I think the true test of a pop song, for me, and I've talked to a lot of other writers about this, is you take your demo, you pop it in your car and you drive down Sunset Blvd. to Santa Monica, and that's the Hollywood car test.

I live in Los Angeles, which is the second most polluted city in the world, and I wake up in the morning to dirt all over my window.

I'm actually introverted and shy.

I am not opposed to doing a side project, like Death Cab for Cutie, where it's completely different from my own band.

Crowds respond to anthemic choruses.

I'm just a regular guy, but if you cross me it will get physical.

I listen to the far left which informs the far right. Somewhere in the middle is where we end up.