In 2002 the Canadian-based alternative rock group Hot Hot Heat released “Make Up The Breakdown,” a widely acclaimed album as energetic as it was innovative.

This year the band followed up the release with “Elevator” and, despite the band losing its original guitarist, Dante Decaro, the band has been touring in the hopes of making the name Hot Hot Heat synonymous with rock ‘n’ roll.

However, stepping into the shoes of an already established band can be a daunting task. Just ask Luke Paquin, the Californian-native who stepped in as the band’s new guitarist.

In a phone interview with The Lantern from the band’s latest gig in Boston, Paquin explained what it’s like touring and in general being the new guy.

“We made sure that the personal side was there before we even worried about any kind of business relationship,” Paquin said about what it was like joining the band. “That’s real important because you have to live on a bus with these guys for nine out of 12 months, so you better be able to stand sitting in a room with them.”

Paquin, who recently moved to Vancouver, said that, although he was apprehensive at first, it was worth it.

“(It was a) really scary thing because when I joined the record hadn’t come out yet and it was almost like this count down, this nervous tension, like this pre-record release feeling that we all had,” he said. “Since it has come out, and it has been received well, it has been a huge weight off our shoulders.”

Along with joining the band, Paguin had to learn the guitar parts written by Decaro for the Hot Hot Heat’s previous albums, which he said was strange.

“When I first started playing with these guys I actually hooked up with the old guitar player. He was actually the one that taught me all the parts from the ‘Make Up The Breakdown’ record and he gave me his nod of approval, which made me feel like I was close enough to the songs myself where I could make them my own over time,” he said.

But for Paquin it’s not all fun and games. Although traveling the world playing music for a living is a dream come true there is a down side.

“You don’t really have enough time to appreciate any one town,” Paquin said. “We just did a huge Europe tour and I got to go to all these cities that I always dreamt of going to but there was never enough time to do the tourist actives that I would have liked to. (I) went to Paris for the first time and I was in a hotel room the whole day. What’s the point of that? I could see the Eiffel tower off in the distance. That was the only thing that let me know that I was really were they said I was.”

When asked about the European tour, Paquin said there’s a difference in how the group is received there in comparison to the United States.

“I feel places like the U.K. – especially England- (is) a little quicker to embrace the types of bands like us,” he said. “There are ton of bands like The Bravery or The Strokes, all these bands that are just huge in the U.K. Then you come back to your own country and you’re playing in like Johnny’s Char House in Grand Rapids, Mich. It’s actually a humbling feeling.”

Paquin said the band has been working on new songs during the last two tours so it can begin recording a new album at the end soon.

“The idea is to have at least 10 songs or so ready to go by the end of these tours and hopefully by this time next year we’ll be doing another record.” he said. “We want to be able to go right back into the studio after these tours. I know the space between the first and second album was considered by some to be an unusual large gap but we don’t want to take that chance again.”

With the release of albums that bear similarities to Hot Hot Heat’s sound, Paquin said he doesn’t expect people to forget who cleared the way for other bands such as The Bravery.

“I think that everybody knows that Hot Hot Heat has been around for a few years so I don’t think anybody will ever accuse us of jumping on any kind of bandwagon or trend. If anything that fact that the bands like those are having success might actually help us.”

Hot Hot Heat performs with The Killers Friday at the PromoWest Pavilion.