I work on words quite separately to music. They're both ongoing and I don't ever feel like I'm working in a cycle in that respect because it's every day anyway no matter what I'm doing. Then I get to a point when I've collected together enough words that seem like they want to be songs rather than poems or sometimes not.

My focus is always on the day. What I've done behind me I try to have respect for it and keep an eye on it and make sure it isn't abused and obviously be thoughtful about it because it's all real to me. I'm basically in every band I ever was in and the songs I still mean them all.

Why do you think I write these feminist songs to try and teach myself to respect myself. You know it's not because I'm a hero.

And I used to think that proof that I had religion was whether I knew how to sing all of the songs.

The songs keep on writing themselves and I really love them. It's as close as I get to a religion.

I started listening to and playing other music in the '90s. It was after hearing other bands like Bad Religion cover Ramones songs that I started to like our songs again.

You have this mounting aggressive ignorance with the rabbit's foot of their particular religion. You don't really have any kind of spiritual law just a kind of a rabid mental illness. The songs are a little slice of life.

The people at the record company had asked me if I could write a song about my life my relationship with God and where I'm from. Well I can't write a song on purpose my songs come in a moment of inspiration or desperation.

I do not want a personal relationship with my fans. Or to do anything that encourages them to think they have one with me. They can have a personal relationship with my songs. That's fine but they don't know me.

A lot of songs are empowering because everybody who has been through a hard time in a relationship or in their lives can relate to it.