The frontman shows a sentimental side that isn't used to being seen on the band's upcoming album.
What does Coming Home mean to you?
It’s a bittersweet thing of doing what you love, but home is where the heart is. I actually love coming home after tours. There’s nothing really like that. [There’s been] a lonely mentality that carried through my life and the album. I feel like it relates to everybody. We all think the same way, when it comes down to it.
Using only one word, how would you describe this record?
Astronomical. [The cover art] is just an analogy of doing your job, but the reflection in his visor is his home. It’s a big analogy for the whole record. The last song on that album is called “The Departure” for a reason. It’s like that never-ending cycle of leaving and coming home.
Your previous records have had a lot of diversity, but this one is much more cohesive.
That was the hardest part for me to keep it all in one thing. That’s why I wanted to do it that way, because it was an actual challenge. It’s easier to do whatever I want all the time, it’s harder to do a theme for me. I like to be different, try to change it up. I don’t like being stagnant or doing the same thing over and over.
This record feels much more vulnerable than your other albums.
I’ve always had that open and honest feel when we write stuff. There’s some pretty honest stuff on the other records, but this one is more geared about being universal and honest at the same time. I never really wrote about boyfriend and girlfriend relationships before, and I did that on this record a couple times.
For each record cycle you have a different style or persona. Right now you seem to have a Kurt Cobain kind of vibe going on. Why do you make that a priority?
Any icon that I grew up watching, they always recreated themselves every record. There’s always a reinvention of self or trying to be ahead of the curve. That’s what my mentality is and what I’ve learned from.
You are already at the top of the game in your genre right now. What’s next?
Play bigger venues, have more fame.
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