When my nephew was 3 and 4, he would say the most genius things. He said, You're hammer macho with FBI dogs. I thought it was just one of those great lines.

Every band I knew or played with had flyers and properly-recorded demos and contacts; I couldn't even get a gig.

My whole generation's mission is to kill the cliche...it's one of the reasons a lot of my generation are always on the fence about things. They're afraid to commit to anything for fear of seeming like a cliche. They're afraid to commit to their lives because they see so much of the world as a cliche.

As music becomes more computer-based, it's lost some emotional impact.

It gets a little bit troublesome when you have something that's overcompressed that shouldn't be.

There's 40 or 50 songs that nobody's heard that I've done in between albums. There's a whole evolution from Midnite Vultures to Sea Change that's never been released.

It's so easy to criticize your own time, and I see that as a problem, even for myself, as a listener.