How did you get the idea of releasing an album with "old" songs?

I think the biggest reason was that we were really proud of these songs and we felt that only a fraction of our fans have even heard them. I was compiling a list of non-album songs for myself sometime last year when I realized just how many non-album songs we had. Then I noticed there were some holes in my collection; I didn’t even own all of the songs we had recorded. Next thing I know I’m asking the other guys in the band if they can send me a song I don’t have and then we are trading songs back and forth to complete each other collections. I wondered how many of our fans had to do the same thing. We decided we had gone 13 years and the number of b-sides was getting a little ridiculous so we opted to release this volume of b-sides before it grew to over 30 tracks. The fact that we were taking time off around the last few months meant we could focus our attention on this release and not have it get lost in the shuffle of our albums.

Many fans of yours preferred your early punkrock and want to get some more of that in the future. Do you think that you can fulfill this wish with this album?

If you write songs to cater to someone elses wishes, than you are faking it. You are either pretending you are the same person you were ten years ago to please old fans or you are pretending to write a song that you hope becomes a radio hit to please new fans. The only antidote to this is just to simply write for yourself and write what you feel. That’s exactly what we’ll do on our seventh record.

What were the reasons why - until now - catchy tunes like e.g. "Historia Calamitantum" haven't appeared on your studio albums?

We usually pick about 10 or 11 songs that will definitely end up on the record with no debate. Than there is a group of 3-4 songs that we need to cut one so the record doesn’t get too long. Sometimes the song just doesn’t fit into the overall feel of the record. Sometimes another songs serves that purpose. "Historia..." was one of my favorites, but I wouldn’t change the tracklisting on "Appeal To Reason".

Do you already know which song will be released as a single first?

This being a b-side record, I don’t think we will be pushing a single like we would traditionally. These songs are more of another piece of the puzzle for Rise Against fans.

Did you record the songs just now or are these old productions with old ribbon members?

We didn’t re-record anything for this record, these are all previously recorded songs except for the MC5 cover and the Springsteen cover, those are live takes from a show last year.

Who wrote the songs of "Long Forgotten Songs"?

We all do, Joe and I do the most of the songwriting and I write all the lyrics.

Many fans of yours suspect that the title of your new album could be a kind of farewell. Is that right?

InNo, just a volume of b-side songs. We will begin working on our seventh record this year.

Will there be a live tour to this album? If yes, when does it start?

No, we will be busy writing new songs for our seventh record. Our only upcoming date will be the Warped London date in November. Maybe we’ll see you there !