There's so many FM hits that I love. Bob Seger, there's two of his songs that I love. I would probably love more, but I don't sit around listening to Bob Seger records. It's the same thing with Tom Petty; he writes amazing hits, but it's not often that I sit around at home listening to a whole Tom Petty album.
I think that I identify with Philadelphia for a lot of reasons. Without even thinking about it, I called myself 'Philly's Constant Hitmaker' when I first got a MySpace, before I had any real hits. It was kind of just a funny slogan, basically lifted from the Rolling Stones' first album, 'England's Newest Hit Makers.'
I had a wacky job driving a forklift for an air freight company. That was the worst.
I don't have anything to get off my chest. I'm not itching to prove myself anymore.
That Yo La Tengo record, 'Painful,' has got some real awesome, noisy, mellow heartbreakers.
Everybody goes up and down throughout their lives.
'Smoke Ring' was a downer, then 'Wakin' was an upturn.
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?
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.
I like a well-rounded life. All of this work is kind of useless if you don't have something good to come home to.
Life is mortal. There are all these rewards and consequences. Sometimes you embrace them, and sometimes they knock you over.
I really like Cold Cave.
Even when I haven't played in a while, I can sit down and start with a chord, and just drop into it. It's like this tunnel I go into. The zone is where I want to live.
I had a really fun time working with the HARRYS guys and their whole crew.
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.
I walk around a lot. People come up to me and say 'Hi,' but not that often. I mean, I get it plenty often, but sometimes I wish they'd come up to me more! I mean, I'm just a regular guy.
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'm always working on music.
Life is so beautiful, but there are all these scary things you can't deny.
Philly's busy enough. There are tons of record stores and record-head friends and plenty of D.I.Y. shows. It's a place where people pass through and bands don't usually skip on tour. There are lots of music resources, but it's not too over the top.
