I've never made a comment on a message board in my life.

We don't want to become like country artists where there's a formula.

I just think that a metal band covering a bunch of metal songs is so boring, so 'done before.'

For me, a band like Gojira brings something really cool and new to the table.

The idea of turning an album into a living piece of art and adding new installations is really intriguing. It expands the journey.

I think one of the biggest sleepers that people are going to be able to dig into later is 'Fermi Paradox,' it's the song before 'Exist.' To me it's got the coolest, it's just so bizarre because it's got one of the most melodic vocal melodies, but we put it over a black metal blast beats.

The thing about covers is that the first thing you're going to notice is the vocals, because it's not the same person.

When I was very young, it was Guns N' Roses and Metallica. I'd play air guitar on my bed. They've been the thread throughout my life.

We write music because we have to; it's a part of our very being.

Unless someone physically tries to attack me, I don't care what anyone does.

I used to get a huge kick out of walking into a record store and finding something I didn't know was out.

Metal needs to be exposed to more people, so it's good for rock if there's bigger bands.

Someone sent me an article on AI that was written by Tim Urban on the website Wait but Why - that was kind of where I stuck my toes in the puddle, and I said, 'OK, I've gotta learn about this!' I felt like this is one of those things that our generation is going to have to answer for, eventually, and I just wanted to educate myself on it.

When I'm by myself asking the questions that many of us do at some point in our lives, I look to the stars knowing that the answers are somewhere out there waiting to be discovered.

Musically, I just like when people are knowledgeable about music and they can talk to you about it.

People want things now. People in the rock world seem to not want to give it to them - they want to keep doing things the old way - and one thing that has always bummed me out is when we get a single three months out, and then you have to keep getting fed with bread crumbs.

The first Maiden record I ever got was 'Piece of Mind,' and I only got it because I thought the artwork was cool, and everyone talked about Iron Maiden. But they weren't necessarily the most popular metal band in America for a 12-year-old kid when I discovered them.

The Brexit thing to me just looks like a difference of opinion. I know things were lied about, but that should be a wake-up call to get all the information before you vote about something. Educate yourself.

I was talking to my dad about the stuff he grew up listening to, and 'Operation: Mindcrime' is a record that he had always talked about around the house. He always talked about it as the 'greatest concept album of all time.' One day, I started listening to it, and it just hit me. I was like, 'These songs are all hits. They're all huge songs.'

We always want to do covers, but we found it kind of boring to do covers of bands in our genre, and we were always asked to do those.

I wanna write a classic metal record, a classic rock record, in 2013.

If I ran the Grammys, it would probably go bankrupt.

A lot of the metal bands that were around when Metallica put out 'The Black Album,' now they're playing clubs, and Metallica is playing stadiums.

If people respect us as artists, they know we'll give them something different every time; they know we're pushing ourselves.

As we develop, I just see us following our heart on this musical journey.

I feel like our whole discography up through 'Hail to the King' was young, fun, and exciting. It was aggressively driven. 'The Stage' was the first step in the band becoming a more mature musical entity.

People think this is a competition between bands, when the reality is the more successful bands the better.

I'm glad that we can add something new to the fold that Metallica's not going to bring to the table, and they're going to do what they do.

For me, 'Far Beyond Driven' just had an oomph that kicked it over the edge and just pure aggression. And I always appreciated that.

I've always been a really open person around my friends.

I've had friends who've had depression or been on medication because their pituitary glands aren't giving out enough hormones - so I've been around a lot of people who've had problems like that. I've always been open to talk about that.

All I can say to people who don't think depression is a real thing, or say 'just suck it up and get over it' - they just really have no idea. You have to give people the benefit of the doubt that they're doing the best they can to get through it.

I think 'The Stage' is kind of left field.

Most people know we're kind of one of the only bands around right now that will admit that we're Republican.

We kind of reached this point in life where we don't really want to put out anything just to put something out. We really don't want it to be like, 'Two years are up. You've had your break; now do another record and get it out there.'

One thing that was frustrating to us, always, was having to do so much press building up an album, and you're asked so many questions about, you know, is it more melodic, is it heavier, are you doing your old stuff, is it new?

We write when the time comes, and we try to be exciting, and stuff that excites us usually makes the record.

We really like having songs where we think the arrangement is just as important as the melodies, even though they're typically not.

Personally, I just want to hear good songs.

The metalcore has been left behind. It's not something that any of us find enjoyment in listening to, so it's obviously not the direction we would write songs in.

The world is changing, and the way we consume music is obviously changing. I was one of the biggest CD advocates you will find, but when Apple music and digital options came out, like for everyone else, it was more conducive to my lifestyle.

One thing I loved when I was growing up, you maybe saw one review from a magazine like 'Rolling Stone,' but now there are 150 reviews before an album even comes out. There are so many opinions out there, but the only one that really matters is your own.

If you're going to put out a record just to get a No. 1 and then forget about it after the first week, it's the tail wagging the dog: it doesn't make any sense.

We want metal to be dangerous again. How cool would that be?

We like to wait to a point where we have to get in there and write a record because we're just so built up.

We just found that in 2016, if you announce a record, and it's coming out in three months, and you're just giving people breadcrumbs, it's the most boring, drawn-out experience.

We live in the realm where all the metalheads and rock fans know us, but we're not giants like Linkin Park or Black Sabbath.

If you make money, what's it worth if you can't be with your family?

Growing up, I was always playing with video games.