My point of view is, I'm just a person, and there are times when I look at other people and think, 'My God, they spend so much time thinking about things that seem so absurd.' But I'm sure people must think the same thing about me.

Columbia Heights was a poor, messed up area, and the church was in the middle of it. What happened inside was a reflection of the community. I actually saw my first rock concert on the altar of that church [St. Stephen's].

I think that the idea of straight edge, the song that I wrote, and the way people have related it it, there's some people who have abused it, they've allowed their fundamentalism to interfere with the real message, which in my mind, was that people should be allowed to live their lives the way they want to.

When you're in a band and write a song on your own, it isn't fully realized until it goes into somebody else's ears.

To me, music is no joke and it's not for sale.

I never imagine myself as anything. I've never had a goal or any future vision at all. I just do what's in front of me.

It makes me sad, the way human beings talk smack. It's why I don't like irony. People are too gleeful to put some teeth into something.