I Don't Want To Be Overdramatic About

Anything Was Better Than Going To Work. All Those Early Tours Before We Made Any Money Were More Like Vacations. I Don't Think It Was Until 2001 That We Pulled Our Heads Out Of The Sand And Were Like, "what Are We Doing?" I Don't Think Chris Realized He Was In A Band Until 2001. He All Of A Sudden Woke Up One Day And Realized He Was In A Band. He Thought He Was Just Recording My Solo Project. Three Albums Later, We're In Baltimore Trying To Figure Out What To Do With Ourselves.

When I Listen To Airplanes Record, It Takes Me Back. I Remember A Lot Of My Thought Processes When I Was 20 Or 21, Writing Those Songs And Recording That Record. I Wonder What I Was Thinking When I Was Trying To Say A Particular Thing. I Hear Some Of The Weird Little Nuances In The Recording; I Can Hear What The Room Sounded Like. I Remember What It Smelled Like. I Can Remember Sitting Up In Guitarist Chris Walla's Bedroom And For The First Time In My Life Having This Realization Like, "maybe I Can Do This. Maybe I Can Make Music That In Some Capacity People Will Enjoy And Come See Me Play."

I Take Things A Little Bit More Critically Now, Like, "what Did I Think I Was Saying In That Song? What Is This Song About?" I Thought The Lyrics Were Incredibly Descriptive, And Now They Sound Really Cryptic And Weird. I'd Like To Also Think That When I Listen To Songs From Something About Airplanes That I'm Proud Of My Development As A Writer. I Don't Think I Was Doing Anything Poorly At That Time, But I Can Certainly See How My Writing Has Changed.

There Were A Lot Of Fences And Walls Existing In My Life, Literally And Figuratively, And That Was Really Not Indicative Of The Kind Of Person That I'd Always Been. So, When I Moved Back To Seattle, The First Thing I Said Was, "i Will Never Live In Fear Again."

At This Point In My Life, I Find Myself Obsessed With Alternate Paths I Could've Taken. I Don't Think About This With A Sense Of Regret, But With A Sense Of Wonder.