'Hot Fuss' was all based on fantasy. The English influences, the makeup - they were what I imagined rock was. I'm a dreamer, you know? So I dug into that dream and made 'Hot Fuss.' But hearing people call us 'the best British band from America' made me wonder about my family and who I was.
If you write an original, it's like you went in and dug a well, and you hit oil. But an adaptation, it's like the oil well's on fire, and they bring you in to put the fire out and get it working again - or something like that.
Now that our kids are getting older, they need their space. We dug out the basement so they will have a place to go crazy in the wintertime. My son is already talking about how he's going to make a skateboard ramp. It's just a mosh pit down there, so they can do whatever they want. We're not even going to finish it.
It's weird because I grew up in this town, so the things I really dug, I was constantly around them. Like Alyssa Milano - I had the biggest crush on her from TV, but I also saw her around town at parties. It's just funny.
I'm a video game enthusiast. I love video games! They were a huge part of my upbringing in their early form, when I was all about 'Dig Dug' and 'River Raid.' As they evolved, so did my music-making, and we just kind of grew up together like cool friends.
My old man was a musician - that's what he did for a living. And like most fathers, occasionally he'd let me visit where he worked. So I started going to his recording studio, and I really dug it.
I picked Dad's guitar up when I was 8. It hurt to play, so I put it down and picked it back up when I was 15 and dug in. The guitar helped me come out of my shell and kind of gave me an identity at school.
At first, I was just trying to sound like DOOM and Eminem, and then I dug out my own voice, I guess.
Sometimes the times were dark and the outlook was lonesome, but where there is a will, there is a way. I pitched in and dug at my work until now I am where I am.
I do not choose that my grave should be dug while I am still alive.
