We really wanted to circumvent that online learning curve, where it's virtually impossible to use words to explain music.

Just based on the primary adage of the necessity breeding innovation, it was just like 'Well, what makes me the guitar player that I am?' and I feel like I listen to so much different music, and I'm a student of so many genres of music, and I feel like it's fun to apply those things and anything super applicable to any type of music.

There's nothing like having some healthy competition. We really strive to think outside the box by taking the standard approach the then twisting it a little, all the while trying something new.

Some people will basically just shred all over everything, even a ballad. I'm glad I wasn't born with that genetic chip - the need to just wheedle-whee all over the place.

When I first got back from the war, I said, 'I'm gonna write the Great American Novel about the Vietnam War.' So I sat down and wrote 1,700 pages of sheer psychotherapy drivel. It was first person, and there would be pages about wet socks and cold feet.

Osama bin Laden is gone. The war in Iraq is over. Afghanistan is coming to a close.

In 2002, I went to play the Afcon in Mali, and I had the huge privilege to swap my shirt with Marc-Vivien Foe. May his soul rest in peace.

My characters have never waged a war against any gender. They are all about friendship and being loyal to your friends.