There seems to be a lot of, uh, sort of...
(thunder rumbling)
...stormy, dark imagery in this record.
Yeah, well, you're getting a rare nice day in Seattle.
It's usually not like this, so...
(guitar playing)
Here.
(car door closing)
(engine starting)
(thunder rumbling)
(Steve) So, I type with my eyes.
You can ask me questions.
Just need a little time to respond.
Is it just me? Am I the only interview for the whole record?
That would be kind of a really strong statement.
Guys, let's lock it up.
Just kidding.
(laughter)
Feel free, if you think the question sucks,
to tell me it sucks.
Okay. So, with my first question.
It's been five years since "Backspacer."
That's the longest stretch between records.
What the fuck?
(laughter)
(thunder rumbling)
("Mind Your Manners" playing) ♪ I've got an unfortunate feeling ♪
♪ I've been beaten down ♪
♪ I feel that I don't believe And now, the truth is coming out"
♪ What they take is ♪
♪ More than a vow ♪
♪ They're taking your innocents ♪
♪ And then they throw them on a burning pile ♪
♪ Yeah ♪
♪ And all they say is... ♪ It's good to wait
until we feel like we do have something to say.
♪ Mind your manners I caught myself believing ♪
♪ That I needed god ♪
It's just... If you're paying attention
to what's going on in the planet,
I feel like I can find something to be angry about pretty quick.
♪ Makes me want to cry ♪
♪ And all they say is... ♪
Everybody's kind of playing out of their minds on this record.
(guitar solo)
I think "Mind Your Manners" will be fun to play live.
If I can keep up with him.
Just double-timing that thing.
Rrrr.
The guys really wanted me to go full throtle
♪ And all they say is ♪
♪ Mind your manners ♪
Do you have any hearing loss at all, you think?
Ringin' right now.
Ow!
(Steve) Okay. So, if you step back and look at the record,
is there a song that, individually,
you are most proud of?
("Sirens" intro playing)
(Mike) For me, I'm super proud of that song "Sirens."
I think that's a high-water marker for me--
to be able to write something like that.
I had a lot of help with Ed and Brendan and the band.
♪ Hear the sirens ♪
How colaborative is it on the lyrics side? Do you guys...
Do you guys ever read lyrics and just go like, "No."?
I don't know what you're talking about here.
♪ Hear the sirens ♪
♪ Hear the circus so profound ♪
I've learned a lot in my own craft
watching how he works.
I remember when he played that song for us in his room
like right after he wrote the lyrics.
And I think he had stayed up the night before writing those lyrics,
and I remember hearing the sirens that he was obviously writing about.
'Cause we were staying in L.A.,
and there are sirens going off every five or ten minutes in Los Angeles so...
That was a cool thing to sort of feel like.
We were witnessing what was inspiring him to write.
He's on a tear right now.
He's got a lot of words, I think, you know.
You kinda want him writing as many as he wants.
♪ I could take your hand And feel your breath ♪
♪ For feel that this someday will be over ♪
But in a way, I've always just thought of it as, you know,
surfing a bit, you know, and that the wave is the actually the song.
And the words are kinda like the board or the...
And so it's really how you're moving around that.
(underwater sound effect)
Surfin's pretty easy once you're on the wave,
and so is song writing.
Once you're on the wave, you can spend a lot of days out there
paddling around and not getting anything.
(Mark) What... Like what sparks a song?
Or can it be a lot of things that spark a song?
(thunder rumbling)
♪ She comes on like a stone ♪
♪ But you don’t know where from she was thrown ♪
♪ Like a burning meteor from miles high ♪
There's always a chance you're gonna write a song.
Keep following it. Where does it go? Where does that mistake lead you?
Really just kind of waiting for something to hit.
It's an arduous proccess,
and I go at it, you know, every waking hour
and maybe a few while I'm sleeping.
♪ Now she comes out the deep ♪
♪ With her newly planted seeds ♪
♪ And soon you’re thrown down on your knees ♪
♪ And then you’ll dig ♪
I've been writing probably more
the last four, five years than I ever have.
♪ ...With all the wild seeds she sows in your sleep ♪
♪ You gotta know you’ll never let her go ♪
♪ She's a lightning bolt ♪
♪ Lightning bolt ♪
Ah!
There's always a sense of relief when that's kind of done.
These songs are just fuckin'...
You're running a flophouse with all these fucking tenants
that won't pay their rent.
And, like, you finish the record, and you just go,
"Done. Out. Evicted."
And get some new tenants that might, you know,
actually clean up after themselves.
(playing "Future Days")
With everything you think that you've figured out,
it's another path
to another set of questions, you know.
(guitar playing continues)
(Steve) Is there a sequence or segment of a song,
maybe even a tiny piece of music
that a casual listener may not even notice,
that puts a smile on your face?
(sound of rolling waves)
Made me through another one.
Can't wait to see what's next.
Yeah.
Oh, that sounded great. Sounded great in the old Lincoln.
("Getaway" intro playing loudly)
Oh, shit! Oh!
Hey! Hey!
It's locked. We're fcuked!
No, we're not fucked.
The neighbors are fucked.
Here we go!
♪ Everyone’s a critic looking back up the river ♪
♪ Every boat is leaking in this town ♪
(turns up car stereo) ♪ Everybody is thinking they can all be delivered ♪
♪ Sitting in a box like lost and found ♪
♪ But I found my place and it’s all right ♪
♪ We’re all searching for a better way ♪
♪ Get this off my plate ♪
♪ It’s all right ♪
♪ I got my own way to believe ♪
♪ Find a lighthouse in the dark stormy weather ♪
♪ We all could use a sedative right now ♪
♪ Holy rollers sitting with their backs to the middle ♪
♪ All alone and sinking the bow ♪