The teenage trio from Australia were the hands-down winners in the Best New Band category, adding to the many accolades they've received for their platinum debut album frogstomp. I talked to vocalist Daniel Johns on the long distance line from Down Under a week before a brief (school break) run of U.S. dates and it quickly became apparent that he's more proficient and comfortable expressing himself through music than conversation.
G: Congratulations on the award. How do you feel about it?
D: Good.
G: Were you surprised?
D: Yeah.
G: Where will you put it?
D: On the wall.
G: You've been to the States a couple of times now. What were your impressions?
D: A lot of traffic. I liked Los Angeles a lot.
G: You've become quite popular. What is it like having fans that follow you around?
D: They don't.
G: Don't you get recognized in public?
D: No, we don't really go out anywhere, we just sit on the bus.
G: Do you answer fan mail?
D: We read some of it but most of the time we're not here so we don't get to read it.
G: What are the advantages and disadvantages of starting a career so young?
D: The disadvantages are you can't really tour as much as you have to and you don't have time to do whatever you usually do at 15 or 16. It's working and doing music.
G: Do you miss the normal teenage stuff?
D: Yeah.
G: What do you miss most?
D: Just going out, I don't really go out. I'm always writing.
G: Aren't there any other activities you do, any sports?
D: We surf, and sometimes we go and have a game of pool, go to the beach.
G: Do you practice guitar a lot?
D: Not really practice, just try and write songs.
G: So you're writing all the time?
D: Trying to.
G: Are you working on music for the next record?
D: Yeah, we have about eight new songs and we're hoping to record in April.
G: Do you have a timetable?
D: Fourteen days or so.
G: Using the same producer as last time?
D: Probably.
G: What's the new material like? Is it similar to frogstomp?
D: It's not as straightforward, it's different time changes and different tunings.
G: And subject-wise?
D: Just whatever's on my mind, same as the first album, just saying whatever I'm thinking about at the time.
G: Does anything that happened to you personally come into it?
D: Sometimes.
G: Do you think it will be difficult to top the first record? Do you feel pressured to come up with a record that's as good?
D: Not really, it doesn't really bother us. We're just playing as long as we enjoy it. The new stuff's not as radio-friendly as some of the stuff on the first album. Some people say it won't get as much radio but we say "Who cares?" We don't really care.
G: Do you have a favorite song on frogstomp?
D: We don't really have a favorite song on our record. If we don't really like them we won't record them.
G: Do you have songs left over from the first record you didn't use?
D: We've got about three or four songs we didn't use. We're not gonna use them at all, we're just doing new stuff on the new album.
G: How much do Chris [Joannou] and Ben [Gillies] do as far as the writing goes?
D: For some of this new stuff Ben's written the music and I've put in the lyrics. A lot of them, I just finish it [and bring it in].
G: Do you come up with lyrics before the music?
D: Yeah, sometimes, especially on this new stuff. About half the songs, I've written the lyrics first.
G: You've been compared to Kurt Cobain and Eddie Vedder. How do you feel about that?
D: I don't mind, it doesn't really bother me.
G: Do you take it as a compliment?
D: Not a compliment, I don't take it as anything. It's just a label people use so they don't have to think. "We'll just say they sound like Pearl Jam."
G: You guys started really young. A lot of musicians don't make it 'til they're 30. How will you be able to sustain a career?
D: Keep playing as well as we can, keep working on the live show so we can keep getting better. Like Rollins Band, they've had a really long career because everyone knows they put on a really good live show.
G: Are they one of your favorites?
D: Yeah.
G: Do you plan on touring again in the summer?
D: I think we are, I'm not sure about it.
G: Since the seasons are opposite, do you have school on the summer?
D: Yeah.
G: What grade are you in now?
D: 11th.
G: Is it hard balancing school and touring?
D: Yes.
G: How do classmates treat you?
D: The same.
G: Where in the world do you want to go that you haven't been? 
D: I really want to go to Hawaii, that will be pretty good. We might be doing that pretty soon. We're going to Japan for four days.
G: Do you travel with your parents?
D: Not both of them, usually the dads come.
G: All three?
D: Yes.
G: What about your moms?
D: They come out sometimes but not as much as the dads do.
G: How is that, having your dad around all the time?
D: They're not really around all the time so it's not too bad. The only time we really see them is at the gigs and the hotel. The rest of the time they're off doing their own thing and we're doing whatever we want to.
G: What do your dads do other that chaperoning on the road?
D: Ben's dad's a plumber, Chris' dad works at a dry cleaner, and my dad works at a fruit market.
G: Do you have brothers and sisters?
D: Chris has two sisters, Ben has a sister and I have a younger sister and a younger brother.
G: When did you begin wanting to sing and play guitar?
D: I didn't really want to sing, I just wanted to play guitar.
G: Then how did you get into it?
D: To start off it was just me and Ben, and we had this thing to do at school and I was stuck with the singing. I don't mind it now.
G: When did you start on guitar?
D: I was about 12.
G: What made you pick it up?
D: Hearing good guitar stuff on the radio, Black Sabbath made me want to play guitar.
G: Do you have any endorsements?
D: Not really. I got some Paul Reid Smith guitars for cheap. I have a few, not as many as a lot of guitarists have. I've got a few vintage ones, I keep them at home. I don't play them as much as I play the PRSes.
G: What advice would you give to someone who wants to start a band?
D: Pick up a guitar, turn it up really loud, and just jam. Don't take it too seriously, just do it for fun. And don't believe anything anyone tells you 'cause it's usually a load of shit!
G: How do you, Chris, and Ben get along? Do you ever argue?
D: Not really. Once or twice but not really.
G: Are your personalities and interests similar?
D: We all like the same kind of music and surfing. Chris and Ben go out a lot more than me.
G: Are you a loner?
D: Not really a loner. If I see someone I talk to them, I'm not a total wanker. It's just that I don't go out a lot, Chris and Ben go out a lot more than me.
G: Do you have any girlfriends?
D: Ben and Chris do. I don't have any time.
G: Do you go to movies or watch TV?
D: Some television but I don't really go to movies.
G: Do you like the American shows?
D: Yeah, Seinfeld's really good. But we don't like the soap operas and stuff.
G: Do you like to read?
D: The only stuff I really read is poetry. Sometimes I write a poem and change it into lyrics.
G: Do you think you'll be doing this for the rest of your life?
D: Not for the rest of my life. I'll probably be playing music for a long time, I don't know if it will be in the same band. Probably we'll have this mega-fight and break up. It probably won't happen very soon, but it's bound to happen in five to 10 years.