It’s been 16 years since 3 Doors Down burst onto the music scene and the band’s debut single “Kryptonite” topped the charts. However, the rock group has persevered, continuing to release successful new music and touring for fans near and far. In fact, the multiplatinum band’s sixth full-length album, “Us and the Night,” just came out March 11 via Republic Records.

The band, led by singer Brad Arnold, started out in the late ’90s in Mississippi. Throughout its career, the Grammy-nominated act released more than 20 singles - many of which can be found on the 2012 collection “The Greatest Hits,” including “When I’m Gone,” “Here Without You” and “Be Like That.” Besides creating music, 3 Doors Down also like to give back and, in 2003, launched The Better Life Foundation (TBLF) to positively help children “in need of food, shelter and medical assistance, and to enhance the lives of children and young adults with special needs.” The money raised gets distributed to various charitable organizations and hospitals that help fulfill TBLF’s mission.

The group has gone through several lineup changes over the years though. Original guitarist Matt Roberts had to quit the band in 2012 because of health reasons, drummer Daniel Adair left in 2005 to join Nickelback and bass player Todd Harrell was sent packing after he was charged with vehicular homicide, while on drugs, in 2013 (he is currently serving time in prison).

Now comprised of Arnold, guitarists Chris Henderson and Chet Roberts, drummer Greg Upchurch and bassist Justin Biltonen, 3 Doors Down is excited about the release of “Us and the Night.” The record’s 11 tracks fit nicely together in this well-produced package, which is radio-friendly for both rock and Top 40 formats. Lead single “In the Dark,” which has been moving up the charts since January, is a much sexier offering than what people expect from the band. Its sexy music video, which the band is not featured in, stars “Breaking Bad” actor RJ Mitte. Other key tracks include catchy album-opener “The Broken,” the guitar-heavy “Living in Your Hell” and the beautiful piano ballad “Fell From the Moon.”

The new album was recorded at Nashville’s Rivergate Studios, which is co-owned by .38 Special keyboardist Bobby Capps and 3 Doors Down’s own Henderson, who recently called HNGN to talk about “Us and the Night” and the band’s legacy. Check out the interview below!

Tell everyone about “Us and the Night.”
We wanted to kind of reinvent ourselves a little bit. So, what we did was push the music-writing process so far away from what we’re used to that it got uncomfortable for awhile. And, once it started getting uncomfortable, everyone started noticing, so we naturally let it come back to where it now lives. And, in that process, we grew. We grew a little bit towards that uncomfortable direction, which is what we needed to do. “Us and the Night” is really that effort. It’s really fun. It’s still a rock record, but there are some elements that people never heard from 3 Doors Down - different flavors that we would have been afraid to use five, six, seven years ago that we’re not afraid to use any more.

This one is kind of heavier than previous records - was that a conscious decision?
A little heavier, yup, it is. And I want to add, the heaviness comes from the studio we used to do the guitars in. The way we’re set up in my studio in Nashville to do guitars is so amazingly perfect for whatever reason and we were able to capture the tones for warmth that we really wanted to capture.

First single “In the Dark” is a bit risqué for you guys.
It is. But, if you listen to the lyrics, it’s just being brought to the point of risqué. It’s not over the top. It’s not crazy. It’s just as far as Brad would go at that particular time. But now that that song’s been written, maybe he’ll take a step farther next time. That song came from an idea off our new guitar player Chet’s iPad. He has GarageBand and had this dance beat thing that was really poppy and dancey and techno and weird, but it had this strange sort of rhythmic element with that guitar part that runs through it. We didn’t know what we were going to do with it, but we knew we were going to do something with it. And the last day before we started recording the record, the song was played off his iPad one last time. “Let’s listen to it one last time and see if we could make it into a song.” And that’s what we did. We listened to it through headphones and decided to add some drums, some guitars and decided to make it a rock track. We quit listening to it as a dance track and that was the key.

Also, the single’s cover art is a bit creepy with its red forest.
I think the point of that is just to get people to notice. “Hey look! There’s something coming from 3 Doors Down and it’s not vanilla - it’s red. It’s different. It’s big.” I think that was the idea behind that - and I say that not knowing 100 percent that that was the reason. I just saw that picture and was like, “That’s it!” You see it and go, “OK. This is cool.” It was actually something the label put together for us.

What are your favorite tunes on the new album?
I like “The Broken” a lot - I think it just feels good. “In the Dark,” of course, is a rock track that just kind of gets your blood moving. And “I Don’t Wanna Know”... because it is just so different for us. Those are my three favorites on the record so far.

