Quotes

About John: "The way he writes, the way he feels about this band... He kills himself, man. I've never seen anyone put so much emotion into anything. When he's writing a song, veins are popping out of his head. It's really painful."

For years we've been playing and writing songs that sound happy. And yet if you listen, the words are all like "My brains are falling out of my ears; would someone please pull me together?"

I'm trying to picture some little girl whose favorite bands are like Goo Goo Dolls and Savage Garden or 'N Sync going 'Aww, that Johnny is so cute. I am going to buy all his early records,' and putting it on and then screaming and running to her parents.

My songs are in millions and millions of households, whether they're the songs on the radio or not. To me, that's a brilliant victory.

I support anything that causes mass hysteria in children. on Pokémon

I always see shocked faces the first time I walk up to the microphone during a show. I'll sing the first line of one of my songs, and every heard turns from John's microphone right toward mine. If you listen to the songs it seems so obvious, but I guess a lot of folks just never thought about it.

There's a certain perception the public has of this band, and that's John standing out in front, doing what he does so unbelievable well. It's different from what I do. So am I disappointed that his songs are always the singles? Absolutely not. Do I wish one of my songs would be a single? Well, if I had one I could probably move into a house a little further up the hill, but no, I don't really care.

I don't feel like a musician - I feel like a kid with a guitar.

Weird things happen to your head when you're in paradise, right?

So yes, this band grew from punk.