TOTP: What did they make you do at your school if you turned up without your gym clothes?
Travis: That's the funny thing - I always did, I always showed up to gym class without my gym clothes. Sometimes they make you write out of this book - you'd have to copy, like, paragraphs or pages out of this stupid health book or whatever. Or other times they'd make you come after class, or other times they'd make you go to summer school, which I had to do once too.
TOTP: Summer school? That's harsh!
Travis: Yeah. Phys Ed is so important nowadays. [Chuckles.]

TOTP: So what was the worst thing you ever got detention for?
Travis: Hmmm. I can't think. I definitely got - I used to get in detention all the time. I remember actually I got detention for something I didn't do once, and trying to explain to the principal that I'd had nothing to do with it, that was awesome, because I'd always be in trouble and I'd always be in his office, and this was actually the first time I didn't do something. It was a whole boy-who-cried-wolf scenario.
TOTP: Did you get away with it in the end?
Travis: I did not, but whatever. You win some, you lose some.

TOTP: Did you have to wear a school uniform?
Travis: Nah, no uniforms.
TOTP: If you did have to wear one, what sort of uniform would you want to wear?
Travis: Something traditional, like something Prince would wear. Like, assless pants.
TOTP: Where do you stand on the whole concept of school uniform - is it good or bad?
Travis: It's bogus. It's cute, I mean it's cute to look at, but at the same time I think it forces kids to be individual - I guess they can do their hair differently. But other than that, it kind of kills the whole point of going to school and showing off who you are.

TOTP: What was your best excuse when you hadn't done your homework?
Travis: I didn't have a dog, so I couldn't use that one, but I think... [asks the rest of the band] what's some 'I don't have my homework excuses?' I'd just be like, "I didn't do it", because I was just that lazy.
TOTP: Ha! Well, I admire your honesty on that one...
Travis: It got to a point where it was like, "There's no point in me coming up with a story. We both know I'm lying. Let me just be upfront and tell you that I didn't even take the time to do it. Actually, you know what? I lied: I started it, but it was boring, so I didn't finish it."

TOTP: What about if you were skiving off school - where would you go?
Travis: Actually, me and my friends would skip school and go to a restaurant called Hooters [for those of you who don't know, it's a chain famous for its large-breasted waitresses. - Culture Ed] That was always fun. Somehow my dad found out years and years later, and to this day I still don't know how he found out.
TOTP: Were there any areas that were completely off-limits because you knew you'd be spotted if you went there?
Travis: Well, whenever we'd skip school we'd leave town and go to different cities. We'd be nowhere near school or near anyone who could tell our parents that we hadn't been in school. We'd drive for like 45 minutes and hang out in different areas. You definitely don't want to be in the same city, especially when you come from a small town because everybody knows everyone, so you avoid that at all costs.

TOTP: What was the worst thing you had to dissect in science class?
Travis: Dude, we had to dissect a foetal pig!
TOTP: [in horror, certain we misheard] A what?
Travis: A pig foetus. It was the most disgusting thing ever, and I had to do it with the worst kid ever, this kid named Tyler Verlard. He's a friend of mine, but he's definitely not the kid you wanna dissect a pig with. It was probably the grossest thing I've ever done in my life. First we did a worm...
TOTP: ...and then you built up to it?
Travis: Yeah, you go from a worm, to a frog, to the pig. And it's just like, "all right, cool, now I know what a pig's guts look like. Where is this going to help me later on in life?" There's a lot of s*** that we went through in school that I'm still baffled about to this day, that I've never used, even, like, my diploma. I saw my diploma the other day, and I was like, "you b******! What the hell do I need you for?" It's so stupid, but whatever. It builds character, I guess.

TOTP: Did you have any hilarious experiences with exchange students?
Travis: Yeah, we had this dude named Boris from Russia, he was pretty cool. [Chuckles.] He was nasty at tennis, he was an awesome tennis player. And there was another one - what was his name? Stan? Stanislav. I think he was from Kazakhstan or something. Kakaz...what's it called?
TOTP: Kazakhstan?
Travis: Yeah, that's the one.

TOTP: What kind of pranks did you play when you had substitute teachers?
Travis: Oh, we did all kinds. There's this weird tension when you walk into a classroom with a substitute, because the kids are all like "oh s***, we're about to get away with murder today." But you never know what you're going to get, because there've been teachers, substitute teachers, that've like totally flipped the script and been awesome, and made school worthwhile. But then there've been teachers that you know from the jump that you're gonna take advantage of them. It was funny when they'd give us student teachers, like teachers who had just graduated, as a substitute. They'd get the worst of it. One time this substitute teacher came in and I was being an a*****e all class, being really really rude, and after class he made me stay and he was like, "I want you to write out your name for me," blah blah and all this s***, and have you ever met a guy who could read handwriting? He told me so many things about myself from the way I wrote my name, and I was so baffled. From that point every time we had a substitute, I would just sit there and be like "but how the hell did he know?"

TOTP: Did you have any special techniques for disrupting assemblies?
Travis: Not really, we'd just do traditional stuff, like talking and booing.

TOTP: Did you have a crush on any of your teachers?
Travis: Oh, of course! I feel that, in essence, schoolteachers are your first - for me, at least - it was the first time I got to see a female on a regular basis, like, all the time. You're, like, "man, something's gotta come out of this!" I had a crush on a bunch of my teachers. The one that stands out was Miss McDougall, I think - oh, I'm going to go to jail for this - Miss McDougall was my favourite. She was a sight for sore eyes.
TOTP: Hey, maybe she'll read this!
Travis: I hope so! And maybe she'll give me a call. Shout me a holla.