What excites me is the idea of doing a record that's pretty clean and focused on songs. I've rushed a lot with previous albums and there's not a rush now - it's not a race.

Everyone uses noise as a crutch sometimes - I've totally done it. But when you make a good-sounding record there's nothing there but you.

I was sick of fast, aggressive music; I felt like I needed to make a poppy thing. But, right now, I feel like I need to make a Hawkwind/Sabbath record. It gets boring if you just do the same thing all the time.

"Beach." It's a very loose term now. Pretty widely used term. And that's awesome, but I guess my California experience is different from a lot of people's interpretations, and I think maybe I just wanted to put my spin on it.

I do believe in the myth of San Francisco and there is a force, a magical kind of thing there. That feeling of like, I've never been to another place like it. It doesn't even feel Californian. Even how it's laid out physically, it's very strange. Like, the weather patterns don't make sense. They do scientifically, but in a practical way it doesn't make any sense. And that weirdness, it really creates some weird thing in the air. But it is you know, on a practical level, it's very expensive, and it's a very business-oriented place, too, and there's a lot of that stuff going on.

The next album I make might be the most messed up thing ever. It's all momentary for me.

What excites me is the idea of doing a record that's pretty clean and focused on songs. I've rushed a lot with previous albums and there's not a rush now - it's not a race.