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.

In an open society, no idea can be above scrutiny, just as no people should be beneath dignity.

Unity in faith is theocracy; unity in politics is fascism.

If liberalism is to mean anything at all, it is duty bound to support without hesitation the dissenting individual over the group, the heretic over the orthodox, innovation over stagnation, and free speech over offense.

Muslim communities themselves, as they expect mainstream society to stand down racists, must do more to also stand down the Islamist extremists.

Language that is designed to dehumanize has consequences.

Societies should be judged by how they treat the weakest among them.

My identity comprises of more than just my faith. I am a proud Muslim, but I am also a liberal, a Briton, a Pakistani, a Londoner, a father, a product of the globalised world who speaks English, Arabic and Urdu.

America did not invade Iraq because Iraqis are Muslims. Oil, money, economic interests. Who knows? But it was not because Iraqis are Muslims.

In Bosnia, the case was there were white, blond-haired, blue-eyed Muslims who were being slaughtered and identified as Muslims. That really touched me.

Rather than allowing jihadists to shut down debate, it must proliferate so much that they simply cannot kill us all.

Having our fundamental assumptions about life challenged is never a comfortable thing.

I was imprisoned in the aftermath of the 11 September 2001 attacks, when Egypt's state security was rounding people up in unprecedented numbers.

Islam will be what Muslims make of it. And it is the sum total of the interpretation that Muslims give to it.

I come from an immigrant family, but I know no other nationality apart from British.

Non-violent extremism is essentially the increase of intolerant and bigoted demands made by groups seeking to dominate society.

The rise of ISIS in Iraq is a wider threat to the stability of the Middle East and the West than many realise.

The only way we can challenge Islamism is to engage with one another. We need to make it as abhorrent as racism has become today. Only then will we stem the tide of angry young Muslims who turn to hate.

Ironically, xenophobic nationalists are utilizing the benefits of globalization.

What we cannot deny is that there's an association between exclusion, segregation, non-violent extremist thinking, and jihadism.

Islamism is not Islam. Islamism is the politicisation of Islam, the desire to impose a version of this ancient faith over society.

Expressing myself through language was always something that I had had to learn to do more so than others.

Preying on the grievances of disaffected young men is the bedrock of Islamism.

I used to MC a bit when I was young - 14 or 15 years old.

One of the problems we're facing is, in my view, that there are no globalized, youth-led, grassroots social movements advocating for democratic culture across Muslim-majority societies.

I was held in the Mazra Tora Prison for my role as leader of the pan-Islamist organisation Hizb ut-Tahrir in Alexandria.

The British and French governments have taken a strong stance against 'extremist content' online when addressing their approach to tackling extremism.

I was in prison with pretty much the who's who of the jihadist and Islamist scene of Egypt at the time, and Egypt was the cradle of Islamism for the world - it's where it began and where jihadism began as well.

There are no globalized, youth-led, grassroots social movements advocating for democratic culture across Muslim-majority societies. There is no equivalent of Al-Qaeda without the terrorism.

Dogma not only blinds its protagonist, but it muzzles all other opposition.

I was, by the way - I'm an Essex lad, born and raised in Essex in the U.K.