The fact of picking up an instrument and writing a song and expressing yourself publicly has a powerful political dimension.

One of my favorite things as an engineer is watching a band get comfortable in the studio and getting a great take. Like, they're playing the song, warming up, and then suddenly, the communication really happens and everybody's really in the song, and they nail it, and then that's the take.

You just realize that you have to be committed to this thing in this kind of world that we're in the more your support group dwindles and you start seeing your peers buying houses and getting corporate jobs. So that can be discouraging.

I'd been in a couple situations where I'd seen bands realize that they didn't have to get a good take in order to get something that sounded like a song. The musicians are there and they don't quite have it together, and then the engineer says, "Oh! That's okay, I'll just cut and paste the verse!"

When I run across something that feels like a real eye-opener, it's gonna have an influence on me forever.

For most of the projects I've worked on, I've been entrusted with some degree of musical responsibility, even if it's just like coaching for vocals and stuff.

It's sort of a fine line where you're dying to express it and then hoping no one really gets it that closely. But I'm pretty much over that. I'd really just like to be understood.