Lawrence.com

Where were you when it happened?

"We were in Florida and we had a day off," says Thrice frontman Dustin Kensrue. "We woke up to the news and watching that and just being ... dumbstruck. It was very unreal."

Kensrue is phoning from Austin, Tex., where his band is playing as part of the annual Plea For Peace Take Action tour, a musical gathering of tribes benefiting The National Hopeline Network. Traveling in a show that espouses peace, in a time of war, is about as strange as it gets for the Orange County, Calif., quartet, hitting the road nationally for the very first time.

"It's surreal enough as it is, but not being home is even worse," Kensrue continues. "It didn't hit me the first day, it was just like some weird movie scene. The day after, we had a show and that's when it hit me. I just felt like crap. So it's weird being on tour, but we're just trying to push on with it."

County blues

The members of Thrice (Kensrue, guitarist Teppei Teranishi, bassist Ed Breckenridge and drummer Riley Breckenridge) cut their teeth on the competitive Orange County music scene, opening for bands in dingy clubs and doing anything they could to avoid paying to play in Los Angeles. Though a number of well-known acts have come from Orange County, Thrice didn't find much inspiration among its peers.

"I don't even get it," Kensrue says. "There's not that many bands out of Orange County that I've ever really liked. There's some bigger bands that have come out of there � like No Doubt and Social D(istortion) and stuff � but as for the local scene, there's not a lot of bands that we're personally into."

Within months of forming, a still teen-age Thrice completed its debut EP, the self-released "First Impressions," which moved enough copies to get the band a handful of good-paying out-of-town gigs. With a couple of bucks in their pockets, the four financed a full-length CD, last year's "Identity Crisis," which quickly sold out of its initial pressing. Soon after, indie label Sub City came calling, reissuing "Identity" and using its clout to book the band at some huge shows, including four dates on last summer's Warped Tour.

"The dates that we didn't have to play first were awesome," Kensrue recalls. "The two dates we played first, on the small stage, there was just not that many people there. The difference between playing first and playing later in the day is amazing in the response you get. But it was a really fun experience getting to meet all these cool bands that we look up to."

Role models

Hanging out at Warped with heroes like Rancid and AFI gave Thrice an opportunity to see what it's like on the other side � to be a punk band that sells truckloads of records. For Kensrue, who agrees with the sentiment that arena bands can't be considered punk, it all comes down to the quality of the material.

"If you make catchy music, people are gonna end up liking it," Kensrue says. "But I think it's kind of hurt the ethics that punk was founded on: just thinking for yourself. When you have these bands that are punk and in the mainstream, you have kids getting into them that don't really understand that ethic."

Making matters worse are the droves of wannabe acts that have hopped on the pop-punk bandwagon, searching for a hit in what has become an increasingly viable, commercial market.

"In the pop-punk scene especially, there are a lot of mediocre bands who are trying to play off of what was already done a few years ago, and doing it not half as good," Kensrue says. "I'd rather listen to Green Day or Blink-182 or one of those bands that was doing it before, instead of some rehashed version of what's already been done."

Use your 'Illusion'

Thrice just wrapped the recording sessions for its sophomore effort, "The Illusion of Safety," set to be released next February. Though the band's signature bubble-gum riffage and lickety-split rhythms are still wholly intact, Kensrue insists that the baby band from Orange County is growing up fast � and certainly isn't the same group it was a year ago.

"Definitely not," the singer-guitarist declares. "Just as we're not the same band we were when we made the first EP. The place I see us going is getting more feel-based and implementing the instruments where they're needed, or just using them more effectively. I like ('Illusion') a lot more than the last one, it flows better, but it's still really diverse and kind of schizophrenic � not as much as the last one � but it's still kind of all over the place. It's definitely a very melodic record, more so than we had expected."

When "Illusion" is finally released, as with the band's Sub City debut, five percent of the retail proceeds will be donated to Crittenton Services, an organization that offers room, board and counseling to teen-age runaways and unwed mothers. Between charitable contributions, Plea For Peace and a growing reputation for putting its money where its mouth is, Thrice may be in danger of being labeled a bunch of do-gooders.

Not likely, says Kensrue, who adds, "We definitely didn't start the band with any super-idealistic purposes. We were just trying to play music. But being blessed with being in the position we're in, we like to do what we can. If we can be putting music out and helping people, it's just awesome."