“I wanted to write some lyrics that had some meaning to them, lyrics that were meaningful to me and hopefully people can take something from that.”

We learned a lot and made a lot of good friends.

You have to make sure that your assets and your back is protected before you make any big decisions.

I really didn’t think about song writing.

Whether you like another bands music or not you never know who is going to take you out on tour or who you are going to be friends with and that is just something that is important to us.

Lyrically we tried to just not be the same as a lot of the other crap that is out there right now.

You don’t want the biggest record deal as far as money goes, you just want to make sure that the people at the label really support your band and the music and stuff.

We really try to make sure that the band writes the songs, not just one person.

A lot of big labels will just sign bands like a write off.

So you have to just be really careful and make sure that when a deal comes along, that it’s like the right deal for you… not necessarily the most money, because you have to pay the record label that back in like record sales and stuff.

Being on Ozzfest has been a great way for us to break out and show metal fans that we have a heavy side.

We’re definitely not a metal band, but we’re a band that focuses on meaningful lyrics and melody.

Actually, we got signed in November of 2000 with Dreamworks which is the most amazing label.

Hopefully people can look at our band and see that we’re a heavy rock band.

Being a new band, I just can’t think of a better way to get your name out to all of the Hard-Rock crowd than playing with twenty of the biggest Hard-Rock bands in the world.

That was our first major tour and we got a chance to play in front of like 5000 people every day so it was like a Rock and Roll boot camp for us really

We knew that we wanted to play heavy music but I hadn’t gotten into melody and things like that.

I don’t really know what inspires me to write the music I do, but usually, the music will set the tone for the lyrics.

A song is a song. But there are some songs, ah, some songs are the greatest. The Beatles song Yesterday. Listen to the lyrics.

If you really look at my lyrics, nobody’s exempt. Nobody’s exempt from observation, criticism or what I think is correction.

I stopped telling people what lyrics meant to them when I saw them tattoo it on them, because it clearly meant much more to them than it ever did to me.

I feel like ‘Next To Me’ is a great introduction because it’s a simple song that has a simple message for me. I wanted to introduce something that lyrically I’m proud of and introduces me both as an artist and as a writer.

My lyrics aren’t offensive. Some people find everything offensive.

If I hadn’t had Freddie Mercury’s lyrics to hold on to as a kid I don’t know where I would be. It taught me about all forms of music… it would open my mind. I never really had a bigger teacher in my whole life.

Pac get busy. People can’t take nothing from him. On the lyrics, he get busy, straight up.