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When a teenage Brendon Urie told his parents he was dropping out of high school and dedicating his life to being in a band, mum and dad kicked him out of home. In drummer Spencer Smith’s case, it was the same scenario. Several years and three albums later, that band is Panic! At The Disco and you can bet the lads’ parents are very proud of their sons. All’s forgiven and forgotten, according to Smith…

“Yeah, everything is fine with our parents now!” he laughs. “I think they were probably more surprised at our success than we were. They were almost shocked that we were able to turn this into a real band and into a real job. They’ve been very supportive, but it took some time. The whole Las Vegas music scene started getting behind us only after we started to do proper tours and we became more than just a local band.

“The problem with Las Vegas is that there are a lot of venues, but they’ll open then they’ll close for whatever reason after a year. It’s very frustrating for bands trying to establish themselves: there’s not a good, solid foundation there for them at all. A lot has changed in the last five years, but I still think that’s a pretty big issue for the local scene.”

Not that it really impacts Panic! At The Disco these days. As Smith obviously recounts, with their ensuing success the band are no longer considered merely a local act, and due to their grueling recording and touring schedule, it’s often hard to keep up with what’s going on back at home.

“I don’t think it even matters where you’re from geographically anymore,” Smith argues. “You’re not required to first be a really big local band before you’re able to move on to national touring. That doesn’t matter anymore because of the ‘net. You can generate a lot of buzz for yourself without really having a local fan-base first. I’m not really sure who’s doing good things back in Las Vegas; we’re hardly ever there anyway and half the bands I like I don’t even know where they’re from! A lot has changed in the past five years.”

Likewise, a lot has changed in the last couple of years within the band itself, as Smith explains. Formerly a four-piece, with the departure of vocalist Ryan Ross and bassist Jon Walker in 2009, Panic! At The Disco return in 2011 as a core duo consisting of Smith and Urie, and their touring compadres. According to the drummer, new album Vices & Virtues is also set to be very much a re-introduction to the band…

“Well, I won’t lie because we did spend quite a lot of time in the beginning trying to work out what to do,” says Smith of Ross and Walkers’ departure. “More than anything we were trying to work out how we could best work together and continue the band rather than just throw in the towel. We just knew that even though it sucked that we were parting ways, we also could see a golden opportunity to be able to go wherever we wanted now. We saw that we could do whatever we felt like, whatever direction that may be.

“It’s understandable for fans to be worried about a change, but musically it’s really not as different as you think. Brendon and I have always been heavily involved in terms of the melodies and the songwriting, and Brendon was already used to writing a few songs on the records, so now it just means that he’s stepped up to do the whole thing. That’s quite a big change, yeah, but he’s completely capable of it and he’s great at it.”

One reason for the split between the members, according to Smith, was differences in opinions as far as Panic! At The Disco’s musical direction was concerned. While Smith and Urie were more than open to listening to other bands, they weren’t necessarily prepared to replicate them, though.

“There have been quite a lot of good records that came out recently, especially while we were recording this album,” says Smith. “Like, Arcade Fire had a record out and we really loved that! Having said that, we weren’t going to necessarily get influenced by them musically, because Brendon and I just don’t see this band as sounding anything like them or necessarily like other bands we’re fans of. You can respect a band and like them, but you don’t have to try to sound like them. Brendon and I didn’t agree with that.

“For the most part, Brendon and I are trying to do something that we haven’t heard before. We have the chance to really find ourselves now more than ever before and we’re definitely embracing that with both hands.”

Along the way, Panic! At The Disco have had a little help from renowned producers Butch Walker and John Feldmann, who Smith refers to as mentors during the Vices & Virtues recording sessions. Merely being in their presence was enough to inspire the drummer and singer to make the best Panic! At The Disco record to date.

“They weren’t what I expected them to be,” laughs Smith. “They were so cool and they just let us do whatever we wanted to. Their number one priority was to make sure that we were happy with everything, rather than trying to put their own stamp on our work. They encouraged us to keep going even when we thought we were done.

“Some of the last songs that we wrote are now actually our favourites and the best ones on the record. I’m very glad we didn’t cut the session short before that point. John and Butch have incredible careers and they really took to mentoring us in a lot of ways. Because Brendon and I have found ourselves with pretty much just each other, it was definitely nice to have that kind of support and help. We’ve been touring with the same two guys [Ian Crawford, Dallon Weekes] ever since we split with Ryan and Jon, though, so we probably won’t be a duo for long. I just don’t like the idea of having ‘hired musicians’, so we’re looking at getting permanent members.”