Seeds not only need proper nourishment to grow, they also need time. For The Appleseed Cast, a seven-month break proved to be exactly the time it needed.

“We’re a newer, bigger, better Appleseed,” says Aaron Pillar, guitarist and vocalist for the band.

The Lawrence, Kan., -based band has had a lot of time to grow. In almost nine years of existence, it has turned out six albums, with another well under way.

Only this version of The Appleseed Cast might seem different to fans. With a new drummer, The Appleseed Cast not only looks different on the outside, but it has a different outlook on the inside, Pillar says.

“It’s been good for us, because the time away from the band made us take things more seriously,” he says.

“We’re a lot more focused now,” says Chris Crisci, vocalist and guitarist for the band.

“The break really helped us in that way.”

Pillar says the band took a break after he decided to cancel its 2004 summer tour for personal reasons. He says sometimes life has to come before the band.

Looking back, however, Pillar says he has regrets about the break and not pushing other band members harder before it.

He says they fell into complacency and laziness just waiting for things to happen.

“You have to make it happen; you can’t sit back and wait,” Pillar says. “It’s easy to be the average Joe.”

Pillar says he is a different person than he was a year ago, and the time off made him realize this band is the coolest thing he’s ever gotten to do and he wants to keep doing it.

“I was able to find out what was really important to me,” he says.

“I don’t care about what my car looks like or where I live … I’m just not done having adventures yet. I want to get as much as I can out of life.”

In an act symbolic of his devotion, Pillar says he is quitting his job on Monday before the band comes to Ames on Tuesday for its first live performance in a year.

“I’m not going to keep one foot in the safety of a normal job for security. I’m going to put all of myself into this band,” he says.

Pillar says it is always been hard for the band to get back from a tour and have to go to work and not have time to write. He wants the band to go full-time for the next couple of years and start making things happen.

“We’ll be OK as long as we don’t get complacent,” he says.

Crisci says it has become very easy for the band to play together again, and when it feels natural, the music is better.

“The best songs come together fast,” he says, and working at a pace of up to four new songs a week, The Appleseed Cast is feeling good about its production.

Creating fresh material is very important to the band — members say they see it as an indicator of their success.

“When the songs are too hard to come up with and we’re forcing it, then we might be done,” Pillar says.

Pillar says he doesn’t know when that day will come because it’s a one-day-at-a-time type of thing.

“I don’t think we have an expiration date,” he says.

Who: The Appleseed Cast with Chin Up Chin Up

Where: M-Shop

When: Tuesday

Cost: $7 students, $8 public