Why was there a five-year gap between this album and 2011’s “Time of My Life”?
Well, it’s been a rough road for us really. We’ve lost a couple of members, and you got to regroup when that happens. The core of the band was broken up for different reasons and we’ve had to add new players, and when you add new players, you got to go out and prove that they’ll be around before you start writing records with them. So we had to do that, and it took a few years just to get back in our comfort zone. Plus, we really didn’t go away - we toured; we just didn’t release records.

Are you happy with the new guys then?
This is a good group. This is going to be around to stay for awhile. We feel really comfortable.

Did you enjoy recording at your studio in Nashville?
It’s nice - you can drive to work instead of having to get an apartment or live in a hotel. The last record, we did in L.A., and the one before that we did in Florida. The whole band has to relocate and that’s fun every now and then, but we all live here and wanted to just drive to work. My studio is, literally, two miles from my house. We showed up there every day and worked.

3 Doors Down is still on a major label, Republic Records, while many artists are simply putting albums out on their own. How do you manage to keep that relationship going?
I think the relationship with our label has always been really important to us. And, honestly, just knowing that they’re important… A lot of bands think labels are not important, and they don’t need them, and they can do it on their own through social media, and that does kind of work for some people, but at the end of the day, you need people who know the business to help you. Unless you happen to have a music marketing genius in the band with you, you’re going to have to have someone who knows what’s going on, and I think we understand that as a band and we embrace and accept that. We can’t do it without them - we just really can’t.

Right now, you are playing sporadic dates and festivals. What are your tour plans for the rest of the year?
We are planning a headlining tour that’ll probably start in June or July.

Do you prefer touring with already-established bands or do you like taking out newcomers?
As long as the show is good, people feel like they’re getting their money’s worth and we can feel good about the whole thing is all I care about. But I do like touring with up-and-coming bands because it’s fun to take them under your wing.

The first 3 Doors Down album, “The Better Life,” came out 16 years ago. Did you imagine back then that you would still be doing this all these years later?
No way. No one does. Being in a band is tough. You get on the road with the same guys year after year after year and, eventually, people that aren’t good at being on the road, their negativity starts showing up, and people are tired of it and tired of working, working, working. You have to be resilient and have to know that there’s a long game. If you want to be in a band and be around for 25, 30 years, there’s a long game involved and it’s incredibly difficult - you have to know that when you start this journey. If you think that it’s going to be all rainbows and private jets, you’re sadly mistaken. You have to roll with the punches. You have to play the game the way the game is played. It’s not for everyone, and a lot of people can’t handle it. It’s really sad, but it separates the professionals from the people who are not meant to be there.

3 DOORS DOWN TOUR DATES
March 20: Universal Studios in Orlando, Fla.
April 8: Route 66 Casino in Albuquerque, N.M.
April 9: Inn of the Mountain Gods Resort and Casino in Mescalero, N.M.
April 15: IP Casino in Biloxi, Miss.
April 16: IP Casino in Biloxi, Miss.
April 30: Welcome to Rockville in Jacksonville, Fla.
May 1: Fort Rock Festival in Fort Myers, Fla.
May 5: Myrtle Beach Speedway in Myrtle Beach, S.C.
May 6: Carolina Rebellion in Concord, N.C.
May 7: Montgomery Performing Arts Centre in Montgomery, Ala.
May 12: Fallsview Casino in Niagara Falls, Ont.
May 13: Fallsview Casino in Niagara Falls, Ont.
May 19: Sands Bethlehem Events Center in Bethlehem, Penn.
May 21: BB&T Pavillion in Camden, N.J.
May 22: Foxwoods Casino in Mashantucket, Conn.
May 27: Herrinfesta Italiana in Herrin, Ill.
May 28: Rocklahoma in Pryor, Okla.
May 29: Gexa Energy Pavilion in Dallas, Texas
June 10: Talking Stick Resort Showroom in Scottsdale, Ariz.
June 16: San Diego County Fair @ Del Mar Fairgrounds in Del Mar, Calif.
June 18: Bands in the Backyeard in Pueblo, Colo.
June 22: Luther Burbank Center in Santa Rosa, Calif.
July 29: Grand Casino Hinckley in Hinckley, Minn.
Aug. 4: Mississippi Valley Fair in Davenport, Iowa

For more on 3 Doors Down, visit the band’s official website, Facebook, Twitter or Instagram.