"It's the 13 year, 3 month, and 2 day anniversary (of the band's How to Start a Fire album), which is an important milestone in any band's career," singer Jason Gleason jokes between bites of pizza at the Rainbow Bar & Grill.

It'd actually been 13 years, 1 month, and 7 days between the release of Gleason's lone record with the band and the Friday afternoon when he and his bandmates were grabbing lunch in West Hollywood, which is basically an eternity in band years. In that time, the Florida-based quintet put out two more records with their two other singers (Chris Carrabba of Dashboard Confessional and the late Jon Bunch), took a break for four years, got various other jobs in and out of the music industry, and returned to touring for the last few years.

"Being back on the road has been really fun for us and for the people coming out so far," Gleason says.

"I think we really feed off of their excitement of everyone," says drummer Steve Kleisath while forking at his vegetable casserole. "A lot of people have said 'We missed you the first time!' and have been really excited to see us. It's been really fun for me to relearn all of the songs."

It's a common sentiment for bands these days, as so many groups from a decade ago are reuniting, but few have the diehard following and influence Further Seems Forever has had on younger bands and fans. Many artists, including Hayley Williams of Paramore, were fans of the band during their formative years, and some have gone as far as saying they likely wouldn't be where they are without albums like How to Start a Fire. For a band that isn't quite headlining amphitheaters or on the main stage at huge festivals, it's an impact they didn't even know they had until they got on the road again. 

"It's humbling and really cool (to have an impact on younger bands), it makes me think it was all worth it," says bassist Chad Neptune, who's sharing the pizza with Gleason. "A lot of people will maybe put a dollar figure behind the blood, sweat and tears that go into everything. To have an album impact anyone in bands or making music, or even just finding an outlet that gives them some kind of inspiration is amazingly humbling because I know the feeling. Descendents were that band for me. We're not U2 and get to ride in leer jets for the rest of our lives, but that was never the goal. The goal was to create and inspire, and I think that goal was accomplished."

"It's been very humbling, and maybe even more than we realized until we got back together," Kleisath says. "Realizing what kind of inspiration it had on people on a huger scale, it's mind-blowing."

"I feel incredibly lucky," Gleason adds. "I was 20 years old when we recorded it, and it's funny because I think the goal was just to make a record that felt right to us and showed what each of us could do as musicians. We made it with a kind of innocence, like there wasn't a strong intention of conquering the world or anything like that."

"To be able to come across the country so many years later without having a new record and without having done much of anything and to still have so many people still want to hear you and be excited about it, it's really a blessing," Neptune concludes.

When Gleason mentions how lucky he feels for the third time, Neptune makes a Clint Eastwood reference. As serious as the five guys of Further Seems Forever are about the how blessed they feel for the support from their fans, they play and jab at each other like brothers the rest of the time. Just a few hours before they'll seem very serious on the stage of the Roxy, the band cracks one joke after another. Even their new touring guitarist, Josh Diaz, jests that he's "just here for the beer" as he sips on a water. For Diaz, the tour is a bit of a dream come true, as he was a fan of Further Seems Forever long before he was a part of it.

"This band's always been very authentic, I remember that from being a fan of theirs in high school," Diaz says. "Nobody's putting on the rock star act. They're all just real and authentic, and that lasts a long time."

"I guess that's what I meant when I said 'innocent,'" Gleason adds. "We've always had a no-frills attitude. I don't know if that's because we all grew up listening to punk and hardcore or what that comes from, but we're not making some big production."

"That's through all of our lineups," Neptune says. "When we started the band, whether it was Chris and I at Kinko's pasting together fliers and putting together merch displays or whatever else bands do, we're not going to put eyeliner on with some crazy outfit with some self-lit codpiece..."

"I would totally wear a self-lit codpiece," Gleason jokingly interrupts.

"There's an entertainment factor to that for some bands, but that's just not us," Neptune continues. "When we go out there and talk about the things that we talk about, that's who we are."

But no matter how true to itself a band is, it's hard to stay consistent through three singers. According to Neptune, the key is to split the songwritiing responsibility among everyone.

"A lot of bands rely on one songwriter," Neptune says. "If that guy leaves the band, then the identity of the band really changes. This band has always been about a full collaboration, so a lot of the identities really stay the same. When our singers leave, it's not the full songwriting process. Each one of them are very talented in their own right, but they each bring something a little different. When Chris left, we weren't trying to replace Chris with someone like Chris. Jason had some very big shoes to fill, and he was probably the only person stupid enough to try to get into that. He took the bull by the horns and blew everyone's mind. He went into a hard situation and just tried to be himself. When Jon came in after Jason, Jon was Jon."

"I think it's been good for us to have different singers come in, because we've made very different records," says guitarist Derick Cordoba. "I'm a huge jazz fan, and jazz musicians do that all the time. They do it to get inspiration, because it keeps things fresh. It's not ideal, but there is some positive. How to Start a Fire is very different than Hide Nothing." 

"It's been quite therapeutic to be able to perform and give a small tribute to our Jon," Kleisath says.

"We were very honored to have an opportunity to work and to create with Jon," Neptune continues. "The last time I spoke with Jon was actually about having him perform some songs with us on this very show, It's weird to be back in LA and not see him."

As weird as it might've felt for the band, their rendition of "Light Up Ahead" that night at the Roxy was almost painfully touching. Further Seems Forever might feel lucky to have such loyal fans, but their fans were certainly the lucky ones to be there.