'Smoke Ring' was a downer, then 'Wakin' was an upturn.

I like the idea of having money.

People can have their punk ideals, but I don't really care about that kind of thing.

Some people are so sad that, at times, that's what gets on my nerves - if they just hammer the doom, with no comic relief whatsoever.

I'm the kind of performer who gets lost on stage. I can tap into this soulful haze.

It was just the next logical step from making succinct pop songs. What do you do after that? You make pop songs that are longer and more epic, that push the envelope. Imagine your favourite song, or something that you play over and over in the car, except that you don't have to start it over as much.

Influence is all osmosis.

There's too many favorite songs, so I'll just say right now my favorite song of all time is 'Poison' by Bert Jansch.

It's gotta feel natural. I'm always into that, and after awhile, if I am working on a song too long and trying to make something out of it that it's not... it's best just to stop and move on.

There's so many ways you can play one chord progression that the repetition isn't ever exactly the same.

I get to come home to my family. It's awesome, just constant adventure, never a dull moment. So much life.

When I was a teenager, I was mostly getting tapes and CDs, and somebody hipped me to the fact that you can get things on vinyl that are not necessarily available on any other fomat.

I'm joking all the time with my friends, even when we're talking about serious things.

Critics always get the lyrics wrong in reviews, which is amusing - especially when they use them against you.

All of my surroundings influence my songwriting. It's autobiographical, although I leave enough space so it's relatable.

The last blue collar job I had, I was 29. Even 'Childish Prodigy,' I had a day job that whole time. Those early ones, they feel like psychedelic, blue collar records. Especially 'God Is Saying This to You,' there's such urgency in that album.

My favorite kind of song is the most beautiful song that you love so much and it's so good it makes you want to cry a little bit. Any jam can sound like that on a certain day.

I just try to make as much money as possible. However I can do it. With as much integrity as I can have.

I definitely have relapses of stress. Most human beings are like that. But I think, ultimately, music is a therapeutic situation. Once you start playing, it all just gets resolved.

I've got an amazing family. My wife is really smart. She's guided me the whole way. With children, you see them grow up, so it's like you're forever young. They are totally innocent and so unjaded. Watching them grow up makes you go through it again yourself.

I've been known to just pass out instantaneously, like, anywhere.

Everybody goes up and down throughout their lives.

I think 'She Drives Me Crazy' is hilarious and good.

I had a really fun time working with the HARRYS guys and their whole crew.

I proved myself with 'Smoke Ring.' It was me maturing. I made a good pop record.

People do get mad at me for falling asleep sometimes, and it's the most frustrating thing. I can't help it. What am I gonna do?

Love is intense, and sadness is intense.

I'll know when a song's really awesome, for sure, and I get super stoked, and I'm so high when I'm hearing it back, but then you sit with the record forever. You're mixing it, and you can really just over-think everything.

If somebody else wanted to do a song for McDonald's, that's up to them. I wouldn't do something like that, but whatever.

Humor is important. Nothing against bands that are always a downer, but the reality is - it just becomes theater.

'Street Legal' is like a cult classic. It's pretty cheesy at times, but you learn to embrace it.

Even when I played in little league as a kid, I liked making friends, but I didn't want to be there, really.

The real reason I was lo-fi before was really just because that's what I could afford.

I had a wacky job driving a forklift for an air freight company. That was the worst.

I've developed this routine at home. I wait for the kids to go to bed; then my wife falls asleep. Then, it's dark and quiet enough for me to work on songs.

Life is mortal. There are all these rewards and consequences. Sometimes you embrace them, and sometimes they knock you over.

My cousin used to make fun of me for liking stuff like C+C Music Factory. I didn't have any tapes; I just liked their song on the radio. We liked that because that was what we had access to.

I actually often write about writing music and being in that zone.

I'm the kind of person who will set time aside to do something and then do everything but that thing.

I write a lot when I'm feeling bummed, but other times, you get locked in, and it's totally personal. If you're really low and writing, you're not thinking about anybody at all.

I'd say the best thing the Violators and I have done is to dominate the U.S. with an arsenal of smash hits.

We'll play somewhere like London, playing to 2,000 people easy, and every time you play with more people, you think, 'You're a rock star,' and it makes you laugh. I guess I am, but I'm also, you know, not.

Australia is a wild place.

I'm obsessive when I get an idea in my head.

When I leave a recording session, there is usually a lot of paranoia or superstition on my part, like I'm afraid to hear what we've done.

I like to laugh at dark things.

I do a lot of things, and I'll get excited about them - maybe it'll be a song in a movie - and then it comes out, and you're like, 'Aww, that was cool, but it wasn't quite as big a deal as I thought it would be.'

My family was always playing music; I always enjoyed it. My cousin, who is a little older than me, he started playing music, so I wanted to, also. I asked my dad for a guitar, and he got me a banjo, so that was my introduction to playing. I played it like a guitar. I had a few lessons, learned out a few chords, and figured it out right away.

I'm definitely influenced by Animal Collective. I watched them early on.

I've gotten a lot more paranoid in my older age.