Popular Underground Magazine got a chance to chat with guitarist Josh Bradford on a chilly Chicago evening, just prior to the band headlining an extremely energetic set.

Silverstein roll in style now. Gone are the days of vans, where according to guitarist Josh Bradford, the band would pass the time by opening all of the windows in their van and allowing a plastic bag to float around in the breeze created by miles and miles of tour stops. Now, these screamo rockers tour the country in a big orange bus. Yes, orange. The interior is just as appalling as the exterior with red leather benches and out-of-date accents, but hell it is a bus!

Silverstein are on night two of a weeklong US headlining stint, that Bradford seems to be extremely excited about. "Last night, I'm not sure if it was sold out or not, but it was pretty packed and everybody was having a good time," he enthused.

Ten days earlier the band had just wrapped up a European tour, which took the band to places like Spain, Italy and Sweden. "We've got to see a lot more countries than we have before," says Bradford. Overall, Bradford was very content with the tour. "I thought it was going to be harder because of the language barrier," he says, "But everybody was really excited and really got into it." Although it wasn't Silverstein's typical crowd (they were touring with Canada's biggest pop-punkers Simple Plan) Bradford said his band was well received.

Not only has Silverstein been embraced by fans throughout their constant touring schedule, but people have really been checking out the band's latest CD, Discovering the Waterfront. Bradford believes the new album has already almost surpassed Broken as far as sales go and he's quick to mention that it took nearly two and a half years for Silverstein to garner those numbers. Says Bradford, "The new record has been out since August, so that's a much shorter period of time, and it's already equal to where the first record left off."

Bradford says the band truly enjoys playing their new material live and simply wants people to come to shows and have a good time. He's not looking to make a landmark change in people's lives. "We play to a bunch of different crowds with a bunch of different backgrounds that are into different types of music, and it's really cool to see them come together."

"I think the themes on Discovering are a little more positive," Bradford says, "And I think you'll see that trend continue." He also says that everything is getting more hopeful feeling and that it's all about getting on with it, whatever it may be, and not dwelling on the past.

In the fall, Silverstein found themselves in mourning during the Never Sleep Again Tour after the death of Bayside drummer, John Beatz, who lost his life during a terrible van accident on Halloween. Although it's a touchy subject, Bradford had the following to say: "[It's] pretty much the hardest thing any of us have ever been through. All I can really say is that I'm glad we were all together for it. We came up on the accident maybe 45 minutes after the ambulance had arrived. We were right there and we all went to the hospital and Hawthorne [Heights] were there too. We were all driving a convoy and we called Aiden. The whole tour, which was already a big group of friends, we were all together to help each other through it." Bradford admits that pretty much everyone on that tour was a "collective mess," but because they had each other, they were able to get through it. "I get shivers about it all the time," Bradford admits.

A few days prior to this interview, Bradford got an E-mail from a mother of one of Silverstein's fans. Evidently her son was involved in a car crash that almost took his life, and her son had a Silverstein CD in the CD player at the time of the accident. "She said how much we mean to her and her son now. Just thinking that one of the last things he would have experienced was us, is awesome," says Bradford.

So sure, the band have been through a lot, but their success constantly overwhelms them. Silverstein recently found out that they were nominated for a Juno award, which is the Canadian equivalent to the Grammys. The band were nominated for Best New Group alongside bands like Boys Night Out, Bedouin Soundclash, Hedley and Pocket Dwellers. "I never thought we'd ever get to that," Bradford says, "It seems like a a very different scene than what we do; we come from a hardcore background, DIY, sleeping on floors and playing shows," he says. "Now we are starting to kind of not move over, but be embraced by the other end of the spectrum." Bradford admits that it's nice to get a little bit of recognition for their hard work. "I just want to see my head on the split screen when they announce our award," he says.

Someone even auditioned for American Idol with their song "Smashed Into Pieces," which Bradford says is, "Pretty ridiculous and pretty hilarious, it just blew our mind."

Outside of constant touring, writing a new record, more touring, possibly releasing a DVD and, yeah, you guessed it more touring, Silverstein don't really have anything out of the ordinary they're hoping to do. The band will be playing on the Take Action! Tour, as well as a string of dates on the Canadian Taste Of Chaos Tour and will be at the Juno awards in April. Hopefully, rock and roll will get recognized and Silverstein will take home the much deserved award.