I guess my guitar heroes shifted from people like Jimmy Page and Jimi Hendrix to people like Johnny Marr or John Squire.

If I start to go around and look for stuff that's being written about me or about the band, chances are I'm not going to find what I'm looking for or what I'd want to be hearing. If I go out and look for it and it's out there, I'm really going to notice when it's not. And I'd hate to think that that would impact any decisions I'm making.

One thing I've always been really proud of about our band is that we've done what we wanted to do, what we enjoy doing, and we've been really lucky that people have responded to it the way that they have. As long as we continue to really enjoy what we do and make decisions with integrity, I'm hoping people continue to respond to that.

When you stop worrying about all the things that can go along with playing in a band and you let go and do it because it's fun to do, things seem to work.

I guess my guitar heroes shifted from people like Jimmy Page and Jimi Hendrix to people like Johnny Marr or John Squire.

Slash can take three notes and make a beautiful solo. And that's one thing I've always really admired about his guitar playing. I'm a huge Slash fan all around.

It's how I learned to play guitar - sitting with Led Zeppelin and Cheap Trick records, backing the needle up and learning how to play along. When the band started, by doing something that was very obvious to us and sort of traditional, it set us apart at the time from what was happening musically.