I have a little history. I met Stone Temple Pilots, and their guitar player was a huge Extreme fan. Somewhere down the road, Extreme made its statement.

It was fun while it lasted, but it never seemed real to me. I could not believe I was in Van Halen.

The voices on the record, that was trying to treat my voice like guitar players treat guitar tones.

You are in a state of mixing, and you just live with it. There is not one musician who is completely happy with a mix.

In my writing with Extreme, there are heavy themes. The cover photo has me with a gun to my neck. I am not advocating suicide. I am taking the philosophy that man is the measure of his own fate.

I think there are some good players coming up. I think we are at a point where people can swallow a guitar solo in a pop rock record again.

I don't know if I have enough guts to do a whole standard jazz record.