I'm sure as I progress the sound may get cleaner but right now, I'm still interested in having it rough but never overwhelmingly so. I consider myself an amateur pop songwriter and I want that to come through, too.

I couldn't do rap. I was trying. I don't know how. I'm not good enough to know.

I haven't done rap... I can't do that too well.

When I got into rap I didn't exactly win any popularity contests. I called myself Dee Dee King, after B.B. King, to the total dismay of my fellow Ramones.

Because I'm quiet, people think I'm really cold, or rude, or snobby. But I'm literally scared to talk to them.

Progression is important. I'm always going to play music in the general vein of rock'n'roll, but when I started I was very much associated with the West Coast lo-fi thing and I didn't want to get anchored in with anything that was just in vogue for the time being.

Ricky Nelson... I couldn't believe it when he died. He was a great rock star.