MTV: Are you guys all big Michael Jackson fans?

Dryden Mitchell [frontman]: I think we're all big Michael Jackson fans.

Terry Corso [guitarist]: Michael Jackson is just great. He's the King of Pop, he's got all the moves. He's a snappy dresser and he writes some great songs.

MTV: "Smooth Criminal" is kind of an odd Michael Jackson cover to take on.

Mitchell: We knew it would be cool. We were playing a hometown show and [bassist] Tye [Zamora] and [drummer] Mike [Cosgrove] started playing it for three seconds, and a bunch of people in the crowd knew what it was. The next day Mike went out and got the Bad tape so I could figure out the lyrics and they could figure out the music. When we played it, we weren't proud of ourselves or anything. We were just like, "This song is good, we like it."

Tye Zamora: I have [the Michael Jackson home video] "Moonwalker."

Corso: "Moonwalker"'s the greatest ...

Zamora: Where he takes out the quarter and is like fing, fing, fing, fing. And it goes into the jukebox and he pulls out his side and goes pow.

Corso: That really moves kids, you know what I mean?

MTV: Have you guys been doing that song live?

Zamora: That's the only song we'll do. Sometimes we'll do it eight times in a row.

Mitchell: Dude, I'm sorry, [but] I wanted to tell this story. We got to tour Europe last year and we would ask kids, "Do you like Michael Jackson?" And everyone was like, "Nooo!" And then we'd play it and people would go crazy.

Mike Cosgrove: There are liars in Europe. They like it.

MTV: Are the crowds that much different in Europe than they are here?

Zamora: They don't care about fashion. They just care about passing out and ...

Cosgrove: Drinking beer and partying.

Corso: And they all do this crazy dance and drink beer and pass out right where they stand.

Mitchell: You know what's crazy about Europe? We would play these festivals with so many different types of music — and I know Warped and different festivals out here try and spread the variety of music — but in Europe it was even more. ... We were playing with a death-metal band and a folk band, and the coolest part I can say is that in Europe they're a lot more appreciative toward any style of music.

Zamora: We actually played a show in Europe between a Creedence Clearwater Revival cover band and a transvestite fashion show. This is a typical day in a European festival.

MTV: What was the first concert you ever went to?

Mitchell: I saw Michael Jackson at Dodger Stadium, but before that I saw "Sesame Street Live." It was kind of a concert, but Michael Jackson was awesome. Victory tour, all the brothers were there.

Zamora: My first concert was Tanya Tucker at the Black Stallion in Corona, California.

Mitchell: Was it really?

Zamora: Yeah. There were benches. There was this band, Hot Cold or whatever, that opened up for her. And this guitar player played with his teeth. It was the most amazing thing I ever saw.

Cosgrove: I saw Madonna, True Blue tour at Anaheim Stadium.

Corso: My first concert was pretty hesh. It was Judas Priest and Great White at the Long Beach Arena. It was cool because [ex-Priest singer] Rob Halford drove out onstage on a motorcycle, and he wore leather.

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