January 31, 2001 – The members of Dope know how to survive on the streets. Now, after touring with the likes of Kid Rock, Slipknot, Powerman 5000, Static-X and Fear Factory in support of their major label debut, they've learned how to survive on the road.

"A band should be founded in friendship and chemistry, and this band wasn't," says Edsel Dope of his self-titled outfit, whose debut Felons and Revolutionaries has sold more than a quarter-million records since being released by Flip/Epic Records in late '99. "This band was created with the intent of introducing Dope to America. I wrote the songs and my brother [keyboardist Simon Dope] and I built this band from scratch. We filled the positions in a hurry and based our decisions specifically on the ability to perform, overlooking the essential element of friendship, assuming that it would develop over time. But the more we toured, the more we realized how little some of us had in common and how different some of us really were."

As a result, the band parted ways with guitarist Tripp Eisen in late December. "Dope fans know Tripp as a dynamic part of our live show, but as strong as our onstage chemistry seemed, we just couldn't get along offstage," explains the singer. Since Eisen didn't contribute to the songwriting on the band's debut -- and Edsel played all the album's rhythm guitars -- his departure will not affect the sound of Dope's follow-up, which they begin recording this month for an early summer release.

"I want to play music within the boundaries that I want to play in. It's incredibly hard work, so it's got to be fun and you have to have a high level of enthusiasm for what you do and who you're doing it with," Dope continues. "You can't be in a band for the wrong reasons, and you especially can't be in a band like ours with people you don't like, especially living together on a tour bus. Our personalities are a lot different and it just didn't work. I've learned through the course of my life that if something isn't working and you feel in your heart that it's not going to work, you can't just sit around and hope for things to get better. You have to make up your mind, be a man, and move on. I made up my mind not to work with Tripp, and because of that decision, all of the parties involved are happier people right now. Now we can all move on to better places in our lives and careers. Dope has been fortunate enough to have a lot of success in the past two years, and now we're ready to take the band to the next level."

Dope is tight-lipped about Eisen's replacement, referring to him as only "The Virus," a New York City-based guitarist with whom Edsel, his brother SIMON, and remaining member, bassist Acey Slade have been working with since the new year.

Even a bigger mystery is the new drummer in the Dope fold, replacing the recently departed Preston Nash. The frontman just cackles when asked who rounds out the five-piece. "All I can say is, he's the sickest drummer in rock and he's going to make Dope even better... Unfortunately, due to reasons beyond our control, we have to keep the rest a secret, for now."