A lot of the great songwriters in history have been collaborators, with a separate lyricist.

I guess there are two things that make me like songs generally, of ours, and that is if they groove well, or if they have a jam that can go somewhere.

I've written some poetry, but...songs have to be more poetic, and I've really gotten to this non-poetic sort of writing.

The guy we want to get is the guy who did the Aerosmith album which is coming out in two days, and a Chili Peppers album, and a couple of Pearl Jam albums. We want to get someone that will sort of bring out the high energy aspect more than the dreaminess that was on the last album.

Last tour my bass rig was breaking down every other night. That was a pain. We would get on stage and Trey would count off the song, and I'd play the first note and nothing would be there. Those guys would just roll their eyes.

We have access to more resources in general, and they are not going to force a situation on us, whether its the producer, or the cover, or what songs we have to play. And it's a small enough company that it seems like the people there care about music and not just about business.

Usually I don't think much in terms of interesting sounds. Although I think I want to get one of those whammy pedals, I forget what it's called and who makes it. It's got a whole bunch of different settings. You can play a note and it will raise the pitch when you push the pedal.