«I think the secret to the guy was that he was very simple, not stupid, but not a genius, and he ended up being something like an elaborately clothed emperor in a kingdom full of people with no clothes.»

«Our relationship, musically and friendship-wise, came to a halt for a couple of years, ... Slowly those doors opened again, and we had an opportunity to do some shows in Spain and took the chance to experiment over the course of a year or so. I spent some time repairing my friendship with Jon, and then we were probably open to anything at that point.»

«There's just something that's greater than the sum of its parts when we play together,»

«[While Auer noted that hooking up with a new rhythm section] made it easier to move forward, ... We weren't really sure about yet another go-round with yet another team: Was it going to be mining past glories for ever diminishing returns? Or was it going to be able to generate something new. With a little time, it did generate something new. Somewhere along the line, we went through the appropriate bonding experiences to feel like a band.»

«Being emotional people and being in our 20s, we couldn't see a reconciliation ever happening at that time. It seemed so over. It seemed like the energy in it was completely played out. We didn't want to leave the door open. In pruning it back so viciously we didn't think it would grow again. But here it is growing again.»

«When you're just moving forward and you agree that you're just going to stick with the results, you don't allow room for too much self-doubt.»

«Most folks don't know about it. But I thought it was worth a shot, as I could direct my fans to it via my Web site.»

«There's something altogether different that happens when we get together, ... Something sonically more aggressive. Our live shows are nothing short of furious.»

«Many bands that I like that have longevity on their side with consistent members are even splits. It makes a big difference to have the other two guys involved every step of the way. It keeps the thing moving. Everyone is taken with equal degree of seriousness. It's not just because it's a four-way partnership. It also relates to taking things maturely and taking other people's thoughts into consideration.»

«'Sweethearts of Rodeo Drive' is inspired by the fact that a lot of people are being killed on both sides in Iraq and the average person in the States that I run into is a lot more concerned with how big their TV is. That's pretty weird. I look at my granddad's meticulously clipped headlines from World War II almost daily and I see that every action in that war was a two-inch bold print headline even if it wasn't one of the biggest battles. It was all major news. The scale of this war is a lot smaller, but someone being killed or a group of people being killed might be Page 3 or Page 12 news in the U.S.»