Jimmy Eat World are marking the 25th anniversary of their breakthrough 2001 album ‘Bleed American’ with performances of the record in full, including dates on the revived Warped Tour. Frontman Jim Adkins reflects on how the album transformed the band after Capitol Records dropped them, with ‘The Middle’ becoming a defining and enduring hit.

Adkins says the band deliberately favoured concise, hook-led songwriting while recording without a new deal, and the finished 11-song album prompted a bidding war that led to a DreamWorks contract. He recalls the unsettled rock landscape of the late 1990s and early 2000s, but says the group avoided chasing trends such as nu-metal, emo labels or the Strokes-led revival, believing music should be driven by personal reward rather than approval.