It is the melody and the rhythm that are by far the most important and then words and imagery and stuff, story bits will start to stick to a melody and that is the way I write.
A song is a song and, if I am emotionally connected to do it, whether it is sad or not sad, I am going to chase that song.
I actually don’t go to shows anymore. Rock concerts have lost their appeal for me.
Maybe because I have spent too much of my life in rock clubs. I don’t really go to parties anymore either. I’ll usually be in the bus by 11:30 after a show.
Not all the songs are real events, but I do write about stuff that is close to my heart and it comes out one way or another.
My parents know that I have always been sort of a dark melodramatic kid, so they were never concerned.
I usually always think of characters and sometimes the characters are a little bit invented, so it’s nice to give these invented, blurry, personas an actually name. It makes me get closer to them or something like that. But they’re not all real, they’re weird amalgamations of reality.
I’m trying to figure out how to record at home because I have a tiny house and a seven-year-old and my wife also works at home. So I can’t work in the house because she’s trying to write, so I pitched a tent in the backyard. I’m literally trying to record in the tent.
I can never turn a tour into a vacation.
I have pit bulls barking at me on half of the love songs.
I’m not saying I’m not a moody guy sometimes, but I think I have a pretty normal balance.
Music has got a community vibe to it that pulls people together, and those communities are different in different places.
I’ve never had so much fun being back at my job sitting in front of my computer. Compared to 10 months on the road, going home and sleeping in my own bed every night is really nice.
I’m doing a little freelance work, and I think everybody’s trying to take their minds off rock and roll for a little while and get some perspective.
The last thing you want to do is write songs about being in a band.
Getting on stage and performing and standing under lights is such an unsettling experience – in a good and bad way – but it’s the only place I can go to feel comfortable.
It’s not hard to connect with the music on an emotional level and get inside the songs. It’s odd, very vulnerable, and slightly embarrassing to be standing and singing and playing music in front of a bunch of strangers.
A different drumbeat or some vocal overdub could completely transform the song.
I focus on the words and then I have fun putting together the music after.
Somehow, you realize you can kind of do anything in music. You don’t have to be good at a certain thing; you can just do whatever you want.
Lyrics need to be good, but they don’t need to be obvious right away.