RYAN ROSS

What we've realized is, for us to be happy for the long haul, we have to keep doing what we want to do, or else we won't want to play music with each other anymore.

Whenever I'd go anywhere with my dad - in his 1980 burgundy Dodge Ram - he'd always listen to mix tapes of country-music stars like Garth Brooks, Clint Black and Willie Nelson. Those were the first songs I ever learned the words to.

Some aspects of the fame are annoying, but at the end of the day it's something we're most grateful for. It's certainly opened the door to a whole new batch of opportunities.

People have taken technology so far, to the point where music is almost sterile these days.

I'd like to think that people see there's two ways to do things. You can put a lot of money into a band and force people to like them or you can just find good bands and people will like them anyway.

And my biggest revelation that will never be beaten is the Beatles. I couldn't believe that I'd gone my whole life without knowing all those songs.

Dropping the exclamation point was our way of drawing a line in the sand. We have a new record and we feel like a new band. We were all tired of it, and we went ahead and got rid of it.

In Japan, the way they act at shows is very different from home because they don't yell, they clap for about 10 seconds after the song and then it's completely silent.

I can't expect everybody to appreciate what we do. Our stage shows especially have been kind of polarizing. Either you went with it or you didn't, and you thought we were being pretentious. Personally, I think it's kind of boring when I watch a band that doesn't do anything to make it their own.

Brendon's more of a Peter Gabriel fan, and I'm more of a Ray Davies fan.

We wanted to grow, and we were really over the circus theme at that point. We went out in the woods and got new clothes and all grew beards.

It's nice to be home - I go to the same old sandwich shop around the corner, I go to the movies, I do what I like to do.

I'd never really travelled before, and when we started going places, like Japan, France, Germany and all over Europe, it's been interesting to see how different cultures work. But to be there playing music makes it so much better.

I've been studying people - a homeless guy in Scotland, a blind accordion player in London - and they've inspired the lyrics I've been writing.

Brendon just likes to make a scene sometimes.

Some people would say Counting Crows or Third Eye Blind would be a guilty pleasure, but they're two of my favorite bands - I'm not ashamed of it.

We got really excited by Motown and early '60s soul music that was fun sounding.

It's hard when people are expecting things from you, and all you're trying to do is write songs that you like for yourself.

To be honest, the search for a label was really weird, because some of the labels that you wouldn't expect to care about stuff like radio formats were the ones that did care. They were like, 'Yeah, we love this record, but what are we going to play on the radio?' And I was like, 'You don't have bands on the radio.'

We were in this park in Canada throwing a frisbee around, and there was a homeless guy there who swore to God I was Mick Jagger. I kept telling him I wasn't, and he kept thinking I was Jagger and wanted to play frisbee with us. Then he heard a siren coming and thought I called the cops - and he ran away!

I always said as long as I had enough money to feed myself and have a place to eat then I'd be doing music.

When I was about six, I was kind of a cowboy. I'd dress up in boots, straps, hat and bandanna, and my dad would take us to the rodeo.

I just couldn't keep on trying to please people. It was hindering my creative output, and I had to be honest with myself.

I've seen those kids at the shows, I can hear them, and I can certainly tell the difference between one of our fans and a Fall Out Boy fan who's just there because they heard we were hot.

Fever' was good for how young we were, but for me it's kind of like a yearbook picture. You look at it like, 'Oh, man, that's the suit I was wearing?'