"I've always been that way my whole career," Dallas explains. "I would never have been in a band if I relied on making money off records."

After over a decade of depending on touring to make a living, he finds it funny that there seems to be a focus on that now, with certain artists complaining that illegal downloading means it's harder to make money off album sales.

"It's like...you should've been f****** touring in the first place, you know?" He continues with some advice to those artists: "Go and play music for the people who are interested in you - that's what it's about."

The last 12 months have been eventful for Dallas Green and City And Colour as a project.

In August Alexionfire announced their break-up, with news that Dallas Green and guitarist Wade MacNeil would be leaving, with Wade replacing Frank Carter as Gallows front-man.

Dallas is supportive of his former bandmates switch to the UK hardcore act. "Wade's a great singer, and he's got a good stage presence. I think he'll do just fine."

He admits that being a true front-man isn't for him: "I need a guitar to be comfortable. Even when I play shows like this, I stand over on the side, you know?"

His decision to leave Alexisonfire was revealed to his former bandmates in 2010, and Wade's departure left the remaining members with no real choice.

"I think George, Steele and Jordan just kinda decided...ok. We'll end it now, while it's had a good run and preserve the legacy of what once was."

As with any band breaking up, Dallas admits there's some animosity, but was keen to point out that the former Alexisonfire members are all still friends.

"I think at first, everyone was hurt by the decision," he admits, but explains: "We're all men, we've all spent ten years with one another, and seen each other at our worst and our best."

In a revealing moment, Dallas talks of his mental state, about how he was starting to lose his mind, trying to balance City And Colour and Alexisonfire.

"It's where my heart is, where my heart was leaning towards. Yeah, it felt good once I made the decision," he remembers.

Dallas continues: "My heart was leaning more towards this style of music. It's not that I don't like Alexisonfire anymore, it's not that I don't like aggresive music - I still listen to it a lot. I just couldn't write it anymore, or not right now."

"I was trying to come up with new ideas, and I just didn't have it in me," he admits, although he doesn't rule out writing more aggressive music in the future, if his mood dictates it.

"Right now, it just doesn't seem to be working," he explains. "If I tried to write a riff now, I don't know if I could."

Check back tomorrow morning for the second part of our feature. We'll be talking to Dallas about new album Little Hell, WWE and writing on the internet. Our live review of City And Colour can be found here.

Female First - Alistair McGeorge