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When you work on an album for three and a half years, you're kind of ready for it to get out there. To have your songs reach people.

It's like, how do you continue to make records that are representative of who you are that your fans will recognize as your band, while still trying to push things forward and present new sounds for people.

One of the hardest things I've had to deal with in my career is keeping my material topical even though I only release albums every three or four years.

Albums are like diaries. You go through phases, technically and emotionally, and they reflect the state that you're in at the time.

Those albums are so important to me because, for the first time, I was making my own music, paying for it, finding strengths in it, and going through the process of finding the right music for the record.

Whenever I release a record, it's my record. It's not a selfish thought. I may work all year 'round for other people. So, finally, when I come out with my own album, it should be me with the creative help of other musicians.

I think my fans will follow me into our combined old age. Real musicians and real fans stay together for a long, long time.

I always try to put something personal on my albums just to give people out there a little piece of my history and how I got where I am and who I am.

Obviously, fans are the beginning and end for any artist. The minute your fans embrace you and accept you, you begin this ride of being in music and having a career doing something you love. You get to go be a kid and live out your dreams by performing music for fans who come out to your shows.