What bands were you listening to when you were 15?
When I was 15? What grade is that, sophomore? I was probably listening to Cheap Trick a lot and a lot of punk rock like uh, I liked the Jam and the Buzzcocks and the Ramones, Black Flag. All the classic punk stuff. But a lot of classic rock at the same time, like Zeppelin and the Stones. But I remember really being into Cheap Trick when I was a sophomore I think.

What about today? What are you listening to?
Cheap Trick (laughs). I am actually, but um, that's a good question. I listen to a lot of soul music from the 80's and 70's, and uh...it's hard to pick anything. I listen to so much music it's ridiculous. It's hard to even pull anything out of my head in particular. I've been going back end listening to like the Wipers again, some of that stuff that got me to play music.

Your latest record [Hand It Over] is excellent, I like it a lot.
Thanks.

How do you think it compares to the other stuff?
I think it's the best. Actually, for me it's the one I would listen to because I burned out on You're Living All Over Me before I joined the band, I probably listened to it too much. I didn't like Bug. Yeah, this one seems like the best one to me since You're Living All Over Me, easily. Where You Been is a good one and I liked the last one, too. No critics did, but I did.

How did recording it go? What was one of the toughest songs to record?
For me the toughest was "Nothin's Goin' On". J ended up having to insert this one part of the bass line because it's a weird bass riff. I couldn't get the rhythm because it was like an opposite rhythm of what my mind would work it in. I got it later, but for recording he had to end up doing it himself. That was the toughest for me, but it's an incredibly easy song to play (laughs).

Does J have a studio at his house or something?
He kinda built one, yeah, while he was recording this record.

Was any of it recorded there?
Yeah, almost everything.

What's the song "Never Bought It" about?
I have no idea. That one you'd have to ask J.

He doesn't share that stuff with you?
No, he's kind of like I would be about any songs I write. It's about whatever the listener thinks it's about, how they relate to it and what it means to them. It's just as much about that as it is about anything that the writer says it's about. Songs seem more like they're not about things, they're more inspired by things or something, you know?

Some of the members of My Bloody Valentine appeared on the album.
Kevin and Bilinda, yeah.

How did that come about? Are they friends?
Yeah, they've been friends of ours since I joined the band, 'cause on the the Green Mind tour they toured with us, and I think J met them a couple of years before. We've been friends ever since.

In the credits it says, " J Mascis — A Bunch of Crap". What does that mean? What did that include?
He played pretty much everything but the bass and the drums on one song. George is only on one song, I think, and J played everything except the bass. He plays bass a little bit on like, maybe two songs. He fixed a couple of parts because I didn't have much time at the time to stay and perfect anything. And uh, he plays everything else except for like the strings and the trumpet. He played the keyboard and all that stuff.