This is a group playing together and that's the only way, I feel, this play can be successful and moving. I am so lucky to have the people that are in it. When I came here I didn't know who was going to be in the play.
If the Under-21s or the Under-18s need me I still come down and play without making a fuss. I don't mind playing for whatever age group. I am with the first team now but if they want me to play, I will play.
I want to be successful in playing the game. I'm going to do my best to help myself and my teammates play in the best possible way and reach successful results.
I feel the only way I'm going to be successful in moving on is if I keep a separation.
I just take a tune and play it the only way I can. That's it. I don't really dwell on it very much. Some people probably do. I can only say I play it the way I feel it.
I try to tell a story when I'm playing. I try to make an emotional connection when I'm playing versus before I played just to play. Now there's a sense of purpose of why I play, of how I play. So people can actually feel what I'm saying to them.
It's hard to say. Whenever you play with a group of people for a long time it influences the way that you play with others. They were all very defining in their own way and all affected the band in one way or another. I don't think they are so obvious in the music. The fact is that The Lawrence Arms is the culmination of a long search of trying to find people who play well as a unit.
I don't play for myself. I play for my teammates and play for the people that helped me get to where I am. I know they're watching me every week, and I want to play for them. It's just in my heart, and that's who I am.
I just love playing the game. I learned it from my father, and he taught me to play every play as hard as you can, whether it's a run or it's a pass. I'm not going to be able to play forever, so I might as well go all out when I am.
I feel like there's not this black-and-white division between concert hall music and music that bands play in a bar. I don't know if this was ever truly the case, but I don't feel that I need to decide between playing for a sit-down, totally silent audience and playing for a bunch of noisy, drunk people in a bar. What I do with the group is somewhere in between.
We'll play somewhere like London, playing to 2,000 people easy, and every time you play with more people, you think, 'You're a rock star,' and it makes you laugh. I guess I am, but I'm also, you know, not.
I had that small injury on my ankle, but I know that I am not playing like I used to play and like I have to play. So I have to keep working and try to play much better.
As far as I'm concerned, the stakes are always very high. Whether it's playing at the White House or playing for a group in my own house - you know, one of those soirees I play in. Once I start playing, the stakes are somehow higher, in a way, than any of the context.
I remember early on, for instance, having to play wedding gigs, that I hated playing the music. Now I don't have to play music that I don't like. I only get to do what I enjoy, so that's pretty lucky.
Life is full of surprises. We've seen on the NBA court a lot of surprises. You never know what's going to happen if we play smart, if we play hard, if we play together.
I'm going to keep playing the way I do. I don't think anybody can tell me how to play; I always play hard.
I have a theory that musicians recognize each other and if they are destined to collaborate together they will. Mainly, they recognize each other according to the class they belong to. If they are punk-rocker kids from the neighborhood, they are going form a band. If they happen to be musicians that are going to play in pubs and restaurants, they are going to recognize each other, form a band and play together. If it's about musicians that are playing jazz and are going to jazz festivals, for e.g., then they are going to meet and work together.