I think sometimes I get overly excited about adding things and having new ideas. You forget that more isn't always better.

I do enjoy talking about how everything's changed and I'm fascinated by it, and I can spend my time worrying, like, "Are we going to appeal to teens?" But then, if I were to try to make a record for teens, I'd be doing exactly what I said I didn't want to do. That'd be posturing. And I'm watching other people trying to do that, and they all look stupid. But for some of them, it's working, so cash in.

I feel like there's not as many bands anymore. It's more like there's a front-person and a band supporting them, solo-type spirits that have a look, a vibe, a message, a voice and a style. I was talking about it with a journalist in Europe; he was like, "You're a democracy; everyone in the band does stuff." There's not a lot of bands I can think of that still have it so every member of the band has an equal say. I was like, dude, you're right. I can't really think of any right now. There might be one or two leaders in them, but there are not a lot of bands like that anymore.

I don't want to do a gimmick. It's a bummer that that's how it is. I would say, personally speaking, consuming music now is harder than it was before. It's like being stuck in a slot machine. There's just so much noise. It's just constant noise. It's harder to clear your head and give the time to music that a lot of it really deserves. It's really crazy how different your relationship to an album or music becomes, even if it's digital, if you spend the $7 to $10 on it. It forms this relationship where you're not just going to throw it away.

I feel like a lot of the stuff coming out right now just feels really inauthentic to me. But apparently, people don't seem to see through it. And this makes me sound bitter, but it's just my perspective. I'm not bitter. I just feel like there's a lot of stuff that doesn't feel like it's coming from a place of any sort of integrity. It just doesn't feel like it's coming from the heart, basically. It just feels like it's being produced because people know it's a formula that will work, or it's easily digestible and fun to look at.

I think sometimes I get overly excited about adding things and having new ideas. You forget that more isn't always better.

I'd much rather speak up and stand behind something I believe in than worry about pissing off a couple hundred people. And if they're more pissed off than if I never said anything, well, sorry but not sorry.