If we enjoy what we're doing, we shouldn't really need a break.

The more you release records, in some ways it takes pressure off you.

I definitely hope to continue to release records at an accelerated pace.

There's somewhat of a real fascination with American bands and American mythology in London.

People think of songwriting as a very personal thing: A guy gets up there with an acoustic guitar and he sings his heart out, bares his soul.

When people hit on feeling a certain melancholy or elation, it's a really exciting moment. I think making that connection is the goal, and what makes something great.

It's good to have some kind of California in there. It's almost always appropriate. It's appropriate on a sunny day or late at night. If you grew up on the Grateful Dead, which I certainly did, you listened to 10 million bootlegs. But you realize that American Beauty has some really tight, well-arranged songs that aren't meandering.