Courtesy of Gordie Ball

With a population of less than 200,000, Dayton, Ohio may not be the most remarkable city. Despite its geographical downfalls and relative obscurity, the mid-Eastern town has produced one notable offspring: The Devil Wears Prada.

The six-piece hardcore / metal band has taken the burgeoning genre by surprise since its first release in 2005, a demo titled “Patterns of a Horizon.” With its generally positive lyrics, two-pronged vocal variation and mental instrumental support, the band has steadily progressed.

With a 2009 album release under its belt titled “With Roots Above and Branches Below,” out now on Ferret Music and a freshly announced tour with fellow bands Haste the Day, Story of the Year and co-headliner All That Remains, The Devil Wears Prada is primed for a successful new year.

The band’s lead vocalist, Mike Hranica, took a moment out of his hectic tour schedule to answer some questions and entertain the The Daily Aztec with a little game of “Yay’ or “Nay.’

The Daily Aztec: So we are going to play a little game called “Yay or Nay.” I will say a band’s name and you tell me “Yay’ or “Nay.’ So, Bring Me The Horizon.

Mike Hranica: That’s a tough one actually, because we kind of met the guys briefly and they’re nice. I don’t like them musically and I don’t like the fact that they have so many fans and they don’t use that in a good way. But just spread all that partying bullsh*t. I don’t know though, I don’t think they are the worst thing in the world by any means.

DA: OK, you’re not really playing by my rules of the game, but we’ll continue. So, Parkway Drive.
MH: Oh, yay. They’re freaking sick.

DA: Asking Alexandria.
MH: Nay, they’re freaking horrible. The worst thing I have ever heard.

DA: August Burns Red.
MH: Uh, yay.

DA: We Came As Romans.
MH: They’re young, but I think I’ll go with yay. I haven’t seen them live before but they recorded live with the same dude that engineers and produces us. I like a lot of their parts so … I’ll go with yay.

DA: What’s a band you’re pretty stoked on right now?
MH: I’ve been listening to a bit of instrumental music. The new Pelican album just came out and I really like it.

DA: What about a band that’s on your iPod that would surprise your fans? Be as embarrassing as you want to be.
MH: See the thing is, I feel like no one should ever be embarrassed by the music they listen to. And I’m not embarrassed by any of the music that I listen to. So, it’s kind of hard to say what they would be surprised by. I buy funny songs off iTunes, but I don’t have any whole albums from bands that are embarrassing.

DA: How has The Devil Wears Prada changed since it first started?
MH: We’re more mature, by all means. Although I still like to call us immature little kids because we all goof around a lot, we have stupid song titles … we’re generally not too serious people. But I think we’ve all grown older. When we started we were all really young and impressionable … we were just little scenesters and I think we’ve grown out of that … I’m not going to say that we are musicians because we aren’t ultra-talented or anything, but I’d like to say that we’ve done a good job keeping music before anything else as far as, like, a look or something like that … if that makes sense. I probably just ranted.

DA: Put together an ideal tour lineup for me.
MH: Converge, us, As I Lay Dying and Slipknot. That’d be a really fun tour.

DA: Finish this sentence for me. If I wasn’t in The Devil Wears Prada I would be …
MH: In college right now, more than likely.

DA: So, sum up your band for me in three words. Is that possible?
MH: Raise the roof 8212; because we’re bringing that back.

DA: Like the motion, or the phrase?
MH: Just the motion. It was the worst thing ever in the “90s and we’re going to bring it back.

The band will be rolling through San Diego at 6:30 p.m. this Friday at Soma. For more information on The Devil Wears Prada, go to www.myspace.com/tdwp.