Marcus Harrington: We basically…well, I was in a band before, and I ran into Carlos [Salazar], our guitar player, at a party, and we hooked up and jammed on a [Smashing] Pumpkins song, "Butterfly Wings." I showed him another song I was writing and we jammed on that. He brought in John [Salazar], his brother on drums, then we got Chuck [Ford], our bass player. Then Junior [Antunez, guitar] joined up, and he was a really good friend of mine from before, so we all connected. Junior lived down the street from me for years. That was in Chicago, about three, three and a half years ago.

VOX: How did you come up with the Relative Ash name?

MH: It was the title of a poetry book I was writing. I showed some of it to Carlos and he liked it, and it means a lot to us. It is a memory and honor to passed-on relatives, family, friends, you know what I'm saying, and it's a dedication to our fans, too, it's a release for them as well. Everybody has their own personal experiences with loss and stuff, and they need to honor those people in their own way.

VOX: What was the music scene like in Chicago as you guys got started?

MH: It was fucking hard to get in to! It was hard to get to play at Metro and the bigger clubs like that. We played back yards, parties, anywhere. We got kicked out of places we were supposed to play because we weren't all over 21. We got thrown off the stage at a party for a bunch or engineers because we were too loud or something like that.

We owe a lot to Longbrush, a great Chicago band. They asked us to play with them at Metro and we were like "Shit yeah!" It was a dream, and we sold the place out, all local bands. Afterwards, I e-mailed the club and said thanks, and wasn't even expecting a response, but they asked us to play another gig, and it was our gig. We got like three other local bands and it was awesome. Now they have a local night like every week. All locals! It's awesome for the local bands there now.

Dude, I remember our second big gig. It was 18 and over, Sunday night and we went on at 1:30 in the morning.

VOX: You've obviously come a long way. Where do you see rock music heading?

MH: Me, personally? All I can say is that I still love the old style, like Nirvana and shit like that. Bass, guitar and drums, man. The old Zep and Beatles style. I think it's awesome and raw - right from the heart, and it's what we're all about. I mean progressive is great, and I give the bands like Korn all the respect, but I really like the old style.

VOX: You guys have a very honest approach in your songs. What does your musical inspiration come from?

MH: Well, my dad passed away when I was 19, from AIDS, and I've lost friends and had the other things in life that people go through, and so the lyrics come out of that. Every lyric means something. I just like to be like you said: honest.

VOX: You take a very active role in AIDS awareness.

MH: I walk in the AIDS walk in Chicago every year. Obviously I started because of what happened with my dad. I was doing it for him. One time I was walking next to this guy in a wheelchair, and I fully could tell he was sick, and I expected him to look sad. Then I saw his face, and he was totally happy because he was doing the walk. I realized something very important then, to appreciate what you have. That walk was the inspiration for "6 Miles." You have to keep in motion, keep going.

Hopefully I'll get to walk this year.

VOX: "Bounce" is an awesome song. What is the story behind it?

MH: That was the first some we wrote when Junior joined the band. That's one going out to the fans who were coming out to see us. It's dedicated to the people who keep coming to the shows. It's a straight-up song about that.

That tune was heavily influenced by Nirvana.

VOX: Are you all into the Internet - do you see it as an important part of a band's success?

MH: I just found out we're on Napster! That's great for us right now. "Bounce" is actually out there on the "Choose or Lose" thing, too. I mean, it grants us a window of opportunity that we wouldn't have. You can reach so many more people now. We can get into thousands of more domes, and that's what it's all about.

VOX: What can fans expect from a Relative Ash live show?