I think rock & roll has prepared me for a lot of flexibility.
Indie world won't have me, and mainstream world treats me like an alien, but here I am still floating between these two worlds.
I've seen foreigners really shift on their view of America, and that's hard for me to take.
The deeper I get into my life as a musician, I'm discovering that it becomes less and less about other people, and more about what I want to do. And that's a good place to be.
As a citizen of the great city of Chicago, I find it impossible to root against the White Sox. The White Sox organization has been much more consistent, in my lifetime at least, at putting a winning ballclub on the field.
Where is this great love for rock and roll that existed for 50 or 60 years?
You've got to be ready to be in a great relationship.
My father was a guitar player, and I was raised with a super high standard of what good guitar playing was.
I'm a really honest person.
More than any audience in the world, Americans will cross their arms, stare at you and say, 'OK, whaddya got?' - no matter how many times you've proven it to them.
I don't have a problem with 'Idol' or 'X Factor,' I have a problem with when those things are not given the proper contextual hue.
I mean my point as an artist is I'm on my own little weird journey across the sky here and whether or not anybody's listening, or listening to the degree I would like them to, at the end of the day has to be an inconsequential thing because I can't chase this culture.
I've been too productive for too long, and despite what anybody wants to strip away from me, I am influential. I am.
Injuries are nothing to be ashamed about.
I'll come in with a string of riffs and direct the musical ideas. But you still need a band and their input to make the ideas come alive. You can't underestimate band chemistry.
In my case I don't mind playing a character that irritates people or makes people question my sanity.
The funny thing about me that most people never really understand is that, at heart, I'm really a jock.
I'm sort of like a lame, single guy in a red sports car.
I didn't grow up with my mother, and so losing her for real was like, some sort of latent childhood, some sort of unresolved issue. When she left for real, it was sort of like, I was done.
Radiohead and Our Lady Peace are doing the seven layers of guitar, and I kind of jumped on that before anyone else did.