Texas-based Blue October has built a strong fan base in its home state and across the Midwest since 1998. With the radio success of the new single “Hate Me” and the Tuesday release of its fourth album, “Foiled,” the band members hope to expand their close-knit fan base coast to coast.

Although not making its customary Ames stop at People’s Bar & Grill, 2430 Lincoln Way, Blue October is playing Friday at Hoyt Sherman Theater in Des Moines. Pulse caught up with drummer Jeremy Furstenfeld, brother of singer/songwriter Justin, whose stirring lyrics are brought to life with the original and varied sounds of multi-instrumentalist Ryan Delahoussaye, bassist Matt Novesky and guitarist C. B. Hudson.

Amy Peet: Fans find comfort and therapy in the message of your band. What inspires your music?

Jeremy Furstenfeld: Real-life stuff. We hear things about being therapeutic. Justin [Furstenfeld] is open enough to put it all out there. It’s just life experiences and how to deal with them. People relate to our music on so many different levels, not just whatever the story is behind that one song. They can take that song and put it into so many different aspects of their own life.

AP: What are your influences?

JF: I grew up listening to nothing but country music. Justin [Furstenfeld] grew up with a lot of the darker stuff like the Pixies and Peter Gabriel. Ryan [Delahoussaye] grew up playing classical music. C. B. [Hudson] grew up on metal. Matt [Novesky] was the Motown dude. He grew up in Detroit, so he grew up on the funk stuff.

AP: With such diverse backgrounds, do you ever clash about how you want something to sound?

JF: It’s not completely democratic, but we all kind of throw it in together. Ryan [Delahoussaye]’s classical skills definitely blend with C. B. [Hudson]’s metal stuff when we hit the choruses of some heavier songs. One thing we always thought was really cool was blending the cool classical riffs of Ryan [Delahoussaye] with some of the more solid, heavier rifts with C.B. [Hudson] and Matt [Novesky]’s funkiness. It just all blends together.

AP: Ryan Delahoussaye’s violin adds a unique dimension to your music. Why have a violin in a rock band?

JF: If you pay attention to Ryan [Delahoussaye], one minute he’s playing the violin and the mandolin, ready to switch in one song, and then he’s playing a mandolin and a piano and keys and a viola and he’s singing backup vocals on almost every one of the songs. He’s just a crazy man. He’s our go-to guy when we want something a little bit different. I think that helps us be as original as we are. [It’s] very romantic sometimes, listening to him play by himself, which is kind of scary listening to him play on a bus full of guys (laughs).

AP: You guys are renowned for your passionate live shows and connection you have with the fans. How does that work?

JF: We always like to talk to our fans after the show. We try to sit down and do a signing and say hello and try to be face-to-face with them, even though we just spilled our guts all over them. [Onstage], whatever problems you have, they go away. It’s better than any drug you could ever try, in my humble opinion (laughs). It’s such an energy rush and it’s cool to feed off of the people who are feeding off of us. It’s like a circle of energy that keeps going through. And until the end, nothing else matters.

AP: Is there any song on “Foiled” that’s especially personal?

JF: Oh my gosh, what isn’t?

AP: Any of the songs carry a lot of weight for you?

JF: On “Overweight,” Justin [Furstenfeld] mentions something about us being really good friends. We’ve always been just really, really close, always there for each other, all the time. As Justin [Furstenfeld] and I have a fantastic relationship, we try to make that relationship with everybody. But as far as the songs go, so many of them are so personal – maybe not to me, but pretty freaking honest. Just like always, some are happy and some aren’t (laughs).

AP: How is touring all over the country, outside your tight fan base in Texas and the Midwest?

JF: Luckily, “Hate Me” has been helping us out a lot on the radio. These radio stations have been so kind to pick it up. We’re getting great reactions. The west coast is so far away from Texas, and so is the east coast, and so we [formerly] concentrated mainly on the middle because that’s what we could afford to do. Hopefully we can stretch the fan base from Texas and Omaha and the center of the U.S. to both sides and even further.