If you had to pick a single person to be the heartthrob of the 2000s emo scene, it would be tough to argue that it’s not Chris Carrabba.

The songwriter, most famous for his work with Dashboard Confessional, has been crooning his way into the hearts of millions for over 15 years now, with emotion-packed hits such as “Screaming Infidelities,” “Hands Down,” and “Vindicated” (you know, that one song from Spider-Man 2). When he’s not strumming and singing his heart out with Dashboard Confessional, Carrabba keeps busy with his first group, Further Seems Forever, as well as projects like Twin Forks and solo tours.

To put it simply, Carrabba’s probably written a tune for every moment of every relationship you’ve ever been in or will be in, and that’d just be scratching the surface of his catalog.

After a nearly six-year hiatus (during which Carrabba still performed with his other bands), Dashboard Confessional is back and ready to cue up the tears (of happiness and sadness) all over again. Myspace caught up with the talented singer just hours before his set (and minutes before he ran off to see the Movielife) at Taste of Chaos in October.

With all of the different projects you’ve had over the years, what’s it like to have Dashboard Confessional back together?

It feels perfect. Dashboard is my main band, and it’s been my main band since before I knew it was my main band. It was hard but necessary to take a lot of time away to make sure we were the best version of us that we could be, and that we weren’t phoning it in out of sheer exhaustion. It feels incredible.

How’s it feel to see so many of these bands from a decade ago have a resurgence at an event like Taste of Chaos when you’ve been steadily making music for all these years?

Somehow I got lucky and I didn’t have a fadeaway. I fell out of the major public eye, but my career was fine. What I missed was this community, which was sort of disbanded. Now, that’s back, and it feels incredible to be like “Who’s playing there? We want to go see them.” We’re all here to work, but we’re dying to see our friends play, because (Taste of Chaos) is a show we want to see. It’s a show we would’ve bought tickets to as fans if we weren’t in a band. Also, we’re such great friends after so many years, many of us met well before anybody knew who we were. To give an example, I grew up with the New Found Glory guys before we started bands. I played with Saves the Day so many shows before I think either of us had any music out. So this is about long, enduring friendships.

Do you see a difference between this musical pop punk/emo community now and what it was like when you were first coming up?

No, I don’t. We’re still working together really hard still. Before we were signed to labels, we were fighting to do it ourselves. And then the collapse of the industry to a certain degree meant we are back to fighting to do it ourselves. There might’ve been a middle period there where we were all pushed out to other edges of scenes, with labels saying “You should go on tour with these bands and these bands and these bands,” and there would be periods where the bands who I think were meant to be together weren’t together. I think it kind of feels good that we can still go out with whomever, but we know where we’re supposed to be. We’re supposed to be with each other.

Dashboard Confessional has always seemed very personal. Are those early records you wrote still relevant to your life today?

I think sometimes they hold true, and sometimes they’re not who I am anymore. I guess it depends, because I think everyone is a different person. Life keeps handing you things that make you grow and change, but you keep the pieces you have. It’s not like they’re replaced, they’re built upon. They’re still there. It seems like those moments that led to those records, many of them still influence who I am.

After all these years, is there anything you’d like your fans to know?

I’d just like to say thanks to them. It’s been incredible that an audience decided to take me on their shoulders and build a career for me of their own volition. I don’t know why they picked me, and I’ll never know how to thank them, but I’ll never stop being grateful. All I can say is thank you.