I mean it was weird. But Phoenix watched us every night. But it's like they're not even a band, they're like a corporation. They bring a staff of like 40 people.

I get asked that a lot: "What do you think your role is, with all the people that look up to you?" I'm an entertainer, you know? I'm not trying to bombard anybody with anything, but at the same time, face-to-face or in real life, if I'm talking to some kid, I have opinions just like everybody else does.

It's so crazy with the Internet and being able to play shows to people who are actually interested in you. I feel so lucky when that happens.

I really love a lot of Japanese music, like Ryuichi Sakamoto and this guy I got really into, Tatsuro Yamashita. When I was a little younger, I thought synthesizers meant Kraftwerk, cold, robotic, weird, Autobahn. But these guys are having a lot of fun on these things. Sometimes. Sometimes it's very somber. They could go either way.

'Salad Days' refers to a youthful or innocent period. And a lot of people having been asking me already so you jaded? And I'm not, I'm 23. It's me reflecting, I had to re-learn to have fun with music and I had to re-count my blessings.

It was weird [touring with them]. It felt more like we were playing for Phoenix. They asked us because they're fans of what we do.

Their [Phoenix] audience wasn't into us at all. The way most of the venues worked was there was no alcohol on the floor so usually during our set most people were in the lobby getting their drink on.