People don't always realize that a record is forever. It'll always be there under your name. You've got to be certain that it's right.

Anytime you put yourself in a creative box, it's going to stifle you; it's not conducive to the writing or recording process.

I've always been a fan of the band setting. I've always been a believer in bands, and I've always been in bands. That's where my comfort zone is. So to stand outside of that, that was never my intention or goal. I never had the dream of, 'I'm gonna go into all these bands as a spring board for my solo work.' But life takes you on different journeys sometimes. I ended up playing a bunch of songs and some of them I really liked.

Every experience that you have is important.

Every time I felt the pain coming on I'd go downstairs and hammer out an idea. After a few months I started to take a look at what I was making, I had for the first time in my life written a large grip of songs completely alone and without any expectations or plans of what they would be for.

I would rather be trampled by thousands of children than touch a spider.

These are dangerous days we live in and you, the artists, are our last defense.