shoeless and clueless...

wiL Francis, Aiden

His biggest regret? Taking his top off.

Q: How was 2006 for you?

A: It was the most incredible year of my life. I've been to England five times and toured with some of my favorite bands on the Bullet tour, the HIM tour and the Warped tour. We played all these famous fuckin' English festivals, Give It A Name, Downland and Reading and Leeds. We did our first headlining tour, which was fucking amazing.

Q: What was the highlight of your headlining tour?

A: The highlight of it was playing the London Astoria, and having everybody there to see us. The crowd was probably one of the most rowdy fucking crowds - I can't even describe it.

Q: You're a big HIM fan, what was it like meeting Ville Valo when you toured with them?

A: I'ts always nerve-wracking when you first meet someone that you really admire or look up to. You build them up in your head until they're much larger than life. You know, he's just a guy. He's just a real down to earth, super cool guy who's humble about his band and is a great singer. Once you get to know him you just become real good friends.

Q: Did he teach you anything?

A: Absolutely, I learned more from that tour than I have from any other tour. I learned so much about singing, song structure and how to write songs. It was just us and HIM, so we would play the same show, then we'd load up our gear and throw it in the trailer, then we'd get to watch them every night, so it was great.

Q: What's most surprised you this year?

A: The biggest surprise would have to be winning the Kerrang! Award because we were up against some pretty good bands.

Q: What were you thinking when you went down the red carpet into the Kerrang! Awards?

A: I was scared and anxious. I was walking down the aisle with fucking Slayer right behind me, meanwhile Placebo were doign an interview, it was fucking crazy. When they said we'd won I just thought, 'I can't fucking believe we beat Panic! At The Disco', because they're so much bigger than us, they've sold so many more records, and their shows are so much bigger. I just couldn't believe that we beat that band.

Q: What was your most embarrassing moment this year?

A: Some of the pictures Kerrang! have printed of me! Haha! I've never seen more embarrassing pictures in my life! You guys did a photoshoot where I have an arrow in my chest. I had no shirt on and the bootleggers over there got hold of that picture and started making these life-size posters of it! They'd sell them to the kids and they'd come to the shows and they'd have me sign them, and it's the most embarrassing picture of me I've ever seen in my whole life.

Q: What do you remember about the Kerrang! Tour?

A: It was so much fun. We got to share a bus with our friends in Still Remains, and Hawthorne Heights were on the tour, who we already knew. And we got to open up for Bullet For My Valentine, who are some of our best friends now, and they're probably one of the best bands we know. So it was great, we got to play in front of tons of kids every night. It was real laid-back, we just had a great time.

Q: Have you met any crazy fans this year?

A: Our fans are a little crazy, but I love our fans, I love them.

Q: What are your hopes for 2007?

A: I want to try and put out the best record that I possibly can. I'll be back to London to work on it. I've been taking inspiration from lots of letters I get from fans about their situation at home or how the music has helped them through some tough times, so there's some stuff about that. There are definitely going to be a couple of love songs on the record. I've never really written love songs before. It's going to be a bit different.