We work super hard to not have to work

I don't really give a f**k about the mainstream. The mainstream doesn't offer me anything. Why would I offer it anything? I love the world I have. I love the sort of subculture that Green Day represents.

Music's awesome, it's the closest thing we have to magic.

For me, it's important to get back to fundamentally what it feels like to be an American. We all come from different backgrounds, but we come together and create this world. It's like a microcosm for the rest of the world. I want people to feel unity when they come to a show.

There's no way you could get me onstage with someone that I didn't like. No way. I would never do that. We have our gripes and stuff like that. All bands have their drama, but life is too short to be miserable around somebody that you don't like.

When people start writing songs for award shows, there's a very limited palette you can use. You end up not sounding like you. You end up sounding like somebody else. You end up getting what the record company thinks they can market.

I started playing bass for the same reason everyone else does – I’m a lousy guitarist.