Our vocal harmonies started to feel like a cop-out: all group-singing, all the time.

The only thing I think about is doing something where I'm the only person making all the decisions - I think that would be fun to do, just to get it out of my system. And honestly, I kind of got it out of my system when I recorded three songs and put them online. That was enough of a solo experience for me; it scratched that itch.

I like having the vinyl, but it's not like we're going to sell an umbrella or something. I don't like the idea of selling something that's not music - I mean, I like going to shows and buying the shirt, but beyond that, I don't know. There's a lot of crap in the world.

Our day-to-day lives recording and touring aren't that different from those of Metallica, even though the perceived worldview is totally different. So that can be a difficult thing to reconcile sometimes.

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.

At the end of the day, for people in this position, you just need to make something that feels like you're expressing yourself honestly, something that you'd want to listen to. The rest of the aesthetic is kind of bullshit, and I don't mean that in a negative way - just that it's a choice.

The simpler songs are just done when the lyric has been stated; the more complex or band-oriented stuff can go in a million directions.