Welcome to Throwback Tunesday, where Mashable amplifies the echoes of music past. With genre trends and throwbacks, we synthesize music and nostalgia.

The explosion that was the emo/pop punk/post-hardcore scene in the early and mid-2000s was more than a genre trend. It was a movement, blasting from teens’ bedrooms across American suburbs. With strongholds in New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and California, these were the kids that lived for Warped Tour and Skate and Surf. The kids for whom it was a lifestyle — decked out in Chuck Taylors, they'd scream infidelities (and whoa-ohs) as they caked on the eyeliner.

When exactly emo broke into the "mainstream" is up for debate, but it was certainly there by 2002 — and it had taken on a more produced feel than genre pioneers like Sunny Day Real Estate. This year, Jimmy Eat World's "The Middle" off platinum record Bleed American reached number five on Billboard charts. New Found Glory's third album, Sticks and Stones, debuted at number four on the Billboard 200. Taking Back Sunday's 2002 release Tell All Your Friends, which made the Billboard Top 200, would eventually go gold. The time was ripe; the masses were ready.

One of the most crucial labels to this scene was Drive-Thru Records. Drive-Thru hosted bands defined by emo, pop punk and post-hardcore elements, set in easily digestible, hook-laden backdrops. The catalog was extensive — bands from sugary New Found Glory to heavier (dare we say "screamo") Finch comprised it. If you liked one band, chances are it was a gateway to the rest of the repertoire. Your friend’s older sister introduced you to NFG over the weekend? You’d likely be hooked on Something Corporate by Wednesday. And then there were the Drive-Thru samplers. The DVDs. To the outsider, these bands seemed like a family; a family that united fans across the country in power chord-centric harmony.

The now-defunct label met its end; Drive-Thru's last release was in 2008.

The Early November, The Starting Line and I Am the Avalanche, all of which once called Drive-Thru home, take a look back at the early-to-mid-2000s. From getting signed to moving on — and sometimes starting fresh — the band members give Mashable a peek into the past.

The Early November

Image: The Early November

The Early November of Hammonton, New Jersey, signed to Drive-Thru in 2002. Their 2003 release The Room's Too Cold (host to the anthemic ballad "Ever So Sweet") in conjunction with multiple circuits on Warped Tour landed them in the spotlight. After a hiatus, The Early November is back at it and touring again. Guitarist Joe Marro (also formerly of HelloGoodbye) of the Early November expands, starting with this photo.

What’s going on in this photo?

This was sometime around July 2003 (ignore the camera timestamp) right before our first UK tour with Home Grown and The Halo Friendlies. I can tell we're about to take a flight because our guitars are duct-taped together to avoid extra baggage fees (a trick we still use to this day). I can also tell it's 2003 due to the size of our pants and Jeff [Kummer, Early November drummer]'s Madison shirt. I remember finishing our first record just a few days beforehand, and having to rush all of our passports since no one had been out of the country ’til that point.

How did you get your start?

I guess the inklings of the band started in ’99, but it was more like 2001 when the band actually became a band. At that time, there were really great shows happening almost weekly in Philadelphia or any of the surrounding suburbs. The band was put on some pretty decent shows from the very beginning.

We sent our demo to Drive-Thru Records and what seemed like a few weeks later, we were offered a deal. Things usually aren't that easy or quick, but in this case, I think it was really good timing for a band like ours at a time when the scene was very active.

You were in the thick of the whole Drive-Thru records "era." Were you close with other bands on the label?

We did our earliest shows with The Starting Line, but even earlier when they were called Sunday Drive. Our first tour was on the Drive-Thru stage on the 2002 Warped Tour, so we got a crash-course meeting all the bands. At that time, Finch and Something Corporate were massive. We did some early touring with Home Grown and Allister, and then with bands like Hidden In Plain View. Toward the end, we became close with HelloGoodbye, whom I later went on to play with, and am still very close to.

What was it like to be at the center of a genre movement?

It was a fun time. Things seemed to have gotten maybe a little too big for their own good when bands started blowing up on MTV and all. We never quite identified with all of it, since we were influenced by the emo and indie rock bands of the generation prior, but it was great to see friends become really massive bands — and have a bit of success ourselves.

What was it like to come out of it all and move on?

I don't think anyone quite expected to be playing anything bigger than VFW halls since that is where we grew up seeing our favorite bands. We always tried to keep that in mind when having our ups and downs. Naturally, people start to get egos, but we had a really good way of keeping each other in check. We all adjusted pretty well after the band, each guy went their separate way but stayed friends with one another. We needed that time apart.

It's been more than 10 years since The Room's Too Cold was released. If you could go back to 2003 and tell yourself one thing, what would it be?

To remind yourself daily how lucky you really are. We got to travel the world, play music for 30 minutes and get paid for something we would have done anyway. I maybe would have ventured into the behind-the-scenes business a bit earlier, too.

The band took a hiatus and then got back together. What made you decide to give it another go?

I think it was one of those things where we were casually talking about it off-and-on the year or two prior, but schedules never allowed it to be realized. Then, seemingly out of the blue, everyone was like, “Yeah, this feels like enough time has passed and it would be super fun to do another show.” And that was it. We truly had no intentions of doing anything else after the two reunion shows, but I think we knew we wanted to keep doing it about 30 seconds into the first show. It's just too awesome to not.

The Starting Line

The Starting Line's very last show together at 2008's The Bamboozle Image: MARK R. SULLIVAN

Philadelphia-based The Starting Line's melodic brand of pop punk hit the spot for this youth-dominated scene. "Best of Me" off 2002's Drive-Thru-release Say It Like You Mean It won hearts across the country, and topped Billboard's Heatseekers chart. Although The Starting Line called it quits in 2008, they still play an annual holiday show. We spoke to frontman Kenny Vasoli, who now heads beachy, electro-infused indie — self-proclaimed "nu-hula" — band Vacationer, embarking on tour this fall.

