Courtesy All Time Low is set to play at Fiesta Texas. The underwear is just for show.

If Alex Gaskarth of All Time Low wasn’t the class clown in high school, he sure is making up for it now. Gaskarth is singer/guitarist for the pop-punk band that’s taking over for past favorites Green Day and blink-182 as the poster boys of the pop-punk immaturity movement. And All Time Low is having a blast doing it. The Maryland-based foursome has seen its popularity rise with the release of the seven-song album, Put Up or Shut Up, and its more recent full-length release, So Right, It’s Wrong. Fresh off a string of Vans Warped Tour dates, Gaskarth chatted with 210SA from California before landing in S.A. for the band’s show with Katy Perry at Six Flags Fiesta Texas.

So, All Time Low’s album, So Right, It’s Wrong, came out about a year ago.

It’s had a really good run. We just premiered the third single the other day on “TRL” called “Poppin’.”

What’s your favorite song off the album?

To be honest, I’d have to say “Poppin’.” It’s probably the most honest song off the record. It comes off a little vague. But it’s actually about being OK with making pop music. In our genre, there’s a lot of bands like ours that take a lot of criticism, I guess, about not being original or playing music that’s too sugarcoated.

Your video for “Poppin’” cracked us up. In the video, there’s ferret licking, a dancing leprechaun and a foam party. Is there anything left to mock about music videos?

I’m sure we’ll be able to think of a few things. ..... We take a lot of heat for pretty much everything we do. There was a handful of people saying, “When are you going to shoot a serious video?” For now, we’re kind of enjoying just blowing a bunch of money on doing something fun.

Does the craziness continue on tour? What’s the weirdest thing that’s happened to you guys?

On the Warped Tour, I would say, one of the days in which we ran into two rattlesnakes. Pretty crazy stuff. There was one, like, on site. ..... Nobody can remember which city, everything kind of blurs together.

Between gigs, what do you do to stay entertained on the tour bus?

A lot of video games. It was recently Shark Week on the Discovery Channel, and we watched that. I recently got a tattoo, that’s another thing you can do to pass the time.

Tell me about your new tatt.

It’s a skeleton wearing a skeleton costume trick-or-treating. It’s on my left forearm.

Interesting. Why did you pick that?

Two things. One, Halloween is my favorite holiday ’cause it’s just a great time all around. And two, I had written some lyrics recently talking about pretending to be yourself.

Do you usually write the songs then?

Musically, it’s usually a joint effort. ..... The lyrics I do because I don’t think I could sing someone else’s words.

One of our favorite songs is “Dear Maria, Count Me In,” which also made it on to Billboard’s Pop 100 Chart. Who is Maria anyway?

A stripper named Maria.

Where did you run into her?

Baltimore. She’s actually been a friend of mine for quite awhile. She had gotten that job while we were on tour, and I found out she had become a stripper. ..... The song isn’t entirely true, but it’s based on her.

What did she think of the song?

She just thought it was funny. She’s not one to take things too seriously.

OK, last question. There are a lot of photos of you guys in your tighty whities floating around. Do you wear them for real?

Usually, I don’t wear underwear. So, that was kind of an exception for me to put those on.

Jennifer Lloyd | 210SA