In advance of Better Than Ezra's visit to Summerfest, I talked with Tom about Shopping the Pig, fans that refuse to share, and finally breaking the string of bad luck

The guys are playing amazingly these days, rejuvenated with new material, and covers and the quest for the perfect amount of cowbell will keep Ezralites and fans entertained. Tom hinted that there may be some extra festivities for the occasion.

"Before the Robots" has gotten great reviews, and "A Lifetime" is in heavy rotation on VH1. What's life been like recently for BTE?

When you have a record that's doing well and a song that's doing well, you get asked to do a lot of stuff. Lately we've been in a position where we have to say, 'OK, we're taking this week off,' just to recharge the batteries – but that's a wonderful problem to have.

You're much more of a live touring act, versus a studio-polished radio staple band. Now that you're gaining popularity, does this give you an advantage?

You'll have records that will do well, and those that don't. The only thing that's going to get you through the valley and back to the peak is your fan base; if you don't have a great live show, they're not going to show up. When we have a new record we'll do 200 shows a year to support it for two years if we have to.

You've definitely learned what it means to work hard, but you could say you play hard, too.

We really enjoy playing live, always have. We're definitely entertainers and like to have fun. It's not necessarily Better Than Ezra playing exactly as we do on the album; we're going for a more live representation.

Do you have a favorite venue?

We just played the House of Blues in Chicago, which is a really beautiful place to play, but its equally cool playing for 70,000 people at RFK stadium. We're all over the place.

I'm surprised you didn't choose a little event I saw you at in Racine a few summers ago…it was sponsored by Piggly Wiggly and the phrase "Shop the Pig" was in the middle of all of my pictures.

That's really funny…sorry about that. I had no idea.

I'm finally over it. But you go from that to selling out the House of Blues; with all the recent momentum, have you thought that this could be "It?"

We've put a lot of effort into making things happen with this album, but there are so many things out of your control when it comes to having a hit record…just a lot of things that have to line up. There are a ton of great songs that no one ever hears, but this one ("A Lifetime") really sounds good on the radio. We're keeping our fingers crossed.

As happy as we Ezralites are for you guys, many of us really don't want to share you. Can't you just change your name to 'Manwich' (the band's alias) and play at truck stops for the rest of your career?

You can only do it so long at that level. Everyone has families…there comes a point where the only way we'll be able to keep touring is to have bigger success. I know that's probably not what fans want to hear, and I understand – some of the best shows I've ever seen were bands that played for crowds of 50 people – but it doesn't cut it. Those bands aren't around anymore.

I think what we're afraid of is losing our connection with you. The hanging out with fans, signing autographs in the snow at 4 A.M…

I really don't see that happening. This isn't some overnight success story where we turn into a bunch of assholes…we'll still do sound check parties, meet and greets, and whatever else. We know who our fans are that have really stuck around.

Let's talk about the selection process for "Before the Robots."

Some people have called it 'mainstream,' but as long as it's our best work, we're cool with that. We had about 30 songs, which was probably the only good thing to come out of what happened with our previous album. It came out in 2001, so we had a lot of time to choose what we thought were our best efforts. But it was a lot of hassle and time spent fighting for different things, like including "A Lifetime" on this album.

Why did you decide to remix "A Lifetime"?

It was meant to be our big thing (on 2001's 'Closer'). The first single, Extraordinary, was doing well in July '01. The album came out in August, and then came 9/11. The label died in the stock market, so the single was dead. We actually weren't into (remixing it) originally, but too many people told us it was too good of a song to just put on our Greatest Hits. It had to be heard, so we took the opportunity to make it better. I think we did. It's doing really well as a single now.

The "Lifetime" saga is a pretty crazy story.

It's definitely unique, but it kinda sums up the story of the band. We're a band that perseveres…we've worked really hard for everything. Nothing has come easy for us.

So what is the band's goal now that "A Lifetime" has seen the light of day?

We'll be supporting the album for a while. I'd like to see us move to the next level of venue – something that can accommodate more people (fans and crew) so we can put on a better show.

I hear you're crashing Summerfest's last night. What can we expect?

We're the last band on the last day (Sunday, July 10) on the Miller Lite stage. It'll be a party, definitely a good time. It's a great event and we're really looking forward to it. We're finally playing songs that aren't from our 2001 album – that's pretty exciting.

Quickly: three words to describe Better Than Ezra.

Fun. Intelligent. Rock.

Lastly, I need your utmost honesty here. Who do you hate in BTE? I won't tell anyone.

(Unintelligible laughing) If I hated anyone, we wouldn't be around this long.

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