obviously know that not all of them are going to go home and write their congressman, but say 1,000 kids leave and have that little seed planted in their minds. Maybe they're going to do something, and that chance makes it worth it.

What sets you apart from other bands?

Honesty. I think with what we do musically, we're just honest with ourselves, and we lay it on the line. We get a lot of this stuff about being pretentious. A lot of people see us that way. I think the honesty sets us apart.

Is there a theme to the new album?

I think the overall tone to me was that it was a really positive record. I think there's a love and a passion in the record that's never happened with us before. We're all at great places right now, and that's all reflected in our songwriting. I think Secret Samadhi was a reaction to Throwing Copper, and it was an album that we needed to do to get rid of those demons. It was bizarre that the three of us, when we were sending the demos back and forth, found the same kind of vibe without it being discussed.

Is there anything about the new album that, looking back, you would change?

No. I think it was one of the easiest records for us to make, recording-wise. I think even the writing part was enjoyable. It wasn't like we've got to go do this thing. It was more like us talking and realizing that we had a buttload of songs and that we might as well go record them.

What are some other bands you think are cool or bands that have been influential?

We did a tour with Jimmy's Chicken Shack , and they have a new record out. There are some great tracks on it. It's not a weighty record, but I find that everytime I got in my car, I would end up on CD 6, the Shack record. We wear the early influences on our sleeves, for better of for worse - R.E.M. and U2. Those were the two bands that we grew up with. I just want to say that Pavement was a band I always loved, and man, that new record really disappointed me. It hurt me deeply. [sarcastically] New records? I find myself digging into older stuff. One record I can't get out of the CD player is Johnny Cash's Live at Folsom Prison. What a showman.