The five members of The Wolfnote used what they have learned from other bands to create a unique punk sound that is described as both urgent and driving. Thomas, Rosaleen, Garett, Bryan and Travis formed in 2002 and booked a cross-Canada tour before they had even played their first show. The band's first full-length recording, This is the Getdown, was recently released, with their party philosophy bringing them both popularity and acclaim.

Describe the music scene in Edmonton. Was your eclectic style welcomed there when you were first starting out? The Edmonton scene is pretty small, so everyone is quite friendly. It would be fair to say we're doing something very different than most bands in town, but it's music like anything else, so people can appreciate that. It gets better all the time, too.

Your website says that you strive to educate and entertain your fans. What is the message you hope people take away from your music? The theme that carries through our lyrics and writing is that everyone should get out of their routines and take responsibility for their lives. It's better to try to do something and fail than not try at all. We also hope that people won't get caught up in the trends, fashions and cliques and decide for themselves what they like and what they want to do. Our music is about having fun, and breaking the rules of convention. Part of our manifesto includes the idea of partying as a metaphor for life. A person will go to a party never really knowing what to expect. One never knows where a party will take a person, be it running 10 blocks to a store that is closed, or talking with a total stranger about deep philosophy in a stairway. People ought to adopt this attitude of going through life and take all opportunities that are offered to them. Plans are a restriction of freedom and limit the randomness that makes life great.

It sounds like you guys are on the road a lot. What do you like best about being on tour? The absolute best thing about being on tour is meeting people and learning about how they live in other parts of the country. We all share the culture of music and that's an amazing touchstone to get to know a person, but almost always it goes beyond that and great friendships are made.

In the last two years, how would you say you have evolved as a band? We set out to play music that would help us express the ideas we had about striving to be better people and hopefully to affect others so they could live fuller, better lives. The last two years have strengthened our views of this and only shown us how important the message is. We've seen kids take positive things away from our music, which is inspiring and comforting.

How would you describe your new album, This is the Getdown? Our new album is definitely a lot more 'œrock'? than our previous recordings. We set out to write music that would be good, fun party rock, which would obviously tie into our ideology. We've worked hard to try to find our identity as musicians and songwriters and this represents where we're at right now.

What are the benefits of recording your own releases? The benefits are that we can explore our music without an engineer to watch the clock. It helps with making everyone comfortable when they record. We also firmly believe that the mystique of being in a band should be shattered at every opportunity. Any person can record their own material and put it on a CD. If we can do it, most anyone should be able to.