Drummer Benny Horowitz rightfully fancies himself a grounded individual. Despite seeing his band The Gaslight Anthem pick up momentum on the heels of sophomore full-length The ‘59 Sound, Horowitz, vocalist-guitarist Brian Fallon, bassist Alex Levine and guitarist Alex Rosamilia refuse to forget their humble New Brunswick, New Jersey roots.

“Musicians are full of shit with their sense of entitlement,” he says. “A lot of them don’t come out of the real world. They’ve never hustled through the real part of life, [so] their view is just skewed. I was reading [pop culture commentator] Chuck Klosterman’s latest book. He interviews Metallica, and I think there’s a part where Kirk Hammett says that when he once got home from tour, he didn’t even know how to take out the trash. Some people may find that funny, but I think it’s really sad.”

Maybe it’s the type of music The Gaslight Anthem craft that keeps them down to earth. Self-described as “Bruce Springsteen singing for a Cure cover band, with a tinge more aggression,” the quartet’s style is a unique yet comforting amalgamation of punk, rock and soul. That sound has won over audiences and critics on the strength of its melody, passion and grit. While many music writers have tried to find an original moniker for the band’s sincere, elemental approach, Horowitz strips it down to the fundamentals.

“It’s just rock ’n’ roll — it’s a mixture of a lot of shit,” he says. “We all have different sides we grew up with, so it all gets touched on, whether it’s from Brian’s folk roots, Alex’s ‘80s Cure and what-not or the hardcore breakdowns that I love to put in. We have influences old and current. Whatever that is, it’ll find its way into the music. Just enjoy it — don’t think about it too much. We don’t.”

At the same time, Horowitz is quick to ensure that his laid-back realism isn’t mistaken for the typical detached attitude of many of his musical contemporaries. His commitment to The Gaslight Anthem is unending, and he insists that it’s only through perseverance and adherence to their original ideals that they’ve managed to survive as professional musicians, let alone succeed.

“That’s the most important part that we keep reminding ourselves,” he says. “Like what I said about other musicians who are self-righteous — they have no perspective. I’m seeing that now: musicians making money that never have to do anything. They just get in and out of the bus. They don’t set up their gear or anything. I understand how people earn it, and things change as you succeed in music, but when you grow up having everything scheduled for you, you never have a real identity. It’s always false. You’re just living up to the image you’ve created for yourself on the stage. We’re not gonna let that happen.”

That same truthfulness and cut-to-the-chase mentality permeates everything The Gaslight Anthem does. Despite seeing their concert attendance blossom over the past few months, they won’t let it go to their heads.

“To me, we’re still doing the same shit as always,” Horowitz says. “It’s just on a larger scale, but that’s bound to happen when you tour 300 days a year. Right now, we have no jobs or places to live. We’re putting everything we’ve got into Gaslight Anthem. I don’t know if that’s strong or dumb, but it’s something. There are bands that are better than us that never get to do it full-time. A lot of this is luck, and we remind ourselves of that constantly.”