Celebrating 15 years of being in a band, New Found Glory are this year’s Kerrang! Tour headliners. Emma Lawrence chats with front man Jordan Pundik about the band and the K! tour before their show in Glasgow.

Who is your biggest inspiration?

For me personally, as a singer, it has to be Green Day. I grew up seeing them play small shows of about 200 people to what they are now. They influenced me a lot when I was growing up. Hoosker Do and the Replacements also influence me. Lesser known bands like SuperChunck kind of influence how I sing to.

How does it feel to be at the forefront of the genre of Pop-Punk for so long?

WOW! I don’t know it’s pretty awesome I guess, I never expected it to happen. I really never expected to be part of that wave y’know? And it’s really cool that we are. And it’s really great that younger bands list us as their influences because that’s how we became the band that we are today, the bands we listened to shaped us!

Who would you most like to do a collaboration with? If you could pick anyone in the world?

Anybody in the world? I’d like to do a collaboration with Morrissey.

Is Morrissey someone you idolize?

I mean I wouldn’t say I idolize him. I don’t have tattoos of his face or anything like some people do (laughs), but, uh, I am more of a Smiths fan. I like some Morrissey albums, but I can listen to any Smiths record and sing along with all the words.

What do you think of TV shows like American Idol/ X-Factor USA? And what do you think they bring to music, if anything?

I think it gives people the wrong impression of how things work in music. I mean pop music is way different, but still, it gives the wrong impression and shows people’s fantasy’s are, and gives them a sense of false hope. It is cool because you could be nobody and that show could make you a somebody but it doesn’t show it for what it really is and only a handful of people have made it from American Idol. It’s funny though, because it’s not just in pop music, it’s in our world too. Like, there are so many bands that come and go because they think just because they have 1 million followers on Myspace they’re going to be huge, but that’s not the case.

What do you think of new bands like Lower than Atlantis and Don Broco? Do you think that they are keeping Pop-Punk alive?

Lower Than Atlantis are cool but I kind of think they sound a bit like Biffy Clyro or something y’know? But I think they are a really cool band! It’s good to see how this genre of music has evolved, because it still has the pop sensibility but it now has heavier guitars.

Would you ever think about going down a more hardcore route, like what you guys done with International Superhero’s of Husker Du and Shai Hulud?

I don’t think that we’ll ever just do that but the older New Found Glory records are definitely influenced by it.

What is the best and the worst thing about being on tour?

The best thing is obviously the shows are great, and the bands that are on this tour are awesome to hang out with. And the worst thing for me personally is, being away from home. I’ve got people at home that I really miss. It’s hard in the UK too because you wake up and it’s dark and you go to bed and it’s the same! (Laughs)

Where has been the best place to play so far on the K! Tour?

So far, I’ve really enjoyed Bristol, and Southampton was really fun!

How did you feel about the line up getting changed last minute and The Blackout being put in?

The Blackout are really good guys to tour with! We’ve played festivals with them before. They are the ones I’ve been hanging out with most actually. I love how they make fun of themselves, and make jokes about themselves on stage and on their merch. Y’know they’re not cool and they know they’re not cool! Ha-ha!

What’s your favourite thing about coming to the UK to tour?

The UK is awesome because of our fans!

Who is your favourite comic book hero and villain?

Lately I’ve been reading a comic called “The Boys”, it’s pretty awesome. And I got the first one of the comic Y: The Last Man. Yorick is the main characters name and he’s cool, so far he seems to be a bad ass! He’s living in a world where he’s the only man left so far and it’s a world full of woman and he has a pet monkey. So he’s pretty cool. I don’t really have a favourite villain!

What can we expect from you in 2012? Will there be another release soon or are you going to keep touring “RadioSurgery” just now?

No, it’s going to be a little while because it’s not been out that long so we still have this year of touring. Then next year we’ll probably go away and write.

What is your favourite country to play?

Uh, I really like Japan. Everyone is really nice there and they bring you little gifts and stuff. They find out what you like and give you little trinkets to keep.

Who is your tip for the top for 2012?

I guess Skrillex is pretty famous right now! (Laughs). But my pick, oh I don’t know. Lower Than Atlantis are really cool and Deaf Havana’s new record is good. There are actually lots of bands from this country right now which are really good!

I also read that you want to try and play every festival in Britain, so would you play T in The Park?

Yeah sure! If they asked us we would love to!

Would you play Slam Dunk again?

Yeah for sure! We headlined last time so we would love to! Slam Dunk is awesome!

Can we expect a “From the Screen to your Stereo Pt3?”

Sadly no, probably not! As of right now I’m saying no, but you never know we could decide to! I feel that we’ve kind of done too many covers!

What’s your favourite cover to do?

My favourite was “King of Wishful Thinking” with Patrick Stump from Fall out Boy. I actually really liked that album, From the Screen to Your Stereo Pt2 because every track had a guest vocalist on it!

Is there anything you would like to add or say to your fans?

Yeah, just thanks for supporting our band this long and for continuing to support us. Every time we come here we feel like we’re a new band so thanks!