You’re rooted in punk rock, but this album has a very fluid, indie sound to it. Where does that come from?

I think it comes from all the music I have done over the years. There’s my formative years, which were pretty much solidly hardcore bass that I loved forever. Then I moved passed that and got into proto-indie rock stuff with Sunny Day and then into this more traditional rock and roll thing with the Foo Fighters. So looking at it, I think the easy answer would be in an amalgam of all those things. I know where my heart lived: in weird more 80s new wave and pop mixed with the kind of aesthetic that Sunny Day had, like more introspective songs that hopefully have more bombastic explosive moments, so it’s rooted in there somewhere. I am too close to listen to it and say build a point to it. I think that’s more for somebody else.

This reminds me a lot of the Fire Sale record you did along with Jeremy Engk.

I like that record. That’s one of the things I have done that I am most proud of, so I wouldn’t of been surprised if somebody can see some of that record in this one.

You brought a variety of musicians into the studio with you. How did you settle on these names?

My main collaborator in recording is [Modest Mouse’s] Joe Plummer the drummer. I did most of the other instruments but I knew I wasn’t going to be able to tackle the drums on my own, and I have known Joe for years. We grew up in Seattle during the punk rock scene during the late 80s/early 90s and we just kept in touch in years. He was my first choice and thankfully he was available to do it. That was the skeleton of the stuff when Joe and I were getting the tracks down, and then I went over the top a bit.

Then the other people who played on it were just when a part needed to be done or an idea came up in my head. I had [Foo Fighters guitarist] Chris Shifflet come in and do a guitar part, and obviously I see him all the time so I invited him down and collaborate. In terms of engineers I worked with Page Hamilton just before doing the new Lieutenant record so I kind of leveraged that, and Page would come in help on the “Believe The Squalor” song, and [The Head and the Heart’s] Josiah Johnson who sang on the track and is a client of my wife, also helped out. You know, those association you have with those you know through the years. There wasn’t like a wish list of guys or a song where I needed to have them to come in. More of just a mixture of those who were mostly an opportunity.

Probably the one that’s closest to you is Jeremy Egnik, who was in Sunny Day Real Estate with you.

Yeah, I’ve known Jeremy forever. We are not super-close but we do stay in touch here and there, and I did do the Sunny Day reunion tour with him three years before we did the recording. He is one of my musical mentors; I love the way he sings. And I think he is a brilliant musician.

My feeling was that the weakest part of the record was the vocals just because I was so inexperienced with it. He was a natural choice for me to call up and lean on. I just sent the record to him and ask, “What do you think man? Do you mind putting some back up vocals on this?” I was surprised, he acted really well to it and wanted to take over and sing on the record (Laughs). He wanted to do over my vocals which is in one way flattering because you like the music so much it’s inspiring but another when I said “I already sang on it. It’s not that bad!” (Laughs). We compromised and had him do backing vocals. He also gave me some advice on singing which was great.

I was going to ask about the vocals, since that’s definitely a new endeavor for you. How’s that going?

Oh, no. Have you ever sung before?

Only drunk or in the shower.

(Laughs) Yeah, it’s like doing a puzzle in the dark, or playing chess in the dark. You can kind of feel the pieces out and kind of get an idea to whether you’re constructing the thing properly or not. But what happens in between your teeth and your diaphragm is a fucking mystery. It’s internal, so I kind of like that. It’s massively frustrating. I nearly broke my hand while recording. I would get so fucking frustrated trying to do the thing and I’m in there thinking, “Okay, this is what I want to sing in this song. I know how it sounds in my head. I know it can do this thing and good.” Then I’ve got Toshi (Kasai) constantly saying in my headphone “a little sharp. A little sharp. Nope now flat.”

I feel like I am getting it but its just tough because it is this weird game and most people who have a desire to express themselves through singing figure it out when they’re younger. They’re kind of singing somewhere like in the car or in the shower and whatnot. Finally when they decide to go and create some music, they have this background of having played with what their voice can do. I am a pretty reserved, shy person and I didn’t speak that much, much less sing so it was really challenging. But I am getting there. It’s fun I tell you that though. Whenever I think it’s challenging or I question what the hell I am doing, that’s what I fall back on just the fact that I like the challenge of doing it and I could enjoy singing even if I hear what comes out of my mouth and feel weird about it.

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