Musician

I don't drink. I choose to be sober now. I have drunk over the last six years, but I just don't want to be that person anymore.

I don't like to hold back, because that's how you hurt yourself.

This is a business of love and labor.

When I'm writing, I'm constantly thinking about myself, because it's the only experience I have to draw on. And I don't see an exact reflection of myself in every face in the audience, but I know that my songs have validity to them, and that's why the fans are there.

I don't go out and pick fights.

We don't sit down and go, 'People are uneasy about the economy. Let's write about that.'

We'd like to think that our music will always be bigger than any one of our individual personalities.

If fans come up to me, I talk to them.

I have been able to tap into all the negative things that can happen to me throughout my life by numbing myself to the pain so to speak and kind of being able to vent it through my music.

You're constantly trying to prove yourself, even after you've made it.

As an artist, I want a reaction.

All of our songs take these really big creative turns and twists throughout the process, so sometimes songs will start out as a melody or some musical chord progressions.

It's not cool to be an alcoholic.

My favorite jellybean is the pink one with the flavor inside.

Asking someone to describe what something sounds like is like telling a blind person to guess what I look like.

Well, we promised our fans that we'd put out records faster, and that's what we're doing. We figured out a way to condense our cycle, so to speak, by... continuing to write, trying to keep the creative ball rolling as often as possible.

Once we start hitting lyrical themes that can whack you from all these different perspectives, we know we're onto something special.

I always wanted to be a rock star. That was my childhood dream. That's what I told everybody I was going to be when I grew up.

There are always going to be encounters that you kind of wish went differently. But the average fan really isn't fanatical.

Touring for two years is excruciating.