Last month, Dave Matthews harshed the mellows of fans around the world, telling Rolling Stone he “doesn’t know” what the future holds for his namesake jam band. He further spurred breakup rumors when, discussing DMB‘s forthcoming eighth studio album, ‘Away From the World,’ he said the “freedom” he enjoyed as a young songwriter gets “harder to come by as time goes on.”

DMB violinist Boyd Tinsley hasn’t read the Q&A, but in an interview with Diffuser.fm., he denied that the group is planning to split up.

“I don’t think we’re gonna call it quits,” Tinsley said. “The is what we do. This is who we are.”

The band has spent the last few months on the road, and Tinsley — who recently made his cinematic debut with ‘Faces in the Mirror,’ a film he scored and produced — says they’re in peak form. He’s particularly jazzed about the new record, which arrives Sept. 11.

“The whole vibe of the summer has been a renewal,” Tinsley says. “The excitement everyone has had for the new music has really brought out some great performances onstage, and it feels to me like the beginning of a whole new era for us. I think we’ll be around for a while.”

Matthews’ recent comments about “freedom” are in stark contrast to things Tinsley has said in interviews about his film. Created backward — music first, then story — ‘Faces in the Mirror’ gave Tinsley and his collaborators license to think and play in ways they never had before. If anything, Tinsley seems to be getting freer and more creative as his career progresses.

“Dave and I understand each other really well, but at the same time, I think we’re two different people,” Tinsley says, explaining the disparity. “The thing about this band is we’re all very different from each other. The common denominator we have is the music. But we’re a tight group as well. These are the closest people I know.”

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