They even let me do the ads for the album. I definitely want it all to be presented right, but I don't want to be selling. I mean, people do deluxe editions, and I don't even really know how I feel about those yet.

You want to think about certain styles of music as being reflective of a certain culture or a certain time or a point of view. You don't want it to be just an intellectual exercise.

We definitely classify things in order to get closer to what we believe in - so it serves a purpose to really think about one style of music, and to understand the shades of delineation between similar artists. But yeah, it's really nice to listen to something the way most people listen to music! Just to enjoy it, without having to put it in context.

I write all the time but often abandon things I don't think will go anywhere. It's rare that I'll labor over writing something that doesn't feel like it will turn into a keeper.

We're covering all our bases so we can do whatever we want next time. That's how we're looking at it, rather than this just being an endless number of album/tour cycles.

Being in Portland is cool. I have some good friends here and the general feeling might be a little more welcoming.

There are personal topics on the record that have nothing to do with creativity but were maybe amplified by the demands of the band. I can't say that none of these things would be present without creativity as a catalyst, but it was definitely on my mind a lot while writing.