Assuming you do record the full-length, is it going to be a fresh batch of songs or are you going to carry over some of the songs from the three EPs?

Karl: I think that we'll probably include a few songs, but I'd like it to be a 12-song album. It just depends on the strength of the material that we come up with, really. I feel like we're treading water putting out stuff that's been done before, even though these EPs have had very limited release. We've talked about putting a couple of songs on, but I firmly believe that we'll have strong enough material for us not to bother.

I think that the way the band is going about things -- in regards to establishing an identity and discovering what and where you want to go with it over the space of several EPs -- is very smart, both in terms of longevity and creativity.

Karl: We're trying to keep things low key. Just getting stuff out there so people are aware of our existence, but even more focusing on developing our sound and what we're doing. Even though we've all been around in other bands, this is still a new band and it takes time to establish where it is you want to go, I think, and that was what was important for us.

Writing a group of songs for a full-length, even if we had a year to do it, we still wouldn't be fully developed as a band. You've got to write, you've got to tour, you've got to realize what works and what doesn't, and where the weaknesses and strengths lie, strip it away and start again -- and that can be a long process. So doing it this way made sense to us.

Getting back to that family-slash-business relationship you have with Andy Sneap, it's something similar to the relationship that you have with Copro Records.

Matt: Yeah, definitely. Copro put out all of Earthtone9's stuff. Half of what they do is being a distributor, and the label half was pretty much built around Earthtone9. Karl's known them for years and I got to know them about three years ago through doing a lot of artwork for them. They're just very genuine, easy going people, and if they like something they'll get right behind it. They give us a great degree of freedom, which is what we want.

Do you see yourself staying with them for awhile? Would you like to move to a label that gives you more exposure in terms of distribution and tour support?

Matt: Uh, yeah. I think that we all have aims to become bigger. Copro's distribution is pretty much centered on the UK, and gets out into some of Europe, but I think we'd like to take things onto a more international scale. We have had people from Australia and the United States get in touch with us to say that they've heard about the band and are interested in buying our records, so it would be nice get more exposure on a world-wide scale. Also, the aim with the band continues to be to expand on the music and to keep pushing it further and further, and it's going to get to the point where we need a lot more time to do that. Unfortunately, the only way to get that time to make music is by getting money from somewhere or someone. I say "unfortunately" because it's kind of a knee-jerk reaction to any association for some way being paid for music. [Laughs] For selling out or whatever.

Why do I want to make money playing music? I like washing dishes for a living!

Matt: The only way we're going to get the money we need so we can afford to have the time to make the music better is to go with a bigger label, which as long as we can do it the right way and we don't compromise what we're doing in order to get attention, and aren't forced in any way to change what we're doing, I feel is fine. It'll allow us to spend more time on the music and give us a little more money to record a better record. I don't think we need enormous amounts.

Along those lines, do you have any apprehensions about becoming a smaller fish in a bigger sea? With Mark, especially, I know his history of being on bigger labels has not been too good as they've not treated him too well -- something you've seen for yourself having played with Pitchshifter for a year. So I'm wondering if there's any apprehension behind putting yourself in that kind of position?

Matt: Definitely. There's different situations you can get stuck in. You can be with a label who wants to push you in a way that you don't want to go. They tell you that you're great and they love what you're doing, and they sign you up and then say, "Yeah, we love what you're doing, but could you do it a little more like that band that happens to be big at the moment? I see you guys kinda falling into that category." That's a big pitfall, but fortunately for us I think that what we do isn't totally out there on its own, but it has enough of its own identity that I think it would be hard for anyone to come at us from that angle and see us as being someone that can be easily molded into a commercial package. There is an element to what we do that's quite poppy, but I don't think anyone could see us as being that malleable.

The other situation I think you can get stuck in a lot with major labels is if you're a lower, more underground band who happens to get picked up by a major, because a lot of times they go through spree signings depending on what scene is getting some notice. At the moment there seems to be the more extreme, but still emo-influenced, hardcore bands over here that are getting picked by labels. Bands like Poison the Well and stuff. All good bands, but there seems to be a signing spree of those kinds of bands at the moment.

From my past experience I think that it's easy to be picked up along with a whole group of bands because that scene is what's on the radar at the moment. Then you get a sudden shift and that scene is no longer the focus of the label. You don't necessarily get dropped straight away, but suddenly you are not the label's primary concern by any stretch of the imagination.

You become a commodity then. You end up being some A&R person's trophy in their display case.

Matt: Exactly. You might be able to continue to record, and probably make a great record, but no one wants to get behind it at the label because they're more concerned with what the new big thing is that they're moving along to. That can be a big pitfall, and definitely is something we need to avoid.

I was completely blown away by your set at the Astoria in terms of your presence, dynamics and power. Absolutely brilliant! How nervous was it for you to play onstage there that night?

Karl: It was the first time in a long while I'd been nervous at a gig. Mainly because the Pitchshifter show [who were headlining and playing their final show] had a lot of importance attached to it.

Mark: It was nervous for me, and it was also weird for me. Obviously, I'm used to the Pitchshifter crowd, so I was expecting for [The Blueprint] to come out and have everyone go crazy, not realizing that nobody knew our songs at the time. [Laughs] But more than anything to me, I think with Pitchshifter we always tried to include the crowd in everything that we do. We've always involved them in decision making, kept them up to date on what we were doing...things like that. So I felt that it was a natural thing to get The Blueprint on first at the Astoria show to say to the Pitchshifter fans that we're all starting new bands and here's mine.

Was it difficult being onstage introducing your new band while at the same time letting go of Pitchshifter?

Mark: Umm...no. Because it's like the old thing they do in films. At the same time someone dies a baby is born somewhere else at exactly the same moment. It felt a bit like that for me. The happiness and the sadness for each cancelled each other out. It was good.

That's a really good perspective. Is it strange being in a band without your brother, someone with whom you've been alongside onstage with for the past 13 years?

Mark: It is, definitely. We spoke to each other recently and Jon said to me that he never really realized what a beautiful, beautiful time we'd had together. We miss each other a lot. But the four other members of The Blueprint are very close friends of mine, and have been for many years, and I wouldn't want to do this with anyone else. With the shit you have to go through to get anywhere in the music business, you need people around you who you can trust with your life.

If The Blueprint were to go the same career route as Pitchshifter, would you be disappointed?

Mark: No, not at all. Anything we can do with The Blueprint we're happy for. I feel like I did with Pitchshifter back in 1989. It's all quite new again, and I'm just grateful for everything we have and really excited about what's to come.