'One Part Lullaby.' It was our big major-label record. People reference it quite a bit, but it did absolutely nothing. It's like the 'Kids' soundtrack. It did nothing. It didn't start anything for me.
Some people play steel string beautifully, but I'm not exactly a world-class picker.
When I first started writing songs, I did play with my fingers, and I had these kind of weird strums. There's, like, three or four strumming patterns that seemed kind of unique to me.
I have to focus and keep things together as much as anyone with a real job... It's just that I know, from experience, that the more fun I have doing something that the more successful it will be.
I just write... I follow the melodies that I can't forget/the ones that pop up in my brain the most.
Simplicity is at the core of Sebadoh.
I went back and reread the Dinosaur chapter in 'Our Band Could Be Your Life,' and it was so depressing.
NYC is a wonderland full of passionate music fans. Once I got over being intimidated by rock critics and finicky hipsters, I realized that NYC was a great place to play.
I don't know what ontological means... I barely graduated high school, and I have never heard that word in conversation.
There are very few songs I really hate.
Don Henley is real fallback for awfulness.
I don't want to meet anybody famous, usually.
The minute we first started recording 'Defend Yourself,' I thought, 'Yeah. We're going to have to deal with a really terrible review from Pitchfork for this record.'
I love making records, and part of really doing that and being happy about it is just that each time I've done something, I come to terms with what maybe is wrong with it, and then I move on to the next thing.
One thing about when I came back into Dinosaur that was really cool was that pretty much anybody that J. was working with who had a long-term relationship with J. were people I really liked and that I actually may have already known.
Music doesn't always bring me to tears; if I hear 'Love' by John Lennon at a vulnerable moment, it will bring me to tears.
The Music Machine is my favorite rock band ever.
Within Istanbul, there's a ton of people who are totally hip - like, the hippest people you could ever meet.
A lot of times, when you record something, the album becomes less about the music and more technical.
I just like it when I can understand things, and the simpler it is, the easier it is to understand.