What’s going on in this photo?

This is a photo from our last show at Bamboozle 2008, before we took a long and much-needed "hiatus." It was one of the largest crowds we played for and it felt great to end things on a high note, and where it all sort of began.

What first sparked your interest in the pop punk/emo genre?

I was really young when I started in with punk music. I loved grunge from a very early age (8 or 9). Then I found Green Day and eventually NOFX and Face to Face. Once those influences came into play, I knew what kind of band I wanted to be in back then.

I was 14 when I joined up with The Starting Line guys. Fast forward nearly 15 years. When I started making this music I was in dire need of playing music that didn’t need to be turned up to 11 and wouldn’t blow out my voice.

I had loved electronic music since 2005, when I first discovered Four Tet records. The inspiration of low volume and electro-production sent me into the process of making Vacationer records. Once it came time to create, I essentially wanted to crossbreed LCD Soundsystem with Beach House.

You were in the thick of the Drive-Thru records "era." Were you close with other bands on the label?

I did make some great friends from that alumni. Randy [Strohmeyer] from Finch and I are still great friends; he was the first guy to show me many of the bands I am wild about today.

Thankfully, I still keep up with the dudes in RX Bandits as well. They brought The Starting Line out on our first tour ever. I remember we were pulled over (maybe changing a tire) and Matt Embre [frontman, RX Bandits] and I decided we should foot-race up and down a very steep hill to kill time. He had some distance on me going up, so I tried to use the downhill to my advantage and sped up. I ate it hard on the weird highway embankment grass and gravel. I still have a scar on my hand from that, clear as day.

What was it like to be at the center of a genre movement?

For me, it was just what I happened to listen to. Pop music usually underwhelmed me, and true street punk music did not speak to me either. Pop punk felt just right. I could sing melodies that had emotion while still playing loud and fast.

Before I started in the band, it was really hard to find people who would trade those records with me. Most of my friends in high school were into the straight-up punk, and I was left somewhat of an outlier.

What was it like to come out of it all and move on?

I consider myself very lucky being able to make music in a different context after my stint in pop punk. I had an extremely fun childhood and adolescence. I embraced all the jumping and sweating just as much as I embrace dancing and vibing these days; it's all a very similar sensation. I feel blessed still being able to make music at all, and the fact that I'm still kept afloat by it feels miraculous to me.

It's been over 10 years since Say It Like You Mean It was released. If you could go back to 2002 and tell yourself one thing, what would it be?

Young Ken, everything is temporary. Don't stress, just enjoy it.

You've definitely departed from the sound of The Starting Line with Vacationer. Do you find elements of The Starting Line seep in at all?

I don't notice it consciously, but I'm sure there are similarities to be found in there. It's all my voice and my bass playing, so I think it makes totally sense when you hear both bands in context. Both bands are truly me, the music just framed by how old I am at the time it's created.

I Am the Avalanche

I Am the Avalanche was born from the ashes of another Drive-Thru band, The Movielife; frontman Vinnie Caruana headed this pop punk/post-hardcore hybrid, which disbanded in 2003. After a brief stint with Head Automatica, Caruana formed I Am the Avalanche, whose debut was also through Drive-Thru. The outfit released its third album, Wolverines, via Surrender Records in March and will be hitting the road with Bayside in October.

How did you get your start, musically?

We grew up listening to vinyl records in the basement — bands like Queen, Kiss and The Beatles got me into music as a young kid. I started going to hardcore shows when I was 12. Daryl Palumbo from Glassjaw and I were virtually the only kids our age in the scene. I could always carry a tune, so he would invite me to sing songs with Glassjaw every once in a while. Then Eddie Reyes [guitarist, Taking Back Sunday] heard me singing with Glassjaw in a basement and invited me to try out for a band he was starting; this band ended up being my first band, The Movielife.

Before I Am the Avalanche, you were in The Movielife — you were in the thick of the whole Drive-Thru records "era." What was it like to be at the center of a the emo movement?

It didn't feel like we were part of a movement back then, it was just life. Looking back on it, it's nice to be held in such a high regard by the fans. We were kinda on the cusp of a lot of those genres, so we were able to experience a lot of awesome and different tours.

Were you close with other bands on the label?

We were very friendly with most of the boys. We were the only ones on the label doing real punk/hardcore tours too, so there was a slight separation. We were pretty close to Midtown and the Something Corporate guys. Nowadays I'm still very close to the RX Bandits. Those are life-long amigos right there.

What was it like to come out of it all and move on?

That was the first chapter of my career. I was very happy to start a new chapter and write music for myself. Writing the first Avalanche record on my own was one of the most liberating times of my life.

It seems like you still share a sense of camaraderie with other bands that were in that space, but weren't necessarily part of the label. For example, I Am the Avalanche is part of Cardboard City, a group of bands/artists headed by Daryl Palumbo of Glassjaw. Can you tell us a little about the bonds that have continued?

Cardboard City was one of many "crews" Daryl started that I was involved with. We always wrote graffiti and rapped in the basement. Cardboard was a bunch of creative people from where we grew up, and it turned into a collective of other artists as well. In the end, I wasn't really involved too much and don't know half the people, but I still have some dear Cardboard City friends from the old days.

I Am the Avalanche had its first show on Halloween 2004, just about 10 years ago. If you could go back and tell yourself one thing, what would it be? Would you change anything?

There was a six-year period where we didn't release a record. That’s the only thing I'd take back. I wasted half my 20s at home not being creative enough. My 30s have been the most prolific time of my life. It feels amazing to be completely immersed in music full-time.

What are your memories of the emo era? Tell us in the comments.