A lot of getting a song done is booking the studio time. I'm the kind of person who will set time aside to do something and then do everything but that thing.

I know most of my records are real good but I know that there are definitely things I would've changed at the end of the day. I work on things forever, and there are things I wish I didn't do, but ultimately I know the records are good. I kind of let go of big expectations, maybe because hopefully that means if I don't have them, that it'll do really well, but you just never know.

I'll know when a song's really awesome, for sure, and I get super stoked and I'm so high when I'm hearing it back, but then you sit with the record forever. You're mixing it and you can really just over-think everything. I'll go back and forth all the time.

I guess some people like to just stick with their sound, like Weezer or something, but I think I just try to keep it as close to my real life, in a Neil Young sort of way, as possible.

Not that Matador is a major label, but its major enough for me. On one level we're on Matador, but our amps still might explode on stage or they'll be an echo in the mic. It's like climbing a ladder. I like to climb it really slowly. I could probably get really professional right away, but I like to take baby steps and find my own way.

Maybe I'm biased because I'm from there. It's close enough to New York but it's not swallowed up by New York's hustle and bustle. Philly's busy enough. There are tons of record stores and record-head friends and plenty of D.I.Y. shows. It's a place where people pass through and bands don't usually skip on tour. There are lots of music resources but it's not too over the top.

I've always been a deep sleeper; because I come from such a large family - there are 10 kids - I could sleep through anything.