FREE TICKETS: All Time Low

To win a pair of tickets to see All Time Low, tell us about your own personal all-time low in a comment below. Winners will be contacted via the e-mail address registered to www.themonitor.com.  

The guys in All Time Low graduated high school in 2006, and since then they've embarked on a crash course in rising rock stardom.

They've toured the United States and Europe. They've played two summers on the summer punk tradition Van's Warped Tour. And they've released a pair of albums.

• Read about the opening acts.

Needless to say, the Baltimore pop punkers' popularity has hit an, umm, all-time high.

The fact remains, however, that these guys seemed poised to become the next Green Day, Blink 182 or Fall Out Boy. But before that, they're bringing their high energy live show to McAllen's Cine El Rey venue tonight.

It's part of yet another nationwide tour. This time around the states, the guys have sold out concerts in Orlando, Philadelphia and Fort Lauderdale, Fla. They've also sold out back to back nights at Chicago's House of Blues.

They've established this massive fan following by being accessible. At an All Time Low show, you'll see the guys on stage, sure. But you'll often see them out in the crowd before and after, signing autographs and taking pictures. Lead singer and guitarist Alex Gaskarth also speaks with his fans regularly. He does so via Internet video blogs.

All this is pretty impressive for a group of dudes who were sitting in senior composition classes just three years ago. The guys were touring through Florida most of last week, but they took a little time out to chat with Festiva. We asked lead singer Gaskarth, who was gearing up for a show in North Carolina, about his band's massive amount of touring, going from high school to rock stardom and the new songs he's been playing at shows.

FESTIVA: How was playing Warped Tour this year?

GASKARTH: Warped Tour was amazing. It was our third time doing it. We've always had fun playing Warped Tour. It's awesome ... it's not too much different. It's all about camaraderie and family on Warped Tour. There's really no room for rock stars on that tour. It's really just about being accepting of old bands, new bands and basically everybody on the tour. You're all either friends or you're all enemies. It's better to be friends.

Tell me about you guys mingling with crowds.

We try to make it a point to talk to as many people as possible. It's very important to connect with the kids at this point, because in the Internet age where everything is so easy access and people can find your personal MySpace at the drop of a hat and learn a lot about you without even meeting you, it's just one of those things. That whole idea of the untouchable rock star up on the pedestal, you can't talk to them, you can only see them - that's not the way it works anymore. It's all about getting to know the person you're going to see. It's weird but it's just the way things work now.

Do you think you'll keep doing that when you get really big?

I would like to say so. It gets harder and harder, the bigger the shows get, but we try to find ways to make it happen for at least a certain amount of people at the shows.

Pop punk is more popular than ever. Why do you think that is?

That's just the way music works. It happens in trends. Fads start up, fads die out, fads get replaced by something else, and then before you know it somebody brings the old fad back. It's like the yo-yo. I think the yo-yo was cool eight times when I was in elementary school.

Have you been to McAllen before?

We actually have. We came to McAllen once. It was really, really out of the way. We didn't expect to be touring there at all and we showed up. So many kids came out, and so many kids were grateful that we came that far south. Everybody was like, "Nobody ever comes down here." When we picked the routing for this tour, we actually said, "Didn't we play there once before, and wasn't it awesome?" So we said, "Let's hip up that market again and give the kids something unique."

Describe an All Time Low live show.

It's really about having a good time, not worrying about who's watching and what people think. It's about coming out, forgetting everything. Whatever drama you have at home, leave it there and come out and have a good time with us. Worry about s--- later. Everybody needs an escape. That was always the mentality I had when I went to shows. No matter what was going on you'd go and get in the front of the crowd, get in the pit for half an hour. In that moment you forget everything and have a good time.

You've toured all over. Where would you still like to play?

We have not yet been to Japan, and I want to go to Japan so badly. We're trying to get over there next year for some of their festivals and I think that would be the coolest moment of my life. I've always had this calling to go to Japan, I really don't know why. It seems like a cool place. It's half way around the world.

What was high school like for you?

We started the band our freshmen year of high school. I personally didn't enjoy high school at all. I never saw the point in it. I didn't want to be there. I thought most of it was really monotonous. My main focus was on music and just basically day dreaming. The other dudes all did pretty well. But I never really cared. But obviously I made it through and graduated. So it worked out.

What would you be doing right now if you weren't playing in the band?

I would probably be...I don't know. It's hard to think about. I like medicine and the study of it. It'd be really cool to be a vet, but I totally wouldn't have the patience for all the schooling.

I heard you've been playing some new songs....

I've really only been playing half of one new song, but it's been relevant to our current times and the things we're going through. I figured this tour would be a good time to give people a preview of what's been on our minds lately.

How many songs have you recorded since last year's album?

We have demoed a bunch of songs. We have about nine songs ready to go for the next record. I think in winter we'll take the time out to actually record them and finish them up. We'll have a new album to put out next summer. Hopefully June.

Last question: What's the all-time lowest thing you've ever done?

I've done some shady things in my day. Everybody has. Here's a tour-related all time low. I personally ran out of food on the bus. So every time we had food or water delivered to the bus, I would start stashing it under my pillow. Two days into the tour people were like, "Where's all the food going?" And I was eating well; I was eating like a king. Eventually everybody discovered it. One day I went in the bunk and all my stuff had been ripped out of my bunk. My mattress had been turned over. It was like a SWAT team had come for all the food. Somebody ratted me out. There was a traitor on the bus, I think.

WATCH THEM LIVE

• With: Mayday Parade, the Maine and Every Avenue
• When: 6 p.m. Friday, Oct. 24
• Where: Cine El Rey, 311 S. 17th Street, McAllen
• Tickets: At the door, at Melhart's Music in McAllen, all Wireless Toyz locations and online at www.ez-tixx.com.
• Online: www.myspace.com/alltimelow or www.alltimelow.com

Zack Quaintance covers features and entertainment for Festiva. You can reach him at (956) 683-4447.