Matt Tong Quotations

I think that individually we're all quite strong musicians. We're confident that we're at a level where each of us does just what is necessary to make sure the songs turn out right.

I remember when we played in front of about 10 people in Camden,

Our goal is to have a universal appeal, because we all listen to so many different types of music. Our crowds over here are getting more and more diverse.

We've done a bunch of new recordings and we are not sure which one we will pick.

The United States is a big country and we're just trying to get around it and play to as many people as we can. We were all very proud of the album we made, and our goal was to get it heard.

I think Paris Hilton is really our generation's Marilyn Monroe. She's the image of the youth today. There's a real fascination with Paris, ranging on the obsessive. I'm repulsed by her, but because of her notoriety, she has access to an audience.

I feel that's important that I have some place to go that isn't on the cover of a magazine. I signed up to make music.

Everyone tries to research your background. I have a real fear of celebrity and exposing my real self.

Patriotism is a joke in the UK.

Youth is so cynical. There's never anything to believe in as a teen.

It's frustrating that people attribute something to certain songs and that's not what they're about at all.

I want the words to be read in conjunction with the music.

You want to reach people on a real level and have a fan base that understands you.

After a while, you start to believe that your opinions are more valid than everyone else's. It can be hard to be humble about making really good music; you really believe that you're a savior to music. That's why bands don't like each other.

Nobody starts a band to make friends; you do it because of the music.

I'm finding it hard to listen to other rock bands. It's been hard for me for a long time, but now I can't listen to any new bands at all.

I have a real problem with rock music because it seems that lineage doesn't really exist.

When you grow up, you're told that rock 'n' roll is the only authentic way to express yourself. Live instrumentation, singer, live drums. You're told that's the best medium to communicate.

I'm not excited when bands strip things down. I'm not excited by the White Stripes.

I never saw the point in listening to only one thing. The low art/high art distinction comes from the establishment telling me how I'm supposed to think.

I think there's real currency in pop culture.

I never understood the low art/high art distinction.

Even that word depends on what you mean by pop. I mean, pop music has currency. It could just be about that girl who's in love with you.

There's so much to be said for making your guitar sound like a synthesizer and try to make your drummer sound like a drum machine.

The live experience and the recorded experience are totally different. When you're recording an album, you won't be able to immerse people in sound. When you play live, you want to grab people on the visceral level. They're completely different.

There's so much that you can do if you mimic your style to a drum machine. I think that's far more exciting.

I don't really believe in the use of drum machines live.

I'm really excited about the remixes. I've always been a fan of electronic music and I'm thinking about that very seriously for the next record as well.

There's too much rock that relies a fetishism or nostalgia for the old ways. That's a real enemy to music.

You can't help hearing things that are popular when you're young and impressionable.