The Thermals have gotten their fair share of exposure over the past year, by finding themselves on numerous critics' lists for 2006 and touring endlessly. That exposure continues in part two of a Q&A with the indie-punk rockers' lead vocalist and guitarist, Hutch Harris.

Q: You guys are touring with the Hold Steady. Have you ever toured with them before?

A: Yeah, when we were on our second record and they were on their first. We did a couple weeks with them in the midwest and the east coast, that was cool.

Q: Who's the least similar band you've ever played with?

A: I don't know, we've played with so many bands. Death Cab for Cutie, we opened for them. That was a slightly weird match, because we're louder and noisier and they're so pretty. It depends, it seemed like a lot of people really liked it. There's a lot of people that go to shows that like really different kinds of music. So it doesn't always matter.

Q: Do you think you would love making music as much if you weren't getting any positive reviews?

A: I don't know. I haven't seen many bad reviews for us, so I don't really know.

Q: What do you think you'd be doing if you weren't a musician?

A: I'd try to do something writing, I think. I'd write some novels or scripts.

Q: Do you think that comes through in your lyrics?

A: More and more, now. I don't know what exactly I'm going to write about for the next one, but for the last record I really got a good idea of writing fiction, for writing lyrics.

Q: You've said that if there were characters for the album then it would be you and Kathy [Foster], right?

A: I guess so. I mean, I don't know. I'd probably say about six different things about it. Only to make it personal for myself, I guess. Of course I was thinking of myself for a protagonist, but also, I wasn't thinking too much about that.

Q: But it wasn't like American Idiot or something like that.

A: No. I didn't set out to make a concept record; it really just kind of happened that way. And then, halfway through writing all the songs, I realized that they were just kind of going together nicely. So then, from then on, I went on and then tried to kind of link the songs together. To me, it's really vague and it's supposed to be vague.

Q: How did you guys get involved with the Hold Steady? Are you in communication with them?

A: Kathy and I were just in New York City and we saw those guys. We had seen them a couple months before at Irving Plaza. We have the same booking agent, and so she suggested that we play together. So we met them when we did that first tour and then we just got along really well with those guys. They were actually opening for us on that first tour and now we'll be opening for them because they've been doing great.

Q: Do you find it easier to tour with somebody who has that same kind of DIY ethic to their band?

A: Yeah, I feel like so many bands that we've toured with have been like us, like Sleater-Kinney were always really DIY and Death Cab for Cutie too, for a long time had done so much just on their own, managing and recording and stuff. Then we were on tour with Cursive, too, and of course all those Omaha bands are totally rad and nice, and they're from that same scene too. That's the scene we're in and I think we fit in pretty well. It's cool; I actually respect all those bands a ton.

Q: Portland has a growing music community now. Because of where you're from, do you think that has anything to do with the ethic you bring with you?

A: It fits in, but it is unrelated because Kathy and I are both from the Bay Area in California, and so it's just more like the scene that was national or international. That kind of way of thinking about starting in punk rock and then changing your view from punk rock to just whatever you do, kind of being DIY about it. But it definitely fits. I think the sound of our music fits even more with the sound of the Northwest. I mean, just the fact that we're on Sub Pop [records]. We sound like a lot of bands that have been in the Northwest in the past 20 years.

Q: You mentioned the punk rock ethic. Do you think that's kind of dying out anymore? What is the state of punk rock these days?

A: I don't really know. I'm sure the state of real punk rock is so under the radar for me. I mean, I'm 30, so I don't really know what's going on. High school kids in basements and stuff, I'm sure there's a ton of stuff going on. But a lot of times people think that scene has died out. I think if you want to stay in the underground, especially as you're getting older, you have to really make an effort to stick in it and know what's going on. It's hard for us. We tour almost half the year so it gets harder to stay in touch with what's going on in your city. I'm confident the underground still has a lot going on, but I'm not sure what it is.

Q: Have you yourselves played any really tiny shows recently?

A: We haven't recently, but I think we will again. We always do in Portland. It's hard to tour now and play really small shows. It's just easier in your own town. We just don't want to go to a city and play a show and have there be people that can't get in to see the show. You just want everyone to be able to come.

Q: With the new album, with the message that you guys are conveying, it seems like your crowd are already along with you on that message. Do you worry about preaching to the choir?

A: I try to have it be less about a message and more like that's just what's interesting for me to write about. I'm not really out to change people's minds. I don't expect to. Most people that hear it kind of feel that way already, but to me it's just like a story. A lot of times my lyrics aren't like that. To me, I like my lyrics to be intelligent and about something. But a lot of times I'm not thinking like I want to give a message to anyone.

Q: So it's more like your State of the Union?

A: I guess so. (laughs)