When there's something negative in my life, be it in the art or the music world or in my personal life, I really just want to face it as immediately as possible. I don't run from it. I just want to immerse myself in it, get through it as quickly as possible, understand it, and look into what is positive about it.

You can feel a little vulnerable when you see people tearing you apart on the internet or saying, "It's the end of music." "This guy is a total hack." I've read it all. But at the same time, even though I feel a little vulnerable with that, I do feel comfortable.

The goal of the work is always for it to come across as original material, as transformative material.

In 2008 it's easy to get huge before you have an album out with the Internet. I think that's great and you see a lot of artists like that. It seems like it's becoming rarer to find a band that has been touring for six years, doing small shows and then breaking out.

When I'm performing, this is what everything builds up to, and everything has allowed me to be here.

It's hard to play a laptop in the midst of band and have people want to buy your t-shirts and CD's.

In the past, hearing music had more value.