When I first went on tour with PJ in '98, I was still in shock having gone through the Soundgarden break up.

I guess by taking lessons early on, and really trying to play all the rudimentary stuff, and try to have it sound as good as my teacher. It took a lot of practice, which I enjoyed, and still do.

A lot of times, when a band finds success with a certain style or sound, they have a really hard time breaking away from that to grow as artists.

The music has had a certain quality that people like just because it's a real true expression of how we are as musicians.

Ben was more improvisational, and relied less on methodology, and basically is a guitarist who switched to bass, whereas Jeff has a more traditional approach to playing bass in a band, and has a great sense of what his band sounds like, and we lock up nicely.

I think every band is a little cautious when the drummer starts to write tunes.

I'm always going to get more of a charge playing Chicago than I will Duluth or some place like that. Just because of the history and the people there are way more knowledgeable than a lot of other cities. It's an amazing music scene with some great bands and great musicians.