Between the public embarrassment of getting pelted in dodgeball to awkwardly changing clothes amongst a jury of peers, the memories taken from high school gym class, at least for some, would rather be forgotten.

Travis McCoy has fought through that public embarrassment with the help of his band, Gym Class Heroes, to become one of the big up-and-comers in music this year. The hip-hop band, which will open for the All-American Rejects tonight at the Bryce Jordan Center, is distinctive for its use of live instrumentation as opposed to pre-recorded beats.

The band has also garnered its fair share of accolades this year. In addition to building its name through the Warped Tour, Gym Class Heroes have been nominated for the mtvU Woodie Award for Artist of the Year. I got the opportunity to talk with McCoy about the band's sudden burst of success.

Q: The band has gotten a lot of exposure over the past year, including a nomination for an mtvU Woodie Award. How have things changed for you since last year?

A: I think we've been on the road for the past two and a half years, non-stop. Everybody's singing all the words to our songs. It's really an honor, especially getting nominated for artist of the year. It'd be cool to walk away with it, but just getting nominated is cool.

Q: You were on the Warped Tour this year. What was it like being a hip-hop group on a punk rock tour?

A: Warped Tour was cool. It was actually our first time doing the whole tour. We just like to tour. It's cool that we can play with a lot of pop punk bands and indie rock bands. And now that we're doing headlining tours, it's like the audience combines with the hip-hop fans.

Q: It's a little unconventional for hip-hop bands to use live instrumentation. How did you guys develop your style back when you first started?

A: We were both in [crappy] bands. I played drums in a punk band and he played drums in another band. We just started talking about our favorite drummers and we got together.

Q: In your song, "Cupid's Chokehold," you sample a Supertramp song, which might be a first in hip-hop. Why Supertramp?

A: I grew up on Supertramp and I used to walk around as a kid singing that song. That was our first experiment with sampling, so it made sense to take a song that meant a lot to me as a kid.

Q: The band has some references to Myspace in its songs. What do you think of how Myspace is changing the music world?

A: I think it's an awesome platform for upcoming artists. The days of sending out demos are over.

Q: Your album has a high school theme to the track list. What were you like back in high school?

A: I was a fat kid. I kind of stuck to myself, just writing poetry. I was kind of like a loner. I had a little clique of friends that are still my friends today.

Q: Was that the inspiration for the album cover?

A: People never knew what to think of us. They'd turn away from us, or they mocked us. And then like on the cover, the kid's still smiling, and the next day everybody's wearing our t-shirts.