We were a commodity used by corporations to make their brand look fashionable, but then they used us to keep kids out of venues.

We were a commodity used by corporations to make their brand look fashionable, but then they used us to keep kids out of venues.

I went with Beach Fossils and we played 40 shows because we wanted people to see us.

I don't know if there's anything that would surprise people, because I don't think that anybody knows anything about me at all. There's not much out there. I think I'm going to come out with a pretty dark and troubled record, and it might upset some people.

There are just some things that you can't deny.

I spent my life working before I started band. I worked construction, landscaping. I worked in kitchens, cleaned dishes. I worked demolition.

There's all these people involved, and it becomes this huge machine - it stops being just me making my own little songs for myself, or for the world. And it's hard to stop the machine. If you want to take time to write a record, they're like, "OK, tour through March, April, and June, then you can take a few weeks off to record in July before getting back on the road for the European festival circuit." After a while, I had to put my foot down.