Tom Waits is someone who has really struck me, ever since I was a kid. He's really a big deal for me.

I think some people don't even know what they're talking about, and they just start talking with an opinion, not even asking questions.

I don't like it when people spout about the popular opinion just to make it louder.

Where I live, every band ever comes through, and you can see anything you want, pretty much.

I don't go to rock bars. Why would I go to rock bars? I can do that every night; it's boring.

The Clash will always be from London, and we will always be from New Jersey. But New Jersey doesn't create us.

I did the coffee house thing - we have coffee houses where people play, or we used to - and when I was 14, I started there. Just played all the time. Every weekend I had a show, or every Thursday. Open-mic nights, the whole thing.

We come from that school where we don't believe we're different from you, and it's insulting to me on some kind of weird level that musicians are put on a pedestal.

I just like a good song, it doesn't matter. I mean, I am into girl groups and stuff like that. I listen to anything.

That's how I would describe myself, persistent.

I can't sit still for long and need creative outlets and think you should try different things. I mean, if you're a musician all of your life, you gotta try different things. I really believe you can have it all.

I would love to learn how to paint motorcycles and stuff like that. I really, really am fascinated by that.

You just have to know your story from the beginning. You have to know what you're going for and be honest with people about that. Don't sit there and say you're gonna be a DIY punk band for your whole life and then move on to arenas; you can't do that because then people don't trust you anymore.

Too many bands record an album and feel, 'Well, this is okay,' but after a time, they grow to not like it.

When 'American Slang' came out, everyone was like, 'This is the next big band in the world, and this is blah blah blah Bruce Springsteen Junior and blah blah blah,' and I was just like, 'I don't know what that means. I don't know. We'll see.'

If you're just making a record to pay the bills, that's not a great idea because chances are it might not come out that good.

When you label something a singer-songwriter record, you cover many genres.

A lot of people get writer's block, and I think you just have to show up for work, sit down, and be like, 'I'm here.' You have to stay confident and positive that you're going to write something.

When you finish a record, I look at it like a photograph. It's already taken. You got it the way you wanted it to be. You edit it, make sure the light and contrast are right, then you just put it away, and that's your photograph. Then you don't really think about it anymore.

Everyone should see 'A Nightmare Before Christmas,' hear 'London Calling,' and read 'Great Expectations.'

I don't envy anybody else's career because I feel they've earned where they're at and worked hard. I wouldn't mind Jack White's gig, though. He does it all!

I sure wish I'd written 'One' by U2.

I must've been about 7 or 8 when I realized I wanted to perform in some way.

I do find that I tend to write about big questions. Why are we here? What are we doing? How do we relate to each other?