Formed in 2005, pop-tinged indie rock act Between the Trees has developed a dedicated following of sing-along fans that continues to spread like wildfire across the internet and into packed venues. Their debut release, The Story & The Song hit iTunes this past September and the overwhelming response earned them a national release this coming April via Bonded Records. The Orlando based 5-piece has already played select dates on the 2006 Warped tour, won a battle-of-the-bands slot at the 2006 Bamboozle Left festival, broken a venue record at the Hard Rock, debuted on various Billboard charts in limited release and earned slots at the upcoming Bamboozle and Cornerstone festivals.

Matt: You guys are out on the road right now with Hundred Year Storm, is that right?

Ryan: Yeah, they also have another guy out on the road with them - Brooks Chambers. We're having a lot of fun out with them.

You guys also have recently done some touring for To Write Love On Her Arms (TWLOHA). Can you tell us about your involvement there?

Before we started the band, I knew Renee [Ed. Note: the girl that TWLOHA was founded for] for probably a year. So when things started getting too bad, I thought I was trying to carry the burden of trying to help her on my own so I started talking to other people. Jamie [Tworkowski, the founder of TWLOHA] was just one of those people. When he finally got to meet her and talk with her, that's when he decided to write the story and try and help her get to rehab.

I met Jamie through that, through Renee. And from then on, Jamie knew the songs I had written for Renee and used that as a thing to do for MySpace. We just developed a relationship through this person we both cared about. So that's how Between The Trees got tied into it. It's been really awesome.

Is that an organization you think that Between The Trees will always be a part of?

Well, it depends on where TWLOHA goes. If it contines to do what it's doing, I feel we will always have a hand in it. If we get humongous, which I hope we do, I'm sure we'd still be a part of it because Renee is a part of our lives. She's a part of TWLOHA because she's now sober for almost a year. She really has a hand in trying to help others like her.

So knowing Renee, caring for Renee and other people, I'm sure that TWLOHA will always be a part of Between The Trees and that we'll always have a hand in it. I'm not sure where they want to go with it though.

For those unfamiliar, can you tell us how you came together?

[Drummer] Josh [Butler] and I have known each other for several years and we were in other bands, other little side projects and stuff together. We ended up teaching his brother Jeremy to play bass. About 2005, we decided to do Between The Trees because we met Wesley [Anderson], the keyboard player... he was behind the keyboards when we were writing "The Way She Feels" and were like, "Hey, you should play keyboards." He said, "I don't play keyboards." And so we just said, "We'll teach you."

It's been that kind of thing with us where we care more about the relationship with each other more than the actual talent. The talent will catch up to it eventually. We care more about the brotherhood and friendship of it. So a year into Between The Trees, we met Brad Kriebel, the guitar player. He was the most experienced musician coming into the band. At that time, I'd been playing five years or so, but we were finally getting a musician in the band who actually played the instrument. (Laughs).

So we played around for six months or so and met David McKenna, our manager with Synergy Management. He was like, "Hey, we need to do a record." We talked with Pete Thornton and who has worked with Shinedown, Paramore and others. About a month or so later, we went into pre-production and writing some songs there and then recorded the album. We did all that in a period of about three months.

Did all of that seem like a whirlwind?

Yeah, a really fast snowball. (Laughs).

How was it working with Thornton? He bring anything out of you?

In general, he just has a pretty amazing ear. When it came to the drums and stuff like that, he can bring out the best in Josh. When he talks to any of us, he brings out the best in your voice or instrument. Not just in the technical side, but in the way he talks to you as well. There's just something about him that brings out the best and made you wanna work for the best stuff you could bring to the record. He had a great team of guys helping and it just seemed to click.

So where does "The Story and The Song" come from?

We were playing a show in Melbourne and talking about what we would call the album. A couple conversations we had in the past were just concentrating on what our album was about or what were our songs about. And the recurring thing was that there was more to the songs than just a background story. There's a huge, ongoing story in most of the songs. Regardless of the song, there is an ongoing story or ongoing event and a deeper side to each of the songs.

Brad was outside of some club and he just said, "How about 'The Story in the Song'?" We mulled it over and then just said, "How about 'The Story and The Song'?" When we got into the studio, we just said, "Well, alright" and went with that.

How do you explain the sudden impact of your music or the instant spotlight on you guys?

We have amazing people that work with us. Our management is great. At one point, we just decided to give up the reins of total control and he got us in front of the right people. I guess that's just a blessing in general. We don't feel we are anything different or too special as people. But I guess when we come together as a whole, it's something special. And we care for people. We love on people. The whole reason that we do what we do is to meet and love people and to experience this thing called life together.

We feel like it's a blessing that we have the impact we have. We meet so many bands on the road that are awesome bands and aren't going anywhere. I was just talking to a guy last night in a band I won't mention. They're a great band and we've played with them before, but he asked the same thing, "Why do you guys get so much attention? You guys are good, I understand that. But we're good, too. What is it that's working for you?" And I don't know how to answer that other than we're blessed to have the response that we do.

Is that shocking to you to hear that?

I've heard it before, but not as blunt. To hear that asked like that was pretty shocking, I guess. It caused me to sit back and not be able to answer for a little bit. To have someone say, "You're good. We're good. What's so different?" took me back and I just passed off the answer as, "Well, we have these guys - David McKenna and Nich Sambrato - who are just really pushing us." That's one half of it. But if your music is not impacting people and touching people in a different side of things, it won't work either.