It's not always easy tracking down members of a superstar rock band right on top of the release of their latest album.

They're usually sipping champagne at press conferences, playing live show after live show to promote themselves, and generally anywhere but home. Whoever thought that being in a band was just fun and no graft, has obviously never been in one.

So we were incredibly lucky to catch up with Jon Gallant, bassist of Billy Talent, who took time out of his busy schedule to shoot the breeze with us.

PainterJane: Congrats on the new album!

Jon Gallant: Thanks!

PJ: When you guys first started out playing the underground scene, did you have your sights set on worldwide fame? Was it your goal, or were you just doing it for the love of the music?

JG: Totally for the love, nobody who tries for any other reason succeeds.

PJ: Billy Talent are a "punk rock" band, to put it loosely, but you are leaps ahead of the pack in sound and originality. How much of this is natural, or cleverly planned?

JG: We've always tried to sound different than other bands. I think a lot of our major influences are traditionally not of the punk style; and we just always did what we thought sounded cool.

PJ: You've mention that some people seem to think that being played on the radio means you're a sell out. How do you feel about that, considering you're getting quite a bit of radio play these days?

JG: I don't really feel anything about that term any more. It used to bother me; but now it makes me roll my eyes. People tend to be very reductive.

PJ: 'III' was produced by Brendan O'Brien. Describe a day in the studio with Brendan manning the wheel?

JG: We'd arrive and he'd show up about 15 minutes later. We'd go over the plan for the day and then get started. Often there was a bit of a story time session where we'd get him to tell us shit about people he had worked with. Not bad shit, just funny regular shit, like what kind of coffee did Bruce Springsteen drink, or did Eddie Vedder really wear slippers in the studio?

PJ: What song / songs are your favorite off 'III' and why?

JG: I love 'Saint Veronika' best right now. It's a great song to play live.

JG: A beaten man, searching for a way back.

PJ: You cite your influences as bands from the grunge and punk eras like Pearl Jam and The Clash. Who do you think are today's biggest stars? Who do you think will go on to influence bands in the future and become "legendary"?

JG: Muse, Queens of the Stone Age… hmmm — good question.

PJ: Describe one of your craziest tours ever.

JG: Billy Talent, Alexis on Fire and Death From Above (before they added 1979) on our headlining Canadian tour from our first record. We were all young and dumb and just had a lot of fun. Every band turned into something great. You could see it in everyone's eyes.

PJ: Do you think the heyday of the political record is over, now that Obama is in and no one can complain about Bush anymore?

JG: Give it time. The Americans will elect some other shit head... just wait.

PJ: How would you guys compare 'III' to 'Billy Talent (I)'?

JG: How would you compare Scarlett Johansson to Angelina Jolie? They're both beautiful!

PJ: You guys have been the recipient of quite a few Juno awards. How do you celebrate after you've won one of those?

JG: We drink beer together and talk about how funny of an experience it was.

PJ: There are loads of bands working on concept type albums. Do you think you would ever do something like that?

JG: Probably not, it seems like such an ordeal. We're more short story; not novel. But you never know.

PJ: Do you know much about South Africa? Would you ever come out to play here?

JG: We would really love that. Don't know much about the country except that the Republic of South Africa, also known by other official names, is a country located at the southern tip of the continent of Africa. The South African coast stretches 2798 kilometers and borders both the Atlantic and Indian oceans. To the north of South Africa lie Namibia, Botswana and Zimbabwe; to the east are Mozambique and Swaziland, while the Kingdom of Lesotho is an independent enclave surrounded by South African territory. (I cheated.)

PJ: Describe the band members to us in one sentence.

JG: Ian — The creative mastermind. Ben — The voice and face of the band and Aaron — The Gilligan of our island. (He takes all the abuse, God bless him). Jon — Nuts and bolts.

PJ: If you could choose to be photographed by any one person - living or dead — who would it be?

JG: Jesus.

PJ: And lastly, describe your ideal rock concert line up — with you headlining? Who would be your support acts?

JG: We could not headline a concert with Rage Against the Machine, Led Zeppelin, Nirvana, the Beatles and Jimi Hendrix playing.

PJ: Thanks for your time, and good luck with the new record.

JG: Thanks for your time, and good luck with the article.