It's Hard To Make A Personal Connection If You're Too Busy Looking 'Cool'

"I think that the simple truth is that I started so very young doing this that I was too young to even have, like, goals, or pie-in-the-sky aspirations," Carrabba says down the phone while sitting backstage pre-show in North Carolina.

"I was just like, 'I love playing music, I love playing in front of people, I want to do it every day and I'm just gonna find a way to do it every day.'"

Though Dashboard's music was brought to mainstream attention through their 2004 hit, Vindicated (used on the Spider-Man 2 soundtrack), Carrabba's loyal fanbase has been around basically since the get-go. In most recent years, he was personally invited to perform at Taylor Swift's best friend's birthday party, while names such as US actress Anna Kendrick have expressed their love of his music.

"That career put me in a situation where the songs became meaningful to people, and when I say regular people you're just describing regular people, like Anna... truth be told, they are just wonderful, regular people who happen to be really famous," he laughs.

"The thing was, I was never interested in being cool. I was interested in connecting with people. I don't think you can be 'cool' and connect with people. I think you have to allow yourself to lack a little cool in order to give over the importance to the listener..."

While Dashboard may be what Carrabba is best known for, the 42-year-old Florida native has also fronted in groups such as Further Seems Forever (his first band) and more recently, Twin Forks. After reviving Dashboard in 2014, Carrabba insists the band is back for good; a testament to its importance both for them and the fans, given that he grew up in an era with bands that have undergone huge changes such as Blink-182 (founding member Tom Delonge left the band in 2015) and Yellowcard (split this year). Even Carrabba says he isn't entirely sure how a solo project he started in 2000 has stood the test of time.

"I don't know, man," Carrabba ponders. "So many of us started so, so young like I said before. So, we're still in a vibrant, creative place. We're not young kids, but we're not old guys. I don't know what keeps other bands going and I don't know what stops other bands." One band Carrabba feels a deep connection to is fellow Florida punkers, New Found Glory, who just celebrated 20 years together with an Australian tour last month.

Carrabba makes sure to boast the fact that he was at NFG's first ever gig in their hometown and also caught their last US show for the 20th anniversary.

"I think New Found Glory and Dashboard have something in common in terms of the fact that we grew up together, we think about music the same way, we think about the importance of making music for the same reasons and feel lucky that we're still making music," he says.

"We look at guys like Blink, who we looked up to when we were kids because they were already a massive band well before we started our bands. To think they're still a band - and our buddy, Matt Skiba's in the band with them, it's like, 'We know a guy in Blink!' - It's crazy. I think it boils down to the ones that didn't make very good music aren't around anymore, the ones who did are." He pauses. "Wouldn't it be a better answer if it was, like, a more mysterious answer, laden in some kind of cool mystic thing?" he laughs. "But that's the truth. Not only did they make this great music, but they believed in it and they lived it and it was real."

Though Carrabba remains tight-lipped on details for the new album (a simple "yes" tells us it's on the way very soon), he says the upcoming tour of Australia, the first in five years, is something he has looked forward to for some time.

"I have nothing but fun memories of touring [Australia]. It's really mirrored the... same way the things happened in the States in the early days, where it was really about word of mouth, a little bit of radio... that makes for an unforgettable experience for me when I'm with those people."