The Audition is fiercely proud to be from Chicago. Band members grew up in the Chicago scene where they learned to play their instruments. On the band’s MySpace account, The Audition claims to be “So Chi you’d think we were bashful.” Its latest release, 2005’s “Controversy Loves Company,” was released on Chicago-based label Victory Records. But unlike Chicago stalwarts Fall Out Boy, Kill Hannah or Alkaline Trio, the band doesn’t actually reference the Windy City in lyrics. Mafia-obsessed drummer Ryan O’Connor took time out of his day at home to talk about “Scarface,” his band’s fraternity and the mafia. Oh, and music too.

Northern Star: What’s the most interesting thing you’ve seen today’

Ryan O’Connor: All I saw today was traffic in downtown Chicago. I had to go downtown for something and all I saw was the back of cars, all day. And yeah, that’s about it.

NS: You guys went through some pretty substantial lineup changes before you released the new album. What sparked those’ What was the basis behind those’

RO: Well, Bob [Morris, ex-guitarist] is actually in The Hush Sound now, and he, Joe [Lussa, bass] and I actually started the band a couple years ago. It was a different band, before we named it The Audition. And he just kind of wanted to do something different, so he started a new band. That’s basically all it was. And Evo [Soria, ex-vocalist], he just kind of wanted to do something different as well, he went back to school, and we still are friends, too. It had nothing to do with us not liking each other anymore, because everyone in the band, we’re all best friends. We get off tour, and normally when bands get off tour they call somebody else and hang out with somebody else, but we call each other.

NS: What’s one of the things about being in a touring band that you didn’t expect at first’

RO: It’s a lot of work. Touring’s awesome, but you don’t get much sleep. If you don’t have a lot of money, you sleep in the van. You sleep in hotels when you can, and you shower when you can, but it’s all worth it. It’s the best time of my life.

NS: What do you think about the mafia’

RO: The mafia’

NS: Yeah, just in general.

RO: Well, the mafia thing’s pretty sweet. Considering Chicago has a huge history, with Capone and all that stuff. I guess the mafia’s sweet except for all the killing and stuff. I like how it’s a tight-knit group and you all work together; it’s kind of cool how they do stuff, how they have each other’s backs and stuff. That’s why we’re going to call our street team The Audition Mafia.

NS: Of all the bands you’ve played with and toured with, what has been the most exciting so far’

RO: The most exciting tour, honestly, was the last tour we did about two weeks ago with June, Small Towns Burn A Little Slower and Forgive Durden; it’s probably the most fun we’ve ever had on tour. I mean, some of the shows weren’t the best and some of the turnouts weren’t the best, but we just made a lot of fun of it, just had a good time with whatever we were doing. All the bands got along really well and it was just a good amount of fun. I don’t know if you want to put this in the newspaper, but as a joke we’re going to start a frat called the Judition, because after the shows, and again I don’t know if you want to put this in the paper, but we have massive parties and [stuff]. It’s awesome.

NS: If you could be a character in any movie, what movie would it be’

RO: Probably Al Pacino in “Scarface,” I love that movie because of the way he came from nothing. Kind of like our band. We had nothing. None of us had even played instruments before we joined the band. Joe, our bassist, originally tried out to sing for the band, and he sucked because he didn’t know how to sing. And he’d never played bass before, but we gave him a bass and he started playing bass. And I’ve only been playing drums for three years now. It’s just a good story, starting from nothing and trying to build something.

NS: And that kind of relates back to the mafia, too.

RO: Yeah, the mafia’s a cool thing. Except for all the killing and stuff.

NS: What are your top five desert island CDs’

RO: I’d probably bring Jimmy Eat World, “Bleed American.” I’d probably bring Kanye West, the old one [“The College Dropout”], not the new one. Probably Jay-Z, “The Black Album.” Guns ‘N’ Roses, “Appetite for Destruction.” And probably for a little dancy vibe, probably the Killers [“Hot Fuss”].

NS: All right, last question here: John Ugolini, who does booking for The House Café, described The Audition’s music as “A ‘Harry Potter’ novel with pages laced in PCP.” What’s your favorite description of your guys’ sound that you’ve come across’

RO: Dude, that’s weird. Harry Potter’ What the hell does that mean’ I don’t even know what that means. I don’t know. That’s probably the weirdest thing I’ve ever heard in my life. Harry Potter’ I’ve never read any of those books in my life. And I’ve never done PCP. That’s weird dude.