You ever tasted a smell? It's a very strange feeling. I've done it quite a few times and it still freaks me out.

I still have night terrors about things happening to my son. The worst things cross your mind when you care so much. I keep them at bay as best I can, and it's a struggle for me not to just do everything for him.

You have to live in these moments, not for them. If you look too hard, they blow right by you. If you do not live enough, you will regret every breath.

I love the fact that people can relate to what I'm saying, even if it's not for the same subject I was writing about. That is the power of real music and real expression.

Live your life; whatever that life may be.

I moved to Des Moines when I was 15. I asked my mother to give up costody and sign parental rights over to my grandmother, who I lived with while I went to school. I was clean and finally starting to figure myself out. I can only say that now without laughing. I was still very out of my own place, and I didn't even know what that place was. All I knew was that I could write music, that I had no idea what that could mean and that I was still surrounded by people I couldn't relate to. I hadn't found my tribe yet.

The weird thing about metal fans is we're all so maladjusted in a lot of ways. We're individualistic and opinionated and severe in our personalities - sometimes we really turn each other off. A little bit of a metal fan goes a long way.