A good collaboration I think it's really, truly a vibe thing. The people who are most excited about collaborations are people in the business, people who are thinking, "This is going to be great press," or, "This is going to expose you to all these people you haven't reached before." I prefer not to think like that. I'm more, if you meet the person, you like the person, you've talked to them, you feel connected, you feel like there's a creative exchange, then it kind of happens by itself. I'm open to it, but it has to feel right. If it feels forced, then I'm fearful of doing it.

I feel like fans really want to spread the word about the band. I guess when you've done three records, you feel that you really start to appreciate it. We're looking at it all and it's just like, wow. You appreciate it differently when you work hard for it.

I think we're a little bit protective in that way. You're always trying to balance between what's spreading the word about the band and what's good money and what's a shitty look. Is this good for the longevity of the band? Do people even care these days? We care, but do we care more about the money? We've had a lot of discussions about things. It gets us into a lot of fights, but it also makes you question your own morals in a really good way.

Partly I think it's always a challenge to travel a lot. If I could choose to never travel again but still do all my shows - I mean, who wouldn't want to do that? That's the work aspect of it. Maybe people don't think about it this way, but it makes it feel like a job when you're playing late and getting up really early for a lobby call, and flying around.

Maybe it's easier to have that desire guest-spot-packed album, for example, you're a rapper and you need someone to sing the hook. I guess for us, it just kind of feels like we want to explore ourselves more. That sounds kind of cheesy, but I don't know. I have a lot of artists whose music I have this perfect relationship with, and I don't really feel like I need to meet them or get to know them or write with them because of it.

To foster creativity, I think a little pressure can be good, but stress isn't good. Knowing that you have a defined window of time and you're going to dedicate your attention to it is a positive - but you can't think of it as needing a track that's going to change your life.

I never listen to any of my music after it comes out, unless I hear it in a cafe or whatever. I'll think, "I forgot how it was so slow or how minimal it felt compared to how it's become live," because you start having a relationship to the songs live. After an album is finished, I really let go.