tension in your life. The music business, and the travel that comes with it, is stressful, challenging, redundant, exhausting, exciting, and often very depressing. After all of these years, I'm still trying to cope with aspects of it. On "Track Number 8" I just hit a roadblock in the middle and decided to bring that into the theme. Songs are puzzles-- you get an intro, or maybe an end, but you gotta fill in the rest. Sometimes they come easy and sometimes they're a pain in the ass.

"When I was young, a gatefold album by Pink Floyd or Led Zeppelin was something to get excited about. I wanted to remind people that there was a time when music required an attention span."

Pitchfork: Several of the songs here feelin Seattle last year, and I came home and watched a special on him and cried like a baby. When I was five, in 1972, that's all you heard about: Joe Frazier. He was the toughest, most indestructible man on the planet back then, and he put Ali on his ass in that first fight. When he died, I was like, "No fucking way." That just broke my heart. He was such an endearing, honest guy. In his interviews during his later years, he still got choked up about the way Ali taunted him back then. He was tough, but really sensitive inside.

"You really think all of those indie music dorks go to SXSW every year to check out music? They go there to wear their laminates and