For most people who have or who do identify as or with [song] Straight Edge, I feel like for most people, they're just trying to do the right thing.

I was into Ted Nugent, I was a Nugent guy. I was a skateboarder listening to Ted Nugent.

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.

It doesn't hurt me on a personal level, but it hurts me on a larger level of like, why are people so stupid? Why do we have to go through these unnecessary exercises. Fight crime, don't fight me. If you really want to make a difference don't fight me or Fugazi.

I'm always happy when I hear about people selling records or selling books or selling movies. It makes me proud of them.

I think it's my nature to engage in things that are more difficult.

You can hear a real shift. You listen to the late 80s recordings, you'll hear us engaging with the audience, dealing with the issues surrounding punk shows at the time. Back then, people thought you had to be a skinhead and beat the crap out of everybody when you went to a punk show. Come the early 90s, when you had this so-called grunge stuff and when videos became so dominant, you had this totally huge shift in the culture of shows.