I think it gave us the freedom to be more creative and do things the way we wanted to do them, so if a label liked it that was cool and if they didn't like it fine. Ultimately it was up to us to sink or swim and there was nobody telling us what direction to go in. I think that made the entire record more diverse.

I think it gave us the freedom to be more creative and do things the way we wanted to do them, so if a label liked it that was cool and if they didn't like it fine. Ultimately it was up to us to sink or swim and there was nobody telling us what direction to go in. I think that made the entire record more diverse.

Without a doubt, because now in the music business talent and hard work isn't enough. There is just a lot of luck and marketing money involved in making any artist break. "Fall Down" is about a relationship, but you could certainly apply it to the relationship we've had with each other and throughout our career.

I tend to listen to the artists that originally inspired me to start playing music in the first place, because there is a multitude of wisdom that can be gained by bands like Black Sabbath, Depeche Mode, Pink Floyd and the Cure. I think if we were to pay close attention to what's on the radio right now then we'd lose our identity entirely.

I think it's stripped down as far as electronics go, but we just wanted to write a record that we felt better represented how we sound live with more of a rock feel, which is the direction we've been heading. It's just an evolution of the band throughout the years. We worked on this record longer than any other record, so I don't know if "stripped down" is how I would put it; I think it is a little bit more raw sounding.

People can get too heavy and it's just about being heavy, which means there isn't a whole lot of art in that; it's more mechanical. Just always keep in mind that melody is what makes something memorable and if you take that out of the equation then you may have something that's technically played very well, but you still can't lose sight of the song.

Back when we were more in the industrial vein, it was almost like I had to hide the fact that I could sing. Now, I've just sort of embraced the fact that I can sing and I'm not a screamer or hiding it behind any effects, this is just what I sound like